Krack Lack and Hardwoo Knox listeners. I am Damn Valley coming out you with
out my fantabulous co host today. Rest assured, though I am not alone
today, I will be joined by MBA agent Todd Ramasars. This is a
second appearance on the Hardwoo Knox podcast. He is the president and founder of
the Life Sport Agency. He represents players like Pascal Siakam of the Toronto Raptors,
Kavan Luney of the Golden State Warriors, Thomas Bryant of Washington Wizards,
other players, and specifically the player we're going to discuss very in depth today,
Josh Primo, who is the youngest player coming out of the twenty twenty
one NBA draft, does not turn nineteen. Does not turn nineteen until Christmas
Eve two and twenty one. That is absolutely wild. He was initially coming
out of Alabama projected to be a second round prospect. He ended up going
to the San Antonio Spurs at number twelve inside the lottery. Folks thought it
would be a good time to bring Todd on to discuss just how the hell
that happened, So I picked his brain about the three draft process for Josh,
what he saw on Josh specifically when he sort of found them, the
work that went in the behind the scenes to go to that, the feedback
that they were getting from teams. It was a fascinating conversation for anyone that
really cares about how this stuff unfolds. We might have more on this later
on to sort of keese something I'm not sure if we will that goes a
little bit more in depth, but this was a great forty minute or so
conversation. I highly suggest that you listen to it. I will timestamp this
as always in the bio with the different topics that we roll through. But
yeah, as always, please remember a great review and subscribe to Hardwooknox wherever
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appreciate every single one of you listeners. But now let's get to this conversation
I had with MBA agent and founder and president of the Life Sport Agency,
Todd Ramassar. Todd, thank you so much for coming back on the Hardwood
Knox podcast. I know you're coming to us live from a car in Vegas.
How are you doing? Are you able to stay cool in said car?
Amid that Vegas heat? You know, thank God for ten and thank
God for AC. I got a good AC in my car. So it's
still early over here. If it was at noon or after, dad,
I don't know if I'll still be able to say that even with air conditioning.
Uh, you've got to be like one of the very few people like
there for Summer League that we're up so early, because having known the inner
workings of Summer League, it's very that stuff goes late out there. So
are you getting any more than two or three hours of sleep per night while
you're while you're in town for that, you know, maybe I'd say probably
about four four hours of sleep. But it's good. There's a you know
what though, it's uh, you know, with the pandemic and us back
at summer League. There's a little bit different energy this time around because it's
good to see some you know, familiar faces that I haven't seen in UH
in probably two years or a year and a half. So it's just great
to be back in the gym and steam fans and and just some normalcy of
summer off season. So the primary reason UH You're on is to talk about
Josh Primo now of the San Antonio Spurs, drafted number twelve overall, I
think even for people who followed the draft process very intimately and saw all the
positive reviews that were coming out of the combine, I think a lot of
people were surprised to see him go so high, and so I have many
questions just about him in that process. But I first wanted to know is
just how did you first come in touch with Josh? Had you seen him
play when he was with you know, under nineteen and Canada? What was
it about him that Drew drew you to him specifically or your or your team
to him specifically. Yeah. I actually first saw Josh coincidentally at Basketball Without
Borders in Chicago during All Star weekend and and what was that two thousand in
twenty, right before the pandemic Pascal was named an All Star. He was
there visiting also being a I guess you could say alumni of BWB. So
that was the first time, and Josh had a great showing there. But
I actually I actually now have a strong presence as an agency there in Canada.
I brought I brought on a staff member from Canada who's great, and
beyond Josh, it's like we're representing several Canadian players, Eugeno Marui out of
Oregon that's now with the Dallas Mavericks on a two way contract, and also
Marcus Carr, who actually went back to school and transferred to University of Texas.
So getting back to Josh, it was just you know, seeing that
he was so young checking into Alabama at seventeen, and you saw his poise
as an eighteen year old. And then of course after we started conversations with
his family, they really bought into what I was proposing in terms of player
development, training, having not just a plan for the pre draft process,
but also having a plan for his career. And then of course once he
committed, he signed, and then we saw we had him in our gym
and I put some NBA coaches around him. That's where you could really see
how talented he is and also how talented he's going to be in terms of
just his overall development as he continues to progress in his career. And you
had set me a note about this, but just for our listeners, what
went into like the process of getting him ready for the draft. You mentioned,
you know, like you brought an NBA coaches. I think you even
sent me note saying you brought in like people with NBA refereeing experience. So
can you give us a little bit of offsight into what that was Like?
Yeah, you know, it's for Josh and all my clients. I'm a
big believer, and you know, you know, for these young men that
are are are are actually making that transition to the NBA. It's like always
for me and our stat and the staff is like really pushing the envelope because
everyone has a unique skill set. Uh and not just on the court,
but a unique personality and their needs may be different. So for for for
Josh in particular and all the clients, it was not just putting one NBA
coach around them and say John Lucas the third you know who's played in the
NBA, was an assistant coach in Minnesota Timberwolves under Top Thibodeau for three years
and second generation co NBA coach. It was also adding you know, a
longtime friend of mine and former teammate at UCLA, Earl Watson's a thirteen year
NBA vet, you know, former head coach of the Phoenix Suns, and
even David Gale or Jared Cook, like really bringing these basketball purists that are
teachers that are around the kind of just really push the envelope on all these
players to you know, kind of help them in terms of understanding the game
from a cerebral standpoint on the NBA level, but also just help with their
overall development in terms of that transition into the NBA. Because I'm a big
believer that you know, if I'm a big believer not getting trainers around my
coach and my players, but coaches and not just coaches, but NBA coaches
and those types of coaches that are teachers, and then the rest takes care
of itself. And then a new twist this year was the NBA officiating.
I think oftentimes we don't understand just you know, especially for some of my
Josh Primo, in twelve months, he goes from high school to college to
being in the NBA right, So for him, it's not just understanding that
the three point line has moved back, you know that much in twelve months
from a rules standpoint, Understanding the hash marks, the defensive box, understanding
spacing, understanding you know how they're going to be called for fouls you know,
within that defensive boker box or outside, just understanding the game at so
many levels, and and Earl always says this, and I love it.
I have taken it. There's a thousand games being played within the game,
and for for our guys, any edge that I could give them early on,
I wanted. I wanted to do that, and that's exactly what we've
done in terms of putting those resources around them, sports science, NBA officiating,
NBA coaching, and then throughout the process, I always say it's fluid,
fluid, just making adjustments on the flight, even sports psychologists and doctors
I'm putting around them, dude, from either your perspective or did Josh mention
anything about what maybe had the biggest impact through that process room, whether it
was you, like you said, the sports scientist, the doctors, the
NBA head coaches, or the the NBA officiating, Was there any part of
the process that you think had the overall biggest impact maybe a little bit more
solid others. No, it's like it's it's almost I always say it's like
a good rescue. It's a good meal, right, It's like, what
was the key ingredient? It's like, no, all the ingredients put together
make that that special taste or that special meal. If I talked to Josh,
you know, I would say it was everything. Like when you're that
young and mother nature is still taking its course in terms of overall development and
he's still growing. Literally, it's like the sports scientists and the doctors.
That's crucial in terms of, you know, making sure from a biomechanical standpoint,
you know, we're not just throwing, you know, having him with
the trainer lifting weights for us, it's like understanding his body, understanding where
he's at in terms of his overall development, and then addressing it from a
strength and conditioning standpoint. That was crucial the coaches, not just the drills
on the court, but the conversations right the film and then the NBA officiating
they were there for a week really making down film of you know, Josh
at Alabama, but really breaking down film of some NBA players and how they
draw fouls or how they get called for fouls. And then the sports psychologists
like like I said, it's really just very fluid. There's a timing to
everything, and and it's all part of that you know, that overall plan,
but specific to the plan of the draft in terms of positioning him to
get drafted as high as possible. I think part of the reasons some people
get surprised when certain players are drafted where they are is it's tough for more
fans or maybe you know, people who are covering the draft mizillion miles out
to envision players in different roles. And so you have Josh at Alabama who's
basically the you know, the third or fourth guard for his year there,
and now he's been drafted number twelve overall. Because the Spurs are envisioning him
in a larger role. What is sort of his for fans who might not
know a ton about his game, And I spoke to people who watched or
scout him a bunch in college and prep for this, But for people who
haven't seen enough of him, what do you think is his mystery box skill
so to speak, that you think is going to contribute the most to him
being successful in the NBA if he's able to hone it or use it break
it out consistently. Yeah, Josh for being eighteen and and a half years
old, and it came up and I'm sure there was some comments about it
the interview process, so you could obviously evaluate a player on the court,
but sometimes you don't know what's going on again in terms of their level of
maturity, or how they process information during games, or even just how they
process this information. Overall, Josh was extremely impressive in interviews, to the
point that if you're sitting across the table interviewing him, you didn't feel like
you were talking to an eighteen and a half year old. You thought you
were talking to a veteran. His understanding of the game and concepts and reads
is impressive and it's almost like you know, you're you're seeing the flashes on
the court in workouts where he's so young, it's like the synopsis between his
brain and his body they're firing and you're seeing those connections being made, and
it's kind of beautiful, at least for me as as his agent, and
so much more from the time I saw Josh and the gym too, even
three months later, there's been an incredible development curve for him even in that
short period of time. It's just talking to him they played a game yesterday,
even seeing how his ball handling has got in that much tighter. He's
playing the point a lot for the Spurs because Trey Jones had gone down with
a concussion. And when you get a player with his size and length and
athleticism and then understanding game, and then you're seeing him being only eighteen years
old going up against you know, twenty one, twenty two and even older
players and hold his own. That's what I see in terms of his best,
best attributes, but also where I think the Spurs and other teams found
value in him, more value in him in this process that otherwise they didn't
weren't able to really see at Alabama this past season. I'm sure there's always
the youth aspect might be a concern for some teams, But were there any
other concerns that you knew in general teams would look at or focus on with
Josh that you you guys were able to either focus on yourselves behind the scenes
or answer during interviews to put them at ease, or something that would just
swing the overall and interpretation of we will draft this really young the youngest player
in the draft, and we want to make that type of investment in him.
Yeah, you know, it's these these things are over That's why it's
called the pre draft process. It's it's a process. You know, teams
like the Spurs that have their own internal process that has obviously worked well through
the years, you know, in terms of them identifying you know, Tim
Duncan was I don't want to say easy, but it was easy right being
at the ACC at Wake Forest and that was it was a consensus overall number
one pick. But like the Monageer Noble's, the Tony Parkers, the Kawhi
Leonards, these guys that they identified that actually had more value than where they
were being projected. That's what they do and in their process that you know,
they have a way of going about things. So where they were where
they were at with Josh, say day one in this process, to where
they were at sixty or even ninety days later at draft night. It evolved
because they were doing their due diligence. We were communicating quite frequently, and
for me, I'm very I try to be as a objective as possible when
I'm evaluating my clients. And you know, I told him, I told
them or I was sharing my opinion because here's the reality is, I'm I'm
not behind my desk in the pre draft process. My desk is being in
the gym. I'm on the phone and I'm in the gym every single day
with my new clients that I've just onboarded in this process. And for me,
it's all about watching them and understanding where they're at at that moment and
where I feel myself and the staff and the resources I put around them where
they're going to be right, the same thing I did with Bascal Siakam and
for Josh, you know, just watching him that first week and watching his
feet, watching his movement, watching his shots, watching him compete against other
clients like Eves Ponds, who was Defensive Player of the Year at SEC and
just physically gifted and focus. Eugeno Marui another defensive specialist, and then Justin
Champenny and seeing him at eighteen competing against these guys that are much older and
in some cases, you know, winning games or even having those flashes.
It's easy for me to communicate to say the Spurs to say, guys,
if you were considering him at forty one, just no, he's not gonna
be there. You better start considering him with your lottery pick if you're serious,
because this kid is a unicorn. He's gonna be special, but he's
going to be a special player in this league. And you just sort of
outlined him a huge like the process itself, So I don't want to boil
it down to just one thing, but was there maybe a flashbowl moment during
the process where you looked at Josh or you just knew that he is going
to go way earlier than expected. Maybe that initiation moment that would make you
go to the Spurs and say, hey, he's not going to be there
in the forties, like you need to start consider taking him earlier. Now
that flash abolve moment was a week of Josh being in the gym. Wow.
You know, because I always say this, it's like again, it's
it's I don't go off projections. I go off talent. When I'm evaluating
my clients to recruit them, I'm going off of what I see on Synergy
or in film, or with my staff or other great basketball minds I consult
with and get their opinion. And then that's one thing of seeing a player
in a system, say in this case with Natos at Alabama, seeing Josh
in a system. But the college game is different than the NBA game as
well. So once Josh hit our gym and we're able to like test drive
and like push them through some things, it doesn't It didn't take. It
took, like I said that first week to say, hold on, there's
more to Josh Primo than anybody saw. We saw flashes of it, but
now we're really seeing it. It's then you start to see, and not
just me the NBA coaches. I hold on, I'm seeing Devin Booker and
I'm seeing Brandon Roy in him. I'm seeing this player that's six four six
six five today, that's still growing, that may end up being six seven
or six eight, you don't know. But regardless, here's a guy that
could play the point, a guy that could play with the two, guy
that could play the three. He could shoot the three, he could get
to the mid range, you could get a foot in the paint, finish
a by the rim, get you know, get to the line. He
could create for others. He's got a great mind and he's only eighteen.
Those those are all the ingredients for a great player. Now it's my job
to make sure I'm putting the resources around them to make sure that he's developing
and maximizing that potential. And then now it's as best as I could in
this draft process trying to at least strategically playing him ending up with a great
franchise. Obviously it worked out great with the Spurs, and then now it's
a partnership in terms of us working together to develop that talent. That's Josh
Primo. You brought up something interesting that I think people even like someone us
covering the league for ten plush years like myself forgets is these kids are so
young that it's not even just they're not finished. You know, on court
talents you mentioned, Josh Primo could still grow because he's only eighteen years old,
And so how much does that like factor into when you're speaking with teams
or just overall teams impressions of players where it's it's not just trying to envision
what his skill sets could become or what his size is, you know,
length or actual height or even strength is right now, but envisioning you know,
three four years down the line when he's actually that I mean, he's
still a teenager. And just because the scale at which all these guys are
covered once they get to the NBA, they're just mistaken for like these older
adults. I feel like a lot of the times, so I'm just racist
to how much of a factor is that unknown physical attribute can actually help or
doesn't even hurt prospects style? Sometimes Yeah, then so I'll talk to you
like you're the GM of a team and I'm talking about Josh Primo. For
me, it's like Josh Primo, guys is only eighteen years old. You
saw his pedigree, say in International Basketball VWB, and then now at Alabama
and then now you're seeing him, well, one guy's you know how I
look and evaluate players, look at Pascal or Thomas Bryan or some of the
clients that I've said what their potential is, it's much greater than how people
are looking at them. But for me, guys, you know, I
would say, for me my processes. Does the player love the game?
Do they have a work ethic? Right? Josh checks those two boxes.
And if you didn't grow another inch, does he have good size and ability
in a skill set for what's trended in the NBA. Now for someone at
his position, right, he checks all those boxes. Now, let's say,
guys, you remember what it was to be eighteen. Mother nature still
has to take its course. So him at you know, one hundred and
ninety five pounds at sixty five, with the six nine wingspan and everything else,
mother nature hasn't taken his course. Look at his parents, look at
his father. Look at the fact that the kid's shoe size grew one full
shoe size in the last year from fourteens and fifteens. So or look at
the fact that in Alabama when they did when he injured his knee, they
did imaging of his body and his hips and his growth plates were still wide
open. So you start taking those factors in and for me, it's creating
this narrative that's based on you know what, you know, reality is,
it's like that kid's not done growing. And it doesn't necessarily mean just height.
It's weight, it's strength, it's a number of different things. And
imagine now a kid like that checking into college at seventeen during a pandemic that's
originally from Canada. That if you have any experience with Canada, the way
they've dealt with the pandemic, it's much more conservative than the most conservative market
here in the US. I can make an argument that his development has been
hindered right to this point. Now, his focus is all basketball. He's
with a great franchise that knows player development. He loves the game, he's
extremely focused, he has a bb i Q. You put all those factors
together and that's the makings of something great. So that's you know, So
it's for the team now to like get him into the gym, put him
through the workout, evaluate him, and I like to think I know what
I'm talking about. They'll see that all the things I'm talking about aren't biased
or exaggerated. They're usually going to be aligned with what they see from that
player in a workout. In this case, it was Josh and in the
line. If you go back to like the stuff, the videos, the
clips, the impressions that were coming out around the draft combine of Josh,
I feel like that's when he was really first thrown onto the national radar.
Again, outside of the really intimate basketball circles, a lot of the focus
was just on It didn't seem like people when you're looking at scouts or people
that cover college basketball or the NBA Draft in general, didn't really expect to
see like the self creation that he was showing. You're obviously working with more
information at this point. At that point, was it as revelatory his performance
there for teams, coaches, scouts that were watching, or was that just
more so this is the first time it's really being relayed from the media.
That's a great question. I think, well, I'll say this, and
respectfully, I was working with the most information even up till draft night,
and it's and that's not being arrogant. That's when you're spending That's why I
love the pre draft process so much in terms of relationship with my clients,
is when I'm in the gym every day and we're going to lunch or we're
talking before after workouts, and we're traveling with guys and really getting to know
them and their families. Intimately, I have way more hours than any scout
or team with that family and that individual. Up to this point, I
just do right and even in the gym. So at that point, it's
funny teams like the Spurs and other teams that were very interested in Josh day
one the combine. The combine was, you know, a blessing and a
curse for them, because teams will try to keep that secret to themselves,
and that secret was Josh primo, right, because they're evaluating them, they
might see them seeing them at BWB, maybe had some people in Canada that
they trusted that was letting them know about Josh. But then the secret was
out of the bag, right, so to speak. At the combine where
it's like, where's this ball handling, playmaking ability been in the last year,
teams didn't see that. They just thought he was a catching two player.
But Josh, being the coachable player that he is, that was what
he needed to do in a system at Alabama for his team to be successful,
and he played that role. But once he went into this process,
he was able to really show his full skill set, and I think even
people at Summer League are starting to see the things that he's able to do.
And that's where it was just like, okay, if we're considering him
at forty one, that we can no longer do that. We got to
really pay attention to his process that's very fluid. And this is the Spurs
probably saying this where forty one, Todd's right, He's not going to be
there at forty one. We gotta seriously consider him being a first round prospect
and if we have this lottery pick, he should be in consideration, like
you said, and it's not arrogant job like to have and you're also a
round them, or you have more information than anyone through this process, is
there? Did you have an idea then on draft night that he could go
at twelve, because that's that's a monster leap, and it was clear that
he was projected. I think when you looked at big boards, a lot
of them moved him up to like the late teens, early twenties, and
so that's even still a bigger jump from there. Do you have an idea
going in or is that even a little bit of a surprise for you?
And Josh to see him go there, It wasn't a surprise, to be
honest with you. He was gonna go higher. And I won't say the
team out of respect, but a player fell at Josh's position that was rated
higher than him and and and I'm grateful for it because I think it's a
perfect fit with Josh, bet and san Antonio. But Josh was going to
get drafted even higher. So it wasn't a surprise. I could, I
could rattle off and I won't. You know, I got a great relationship
with the NBA because I was advocating for Josh to get a green room invite.
And it is funny to me because like when I'm on the phone's talking
to these teams, I get a good sense on where he's being projected.
In some cases, teams are asking me, Hey, Todd, where's Josh
going to be drafted? And I'll ask him where do you think he's going
to be drafting? They're like, Todd, I think that's pretty aligned with
what we're hearing or seeing. Well, we don't have a big there,
but we want to get into the mix for Josh. Where would we have
to be And I'll say, well, you have to be here in the
lottery or in the teens, and you know there's no hesitation on there and
that they need to be there. So you know, the reality is with
mock drafts, you know you got to be careful with them. And I
respect those guys because they're talking to teams, But the reality is this as
an agent, when I'm getting information, especially for someone like Josh Primo that's
was in the beginning of this process projected in the second round, right when
I'm moving up at talent like that in the draft. My job is to
take information and use it to then leverage it to move a player up higher
in the process. In this case, with his range being so wide,
you don't know how high he's ultimately going to be until you're actually in it
because the process is so very fluid. But if i'm you know, I
give the credit to Josh and their family. They trusted the process he worked
out for a ton of teams and middles are teams as high as the lottery
say, you know ten all the way to teams that were scheduled in the
early thirties. But once we got in the process, I eliminated a lot
of teams really after the combine, when I knew he was solidified in the
first round, started eliminating teams on the back end of the twenties and started
focusing on really ten to twenty six because there was enough time to get in
those other teams too, as an insurance policy to have them work out with
them. When you're going about that part of this, is it just about
trying to move him up? Are you also factoring in where you think and
maybe even he thinks that is going to be the best fit for him long
term as an organization rather than just the raw number of where he's drafted.
Yeah. I always say this, Agents don't draft players. Teams do.
I think once upon a time, on my side, because I got started
in this business at nineteen, agents had a lot of influence with teams to
manipulate the draft. Now that's not the case because GM in front office jobs,
it's such a fickle business. They're being hired and fired at a very
high rate if they're not having success as a franchise or they're missing it as
it relates to the draft. So those days of favors happening are long gone
in my opinion. So those those teams when they went into the process of
evaluating Josh like they evaluated him based on his on his talent, and as
I was talking to them, it was again then looking at Josh's talent and
comparing them to some other prospects that were one and done type prospects and saying
his upside they thought was greater than others. And for me, even though
I can't control the draft of exactly where he's going to be drafted, I
always say this like you, For me, I want all my clients with
good franchises. What's a good franchise A franchise that has stability all the way
up to ownership, their front office and coaching staff, and has a history
of developing young talent into what I like to think are all stars or superstar
level players. That's very important because my play my clients are products of their
environment being so young, so I need them in good locker rooms with good
coaches and everything else. If that franchise has instability, it could have impact
the trajectory of that player's development. So for me, again going through this
process and strategizing it was making sure that he was working out for teams within
his range, but identifying what I thought were great franchises that I thought could
help in terms of his development to get to what I think he'll be is
a perennial All Star or even superstar status in this league a lot of times
and this year was probably different, and in twenty twenty was obviously incredibly different.
Teams were working with a lot of information on players before the combine and
before they have them for individual workouts. Was there any more stock placed and
maybe the individual workouts that Josh or other prospects had this year because teams did
have limited more limited access than usual to watching them during the season, And
you hit the nail on the head. I think a lot of people missed
the mark this year. This was one of the most talented drafts in recent
history. You saw a lot of talented players go undrafted. And I always
say every draft, every free agency is a different market and you have to
factor in, you know, sometimes factors that otherwise aren't playing into this or
in this case, it's an act of God, it's a pandemic. So
what you said was a major factor in at least for me approaching this draft
process. For my clients, I knew they were going to have to work
harder in this process, regardless of their talent or projection, because teams weren't
able to see them during the year because of the pandemic. So that meant
that, you know, and maybe any other normal year, maybe Josh Primo,
I don't put him in the combine. You know, maybe I don't
put some of my other guys because teams would have saw them during the season
and knew that he was a lottery level talent. It's hard to say now,
even looking back, if that would be the case if things were normal.
But I made sure that one the guys got the training, but two,
I made sure to expose them to teams so that teams could see their
talent, evaluate them, and then position them, you know, make sure
that their position as high as possible going into draft night, where teams,
you know, it was if a player went undrafted or fell in the draft.
For us, we knew that we covered our basis, and even for
our clients that went undrafted, all of them had two way guaranteed contracts,
you know, whether before the draft ended or immediately after of the draft,
and they were on NBA rosters. Do you think that contributed to what felt
like, you know, there wasn't a ton of movement, like picks being
traded in the first round, and yet it still felt like after the first
seven or so names that it was utter anarchy. Do you think that contributed
to why there were so many wide draft ranges this year? Wide draft ranges
on players. Yeah, Like, I mean you even mentioned it with Josh
where you're talking about the Spurs. Initially we're looking at him in the forties
and all of a sudden, he's number twelve. And you can correct me
if I'm wrong here, but that feels like going into it a very atypical
draft range for a prospect here when you're going from lottery to second round.
And I do think there are a lot of more surprise picks other than Josh.
Yeah, you know, And I say this respectfully to other agents about
other agents. Everyone has their theories on how the draft process should go.
And maybe it's because of my basketball background. I I'm not just thinking about
the draft. I'm thinking about my clients and their careers moving forward. And
I hate to use this term, but it's like I don't want any team
to have buyer's remorse right because there's some theories about you know, manipulating the
draft and hiding players and X, Y and Z to get them drafted higher.
But the problem with that is if a team that's drafted that player thinking
that they're that they're investing in something that otherwise they didn't have all the information.
One step player is under their roof and their practice facility, and now
they're pushing that player. Now they realize they're they're not what they're what they
thought they were. That's not only a problem for the franchise. That's a
problem for the player, and it's a problem for me as their agent if
that's the case. For me, I always say every player coming into the
NBA has holes in their game, every single one. So for me,
it's not a problem. It's for me, it's preparing my clients, but
it's also exposing them to the franchise because I want my clients going again to
good franchises, but I want them going to places or franchises where they're wanted,
including their flaws. Because if a team is going to buy into a
player knowing that there's a hole in their game or there's a flaw that could
otherwise be developed because they're young, that's the place that I think they should
be because they know exactly what they're getting and committing to. I've asked you
this question before, but it's I've always enjoyed hearing about it, so I'll
ask it again. What goes into now the player agent relationship with the draft
over? And I think a lot of people only mention agents when it's you
know, a new contract time or the pre draft process or if there's a
trade room or out there. What else goes into the agent player relationship in
terms of maintaining that now that you know it could be specifically with Josh,
but you have past Galcyakam Kavan, Luony, Thomas Bryant, Like, what
goes into maintaining these relationship ships now when it's not a contract here or they're
not being they're not part of the pre draft process. You know. Every
again, every player agent relationship is different. I know for me, it's
always about you know, it's like my clients laugh at me and really more
so their parents. I say that I'm a wedding planner and a marriage counselor
you know, during the pre draft process, right because the draft is this
big hyped up celebration, which is important, Like I want it to be
special for my clients. But you know, it's like the stories of the
wedding plan and they hear they see the couple or they see the groom or
the Brian, they're like, ah, this person is not going to make
it or they have something genuine here. So for me, that's that's it.
For my clients is one. I'm meticulous about who I represent and there
has to be that fit where there's that relationship there or that bond because it's
a very personal business where my clients need to take my advice because that's what
they're hiring me for based on my experience, and I'm not one to sugarcoat
information to them. So not only do you have to trust me, but
they got to be able to take the information that I'm communicating to them.
So you know, the pre draft process, yes, is establishing that relationship
or the report with the client. But after the draft, and I tell
this is my clients, phase one is over. This is phase two.
Like a marriage or like a wedding, the real work, you know,
the real work of a marriage happens after the wedding. So now we got
to really put in the work. Now it's phase two, you know,
I sit down with my clients. We have a goal, we write down.
I make sure my clients write down their goals short term and long term,
and then we get to work with putting together a plan to make sure
that those things are being executed, because if we're able to check those boxes,
good things will happen a few years from now when they're up for their
second contract. I tell all my clients, is the rookies your second The
negotiations for your second contract have already begun right there. You can't wait to
negotiate until that contract year. Every little detail of their approach to practice the
games, their professionalism, how they are in the community, their relationship with
the coaching staff and the organization, and just the work we put in.
That's all building towards the negotiation of what I hope would be max contracts or
maximizing their potential. So that's that's what's going into everything now, and then
constant communication with the team. I think every a lot of agents will agree
in some ways, the easy part is in the negotiation. The dip more
difficulty is in the servicing of those contracts is where the real work is.
Well, thank you so much for coming on giving us a lot more insight
into the pre draft process for Josh Primoan, just the process overall. I
know, as someone who doesn't get into watching college prospects until right before the
draft, he's one of the players I'm most fascinated by, in part because
of that huge jumps, So I'll certainly be keeping an eye on him.
And again, thank you so much for stopping by once again and giving us
some more insight into how that all came about. No, I appreciate you
having having me on. It's always a pleasure to talk about talk shop about
basketball and what the current state is, whether it's draft, free agency,
or any of my clients. I appreciate you graving me on again