The Brief Case, Episode 98: Knecht, McCain, Da Silva and Filipowski Discuss Their Workouts

The Brief Case, Episode 98: Knecht, McCain, Da Silva and Filipowski Discuss Their Workouts

[Music] this is Tani Kamar and it’s time to open up the briefcase with Casey [Music] holdall greetings pleasure fans and welcome to the briefcase episode 98 of the briefcase and an all pre-draft workout edition of the briefcase I your host Casey holdall it has been far too long we’re less than 2 weeks away from the 2024 NBA draft your Portland Trailblazers with the seventh 14th 34th and 40th picks still determining what they’re going to do when they’re on the clock come the 2024 NBA draft which begins June 26th at barklay Center in Brooklyn and then continues the next day second round somewhere in Jersey I believe we’ll look at where the trebl are at in terms of their pre-draft workouts and here from four of the players who have come through Portland recently on this edition of The Briefcase by my count the triers have held six public workouts with 31 players so far throughout their pre-draft process though with again about 12 days left before the NBA draft I’m guessing they’re probably going to have maybe a few more workouts not sure if those are going to be public or private but I’m guessing they will have them either at The Practice Facility or maybe even someplace else it’s very common for some agencies to have workouts teams will go to those gyms watch those workouts rather than have players jump from one city to the next city to the next which is fairly common but at a certain point it’s probably a bit diminishing returns so if you have everyone in one one place that makes a little bit easier I haven’t heard about any of those group workouts just yet this year I wouldn’t be surprised that they’ve already happened a lot of times those happen earlier on the process anyways but either way TR blaz is still very much determining what they’re going to do with those four picks both in terms of which players they might pick and what picks they might use as assets to acquire other players the majority of the pre-draft process is figuring out what you have in terms of the players who you think are going to be on the board when you’re on the clock but another pretty big part of it as well it’s obviously a huge asset acquisition time of year other than the deadline the draft is when most trades do get executed so not only do you have to be ready to pick players but you also have to be ready to potentially trade players or picks or both should the opportunity arise once the Draft starts and on that front not a whole lot of rumors just yet about what the tribles might do with their pick or what they might do in terms of Trades you’ve heard a few Rumblings here and there but especially this time of year and especially again 12 10 days out from the draft there’s really not a whole lot out there that you probably should believe I’m not saying that things aren’t true it’s just at this point in time it’s much more about setting a narrative for your team than it is about letting teams know what you’re interested in doing teams might know what they want to do I think they would rather other teams not know what they want to do though so the idea that teams are putting their business out on the street right now not really sure that’s the case which is why I don’t really think we’ve heard a whole lot about trade rumors perhaps that changes once the NBA finals are over which is going to be sometime here in the next few days what a bummer of a finals by the way I know I picked the Mavericks in six games back before they had technically Advanced to the finals now I’m just going to go ahead and pick the Celtics in five games that Boston team I think quite a bit better than a lot of us expected and that Mavericks team just not ready for that level of competition at this point I guess but once we get the actual games out of the way in the playoffs then perhaps some of the attention turns to what some of these teams are going to be doing at the NBA draft which players they’re considering which trades they’re considering what types of Trades they’re considering who is looking to sign players in free agency there’s a couple guys out there looking for extensions that maybe aren’t going to get extensions are other teams going to be able to pounce on that a lot of business still to be figured out but again at this time of year there’s probably not a whole lot you should believe as we get closer and closer to the draft then I think those rumors start to form up a little bit start to crystallize a little bit this far out though it’s all about setting the deck it’s about misdirection it’s about throwing other teams off the scent so just consider that when you’re reading in rumors particularly this time of year around the draft it is liars poker lies of the currency of the NBA always worth remembering that so at this point as mentioned the blers have held six public workouts with 31 players we also know that they’ve held private workouts or least it’s been reported they’ve held private workouts and there’s no reason to disbelieve those reports that they’ve also held workouts for Donovan kingan and Cody Williams and a group workout with Ron Holland Zack Eddie yev Missy tan Salin kaon George and Ryan Dunn there’s probably a few workouts we actually don’t know about either though there are few Secrets this time of year as mentioned at least among teams for the most part everyone knows where everyone else is working out and the reason they have workouts be private or public really doesn’t have a whole lot to do with necessarily not wanting people to know about him because everyone finds out anyways when it comes to these things teams know these guys schedules for the most part they know the guys they work out with they know the guys of their agencies so really I think it’s more about public perception and sometimes it’s just guys don’t want to have to talk to Media so they do a private workout sometimes guys don’t care so they do a public workout it’s not like the media actually gets to watch the workout anyway so it’s not like you’re like seeing a guy perform poorly in a workout and then everyone sees that and then that hurts your stock you don’t get to watch any of these guys workout anyways we only get to talk to them afterwards and even then we only get to talk to some of them afterwards so the idea of a private workout or a public workout the media is seeing the same amount of play in a public workout and a private workout which is none of it only thing we’re doing is talking to the guys after the fact well some of us get to watch but we’re not actually allowed to say anything so what’s a difference I also get the sense of play just don’t really mind this time around if everyone else knows who they’re working out with the seventh and the 14th pick I think you pretty much assume that anyone who’s not expected to go maybe in the top three is probably going to work out for Portland OR at least the team would be interested in having them in for a workout and with so much variance in terms of where players are expected to go in this draft process I imagine a lot of guys are working out more now this year than they would have in previous years because generally if you think you’re going to go top five in previous drafts usually went top five in this draft if you think you’re maybe going to be top five you might not get taken to 10 10 depending on what other teams think so you need to work out for a large range of teams also important to remember too that a lot of times these workouts are about meeting the player getting them in your gym and hearing what they’re about as people just as much as seeing what they can do in a 45-minute workout on the court particularly if it’s a solo workout you don’t really learn a whole lot about a player from a solo workout you learn a whole lot more about who that player is as a person at a solo workout you go out to dinner you go out to lunch you have some conversations that’s the real utility in private workouts you’re not playing by yourself in an empty gym in the NBA I mean you’re not doing that anywhere really but you get a better sense of what a player has done both by watching film and by talking to that player then you get by seeing that player shoot a bunch of three-pointers by himself in a gym that’s just full of people from the team being able to shoot well in an empty gym is a good thing but there’s never been an NBA game played in a completely empty gym though some of those bubble games were pretty close I would imagine but either way the utility of a workout goes well beyond what actually happens on on the court any team that’s going to put too much stock in how a player looks in a Solo workout specifically is going to end up kicking themselves at some point in time in the process well now let’s go ahead and hear from some of the players that ters have had in for workouts recently first off dton neck a 23-year-old 65 204b guard forward out of Tennessee by way of Northern Colorado NE started his career at a JC in Colorado then played at North Colorado in the Big Sky then declared for the NBA draft basically got feedback telling him that hey if you want to get drafted you’re going to have to show you can do this against better teams against better competition transfers to Tennessee for his final season ends up winning a bunch of awards including SEC Player of the Year first team AP All-American and the Julius Irving award neck showed that he could do it against better competition now has a chance to be a lottery pick despite starting his career at a junior college in Colorado so let’s hear from neck as he talks about working out in front of a bunch of other guys from Colorado what he’s trying to show teams during the workout process his history of playing better against better competition the nature of a solo workout the feedback he got initially when he declared for the 2023 draft and being able to play multiple positions dton neck Tennessee guard forward here’s what we had to say l and gent how would the how did the workout go for you today kind of what was the vibe of it the intensity how do you feel like you performed it was good I think I did good you know uh you know it’s always good seeing coach uh billops and stuff you know he’s from uh Denver and stuff so it was cool just to be here see the facilities and you know this is my second workout so fun to get after it do you have any kind of relationship with him uh just you know as a kid just watching him at uh Denver and stuff and then you know he played at CU and stuff so we’d have a couple connections with him met him a couple times so it was good what are maybe some of the things you’re trying to highlight some of the skills you’re trying to show teams you possess in this draft uh you know just obviously people see my scoring and stuff and shooting but just everything like passing uh playmaking abilities and stuff like that so just all around game and uh as well as showing off my defense dog you made a leap from Colorado Tennessee you got high usage high efficiency can you take lessons from that and go okay I’m going to the next level where I got to ratchet it up again and kind of take some of at least some of the Lessons Learned of going up a level in in competition and scheduling yeah I think it was just uh you know playing against higher competition I feel like every time I play against higher competition I play better so it’s just that and uh learning and you know watching film with coaches that’s also helped me and then just keep developing when you look look at your your career a lot of guys in this draft everybody keeps talking about it’s role players it’s role players you were a guy who was a high usage guy do you look at that and go sure I can get on as a role player but I want to be more than that cuz obviously I showed already at the last level that I can be more than just a role player uh I’m going to do whatever the team needs me to do so if that’s being a role player whatever it needs to be I’m going to go do that and do it at the best ability I could do I don’t know if you talk with Joe at all but obviously the GM obviously from Colorado too and he’s from pretty close to where you’re from yeah he’s from my hometown exactly from it live like a couple blocks away does that excite you at all to you know have like obviously John you mentioned already but to join this got of Colorado crew that got building here oh yeah it’s crazy you know uh right down the street from me so it’s kind of cool just uh you know talk about that Stu type of stuff and I haven’t been home in a long time so it’s kind of good just to see that what did you learn from that first workout that maybe you applied to this workout here say what what did you learn from your first workout that you applied to the workout here today you know obviously the first workout is kind of nervous but uh just kind of just taking it all in just kind of enjoying it and seeing you know the facilities and just going out and competing by yourself you know you’re one on0 so it’s a little bit different but you know the coaches are real competitive and you get they try to go after you so it’s good yeah I guess what are these solo workouts like when you know you have all eyes at the gym on you at all times well it’s good you know they get to you get to really put on a show and show the coaches and the GMS and stuff what you’re about when your last year at Northern Colorado at that point in time do you feel like the NBA was was a real possibility for you where were you at in terms of of what you thought your future was going to be at before you went to Tennessee uh you know I put my name in uh the draft and talked to some agencies and they told me I had to go to a higher market and play against better competition that’s what I did took a a bet on myself and paid off pretty good so play off pretty good so that’s all I got to say what kind of feedback did you get from teams this year at the combine compared to what you maybe got the year before when you thought about it uh you know just a lot of good stuff you know they said a lot of good uh things about it uh about my growth and stuff and how I kept playing good against the good competition the better competition and stuff like that so it’s kind of good just to see that how do you view yourself positionally think it’s just a shooting guard or can you play the three at this level uh I think I can play two and three and then if I have to I I think I can play the one you know big guard I played it at Tennessee a little bit so I think I could play a real vers Style on the same lines as that other question I mean you were started in what Northeast Theo out there I mean what were your kind of thoughts when you were playing there you know what was you know how were you able to just kind of keep this Bel uh you know I just had a lot of hard work uh believed in what my parents said is you know if you stay in the gym you’re going to get what you want and paid off you know so just always uh staying confident in my craft and always putting in the work all right there you go dton NE out of Tennessee discussing his workout with the Portland Trailblazers next up Jared McCain a 62 197 pound guard at a Duke 20 years old participated in a group workout with the Portland Trailblazers McCain played quite a bit of offg guard at Duke so during his workout in Portland wanted to Showcase his ability to play both guard positions while also showcasing his shooting ability which is what he’s most well known for at this point in time of his career though also an underrated defensive player as well and also a very good rebounder particularly for a 6-2 guy he also discusses what skills teams want to see from him during workouts being curious which is something that my co-worker and fellow podcaster Brooke was interested in and playing both guard positions now that he’s getting into the NBA at 62 playing off the ball in the NBA probably going to need to be more of a ball handler in the NBA so that’s something he’s trying to show during this workouts let’s go ahead and hear from Jared McCain once again 62 197b combo guard out of Duke um how did it today go for you great great you know just trying to get some live action stuff um good to compete uh yeah it was a great day uh what are some of the things you want to showcase you know that you’re talented at that you’re proud of yeah just showcasing my my shooting ability um I feel like I wasn’t able to do on ball stuff a lot at Duke so I think showcasing that can handle the ball and make good reads off pick and rolls just driving to the hoop finishing just kind of all around what kind of feedback have you gotten from teams during the process like how many like how many first of all how many of these workouts have you done so far what kind of like what have you kind of heard from teams about you know what they like what they think you need to improve on yeah this is this is my second um yeah just to improve they want to see me play defense against smaller quicker guards um you know rebounding has been one of my most translatable skills that in shooting so just continuing to show that I can do that um at a high level and then obviously just playing defense and and making reads off on the ball how do you see yourself fitting in the NBA um yeah I think I think a shoot my shooting is going to be the one that that that leads me to the floor being able to communicate well on defense be a team defense player um yeah I think me being young I think I come into the league just ready to learn and then I think I can use my my shooting and just being curious and that’ll lead me to being playing minutes in terms of what guard spot just bounces from the one and the two or yeah I I think a little bit of both um I feel like I can play on the ball and off the ball um I think off the ball is probably what they see more in college so that’s probably where I start but I think I can obviously transition to being on the ball as well I don’t I don’t often hear people say that they’re like they want to show that they’re curious what do you mean by that yeah I think coming into the league like some people would think you know they’re the best player in the in the league already and you know you can have that confidence of course you want to be the best player uh but I think listening to your vets and being curious showing that you want to learn more I think is is great for um your development over time you just seem like in our short time together you seem like a happy individual like what’s your personality like yeah I get that from my mom and dad um just just be positive man it’s it’s it’s something that I try to bring everywhere I go just a positive outlook on life um gratitude is something I’m really big on uh so I just try to bring that everywhere so there you go jerman Kane freshman guard out of Duke now on to another dookie Kyle filipowski a 611 248 lb forward Center out of Duke 20 years old played two seasons for the Blue Devils recently had a workout a group workout in Portland actually the most recent workout in Portland just this last Thursday filipowski talks about the vibe of the workout showing some of the skills you might have that you might not have been able to show in games and the requirements of being a center in today’s NBA here’s what Kyle filipowski had to say about his group workout with the Trailblazers on Thursday uh well KY first off how do you feel like the workout went for you just in terms of both the way you performed and just the intensity of the workout yeah I think uh I think it was it went really well um I think uh you know just the Vibes in here were great you know just play with a positive attitude um you know had fun had fun playing today so it was really good just to just to feel that in this gym and and you know uh you know we’re here for a reason you know we worked hard to get here but also still enjoying this process um you know and of course everything else comes with that with like hitting shots and the competitiveness uh things like that what kind of feedback have you gotten from teams throughout the process yeah I mean just uh you know I haven’t I haven’t really um I haven’t really heard much I’ve just been so focused on going from workout to workout um you know but I’m sure my agent will fill me in sometime soon how many workouts have you had so far and how many do you have left to go yeah this was this was my fourth one um I have four more to go so I’m about halfway through what are you showing in workouts that essentially you couldn’t show at Duke because what team sacrifices could have I understand I understand yeah um I think just I think a lot of it is just my just how well I can shoot the three um you know obviously like you said you know you’re you’re you’re playing a certain role every night um you know sometimes I may shoot a lot of three sometimes I may not sometimes you know I’m being utilized in different ways so I’m I’m glad to be able to show how how well I think I can shoot the three um how well I can just pass the ball how I scan the floor and and and read the the court with the spacing um but also too just with my just with my versatility on defensive end too with trying to guard the perimeter and and uh and the rim as well you talk about versatility what what’s it like to be a big man in the modern basketball I mean you guys are asked to do so much more now than it seems like you were even three or four years ago yeah I mean I’m sure I’m I’m sure it’s way better than what it was um obviously you know you get to shoot threes if you’re capable of doing it um but also you know that comes with having to be able to switch on on guards as well so you know it it comes on both ends of the floor just the expectations to play in the NBA and so you got to work I think you know I’m I’m not you know I’m sure they to work really hard with what they to do like big guys in the past but you know I think you got to work a lot harder of of maintaining that allaround game um you know there’s a lot more that you need to focus on I think there you go Kyle Philipi 611 248 lb forward Center sophomore out of Duke and finally Tristan to Sila who is having his second workout with the Trailblazers in the last two years Tran D Silva initially declared for the 2023 NBA draft decided to go back to Colorado for a senior season he did work out for the Trailblazers during the pre-draft process before he decided to go back this time first rounder potentially a lottery pick 69 220 lb forward out of Colorado 23 years old German National during the course of his interview discusses the difference between when he worked out for the tra bles last time to now how he improved by going back to Colorado for another season how he would describe his game and the skills that he feels like are most applicable in the NBA here’s what ton Silva had to say about his second workout in the last two years with the Portland TR Blazers uh Tristan so first off how do you feel like the workout went for you both in terms of the way you performed and just the the workout in general yeah I felt like it was pretty good uh you know guys got after it um really competitive group uh it was a lot of fun you know teaming up uh with with people that I played against uh people that I know um and playing against people that that I know and and heard of this is your second time working out in this gym if I’m not mistaken how how how much different is it this time around than the last time it’s nice cuz last time I didn’t get get to talk to the media so um no I mean a lot A lot has changed you know my position uh the position that I’m in um you know the the seriousness that I go about uh that I go about my business with um and you know I’m I’m I’m real comfortable obviously being in here um second second time um for a second year in a row feels feels pretty good how do you feel like you’ve gotten better from you know last year when you started to go through this process and then decided to go back to school and now you’re going through it again like what do you feel like you know you’re a better player now than you were then yeah I mean just you know maturity in my game uh more experience uh getting older a little bit um and just playing at a at a high level you know I feel like especially this year at Colorado we had a lot of eyes on us um and uh you know playing with a lot of talent playing at a high level um kind of set the stage for for what’s happening this year in the in the summer what do you know about the process this year going in versus like when last you’re like you wish you knew go before you you were going into it last year uh I mean I’m just I’m just taking it all in you know I’m um I’m grateful for the experiences that that I’ve had last year and and this year you know I’m still I’m still learning so um it’s it’s not like I I learned all of it last year and then came back and was the complete player um you know I’m I’m still going through this proc process I’m still still learning a lot and um taking it day by day what’s different about your role at Colorado versus what you’re kind of trying to show in workouts if it’s different at all uh I mean essentially I’m just trying to show what I what I can uh what I can do um you know that that that might vary depending on who I’m playing with uh the kind of situations that that the coach has put me in and uh so it changes from from workout to workout I feel like or from possession to possession because you know I can play multiple positions I can guard multiple positions so um it’s different every time kind kind along those same lines how would you describe your game like if if you were going to tell someone like this how trist to Silva plays what what would you say um smooth game uh high IQ player uh just making the right reads um and then you know good shooter for his size for sure uh that’s that’s one of my strengths that that has gotten me to this point too um is being able to stretch the floor and and knock shots down from Deep um yeah and then versatility you know at my size being a able to to play multiple positions guard the ball shoot um it’s kind of rare it’s little uh Colorado West here a little bit did you get any uh any pointers from from Jabari or from coach or anyone else Joe I guess for that matter too just coming in uh and and getting after it being competitive that’s what they want to see um obviously you don’t you don’t have to do anything outside of what you are because they’ve they’ve seen you for for four years uh playing at Colorado and I feel like that’s that’s what I did today do you have relationship with jaari at all yeah yeah yeah yeah that’s my boy has he been kind of hyping you up telling you like you got to come here you got to you know n he’s been he’s been more telling me that he was going to kick my ass but I mean I’m uh that’s right yeah we’ll we’ll see what happens so there you go senior 4 Tristan D Silva talking about his workout with the Trailblazers also some good stuff there with Jabari Walker Jabari a bit of a trash talker as well so not surprising to hear it’s always interesting to hear guys talk about their college teammates who have made it to the NBA and that relationship probably some similarities between Jabari Walker and Tristan to Silva’s game to Tristan to Silva I don’t know if it’s just the German part but he rindes a whole lot of Maxi kber as well a guy about 69 can shoot the ball a bit plays a bit bigger than he looks four real interesting prospects there for the Trailblazers two bigs two guards it’s been about even for the Trailblazers as well the group workouts are basically maybe two guards two wings and then two bigs I mean that makes sense you’re trying to play some three on three so you need a little bit of positionality and there’s always this notion that Blazers have a lot of guards and they do have quite a few guards but I think particularly with one of these picks at least the seven or the 14 you try to shoot the moon you try to take the player you think is going to be the best player regardless of what position they’re at and then maybe with the other pick maybe you look a little more positionally obviously those second round picks as well you probably use those either in trades or you use those to maybe get some players at positions where you still feel like you need some support blazers at this point in time in their roster building they just need talent period so I don’t think think there’s any position that they’re going to say like well that guy’s pretty good but we don’t really need anyone of that position they’re already super young they just need talent at this point it’s not really about what are we going to do that’s going to bring in a player that’s going to help us compete for a championship next year or the year after that or really even the year after that it’s more about what are the players that we’re going to have here long term that are going to help us build this thing so moving forward within the next five seasons we’re able to come together and really accomplish something those are the kind of players they’re going to be looking for not necessarily which gu is going to be able to come in next season and play for us right away that’s not really where they’re at in terms of their rebuild and that’s going to do it for this edition of the briefcase thank you so much for joining me as always please like And subscribe wherever you get your podcast though I do want to remind you real quick that the tur Blazers are holding a draft party presented by Ticket Master on June 26th 5:00 hosted at Moda Center it’s a free event anyone can go but would like you to get tickets at tra bles.com draft that way we at least know how many people are going to show up draft party June 26th 5:00 Moda Center TR blazers.com draft four tickets less than 2 weeks till the 2024 NBA draft then after that about 2 weeks until the start of the NBA Summer League this is my yearly reminder that the Las Vegas summer league is a great event a chance to get up close and personal with quite a few NBA players chance to see a lot of these guys as they’re starting their careers I usually go for about a week that’s probably a little bit too long for most people to be in Vegas I probably wouldn’t be in Vegas for a week if it wasn’t my job but spending a weekend or even been picking out a couple games the Blazers are going to play going midweek to Las Vegas great time strongly recommend it if you do come to Las Vegas please send me a tweet let me know you’re there I’ll come say hello this trailer team’s super young as it is so the guys are going to be at Summer League probably the guys are going to see quite a bit on the floor this year once the NBA season starts end of October but a long time to go between now and then still much to discuss much to decide and we’ll talk about those things on future editions of the briefcase we’ll talk to you next week I’m Casey holdall go Blazers [Music]

On this edition of The Brief Case, Trail Blazers beat reporter/Insider Casey Holdahl discusses…

• The Trail Blazers’ predraft workouts less than two weeks away from the 2024 Draft

• Public vs. Private and Group vs. Solo workouts

• A quiet rumor mill so far

And we hear from Tennessee guard/forward Dalton Knecht, Duke guard Jared McCain, Duke forward/center Kyle Filipowski and Colorado forward Tristan Da Silva about their workouts with the Trail Blazers at the team’s practice facility in Tualatin.