Billy King on the Draft: "I leave the Draft to scouts to manage"

In talking with The Devils Den, Scout.com's Duke blog, Billy King says he trusts his scouts, many of whom been with him since Philadelphia, and lets them manage much of the draft process. His job, he says, is to acquire the picks.

"I have a very good staff and I put a lot on them. That’s something I learned in Philadelphia, you have to trust your scouts because that’s what they do. I do go out but obviously not as much as they do and I trust them because that’s what they do. As we get closer to the Draft I get more involved and focus in more but it’s really I leave the Draft to them to manage because it’s really my job is to try and acquire the picks so we can have good picks to make."

Overall, King has had a good record in the draft, taking Andre Iguodala (between Rafael Araujo and Luke Jackson) in 2004 and taking Thaddeus Young (between Acie Law and Julian Wright) in 2007. He has also found gems deep in the draft. He mentioned that record in meeting with the beat writers the first week of May, pointing out that in 2005, he didn't have a first round pick but wound up with the Kyle Korver and Willie Green, then the next year, he took Lou Williams in the second. With the Nets, he chose Bojan Bogdanovic at No. 31 in 2011.

The Nets GM says that his scouts know what he's looking for.

"They’ve been with me for awhile now so they know what we are looking for. So when they are out scouting, we meet periodically and we discuss things but they know what we are trying to accomplish. It’s not something I have to remind them of every year, it doesn’t change year to year."

On the subject of personal relations with other GM's, King says the personal doesn't affect the professional.

"Well you do have relationships with some of them but at the end of the day, you are trying to work out the deal that works best for you. So you do have relationships but ultimately all of us are trying to figure out deals that works best for us."

The Nets will pick at Nos. 29 and 41.

• One on one with Billy King - Steve Clark - Devil's Den