Recapping the Pre Draft Process for the 2024 NBA Draft
By: Dylan Tehada
The NBA Draft is a culmination of all the hard work and dedication that young hoopers have put into the game of basketball. It is a celebration of all the milestones and achievements that lead the next generation of NBA talent to the league. An often overlooked aspect of the NBA Draft and journey to the league is the pre draft process that takes place after the collegiate basketball season. During this time, athletes seeking to achieve their NBA dreams dedicate their time to honing their skills for NBA style of play and have the opportunity to show scouts of teams both their tangible and intangible skill sets. The work put in during the pre draft process is a crucial part of sustaining projected draft positions or perhaps more importantly boosting an athlete’s draft position.
This year Coach Packie Turner and WME Basketball hosted pre draft workouts in Santa Barbara to prepare their athletes for the draft. For 8-10 weeks leading up to the draft, Coach Packie and his staff worked with athletes daily to hone their craft and build confidence as they prepare for pre-draft team workouts. According to Coach Packie, the pre draft process is an integral time to focus on improving and proving to teams why an athlete is worth their draft pick.
“The Pre-Draft is important because all of these guys are under a microscope, everyone is looking for a reason not to [draft them], so to be able to help them improve in areas maybe they struggle [in] or where teams want to see improvement [in, that] can make a team find reason to [draft the athlete],” Coach Packie said.
The prospects that trained in Santa Barbara this year with Coach Packie are all represented by one of the top basketball agencies in the entire league, William Morris Endeavor or WME. Bill Duffy, founder of WME Sports, focuses on representing talent with high levels of character and dedication to the game. The athletes in this year's draft embody the high-character and coachable individuals that find success throughout their individual pre-draft processes and beyond in the league. One of the keys to maximizing the time during the pre draft process, according to Coach Packie, is bringing energy to the gym each and every day and feeding off one another.
“This group we had this year was great because they all got along and enjoyed each other. They hung out outside of workouts with one another and that led to great energy in the gym,” Coach Packie said. “Character matters to [WME], so in all my years working with them and Bill Duffy, I’ve been fortunate to work with really high quality individuals and that makes showing up each day even easier and makes us want to pour into them even more.”
After a long, rewarding pre draft process Alex Sarr, Ron Holland, Cody Williams, Devin Carter, AJ Johnson, Tyler Smith, and Kevin McCullar Jr all had their NBA dreams during the 2024 NBA Draft. This year, 4 WME athletes were drafted by lottery teams, making WME the agency with the most lottery picks for the third straight year and proving that hard work during the pre-draft process can go a long way.
Now that the draft has wrapped up, the next step for these athletes is to pack their bags for Summer League and showcase their talents to their organizations and fan bases on the big stage. We look forward to watching these athletes thrive and cannot wait for them to embark on their NBA journeys!
