How workouts will help Nets next year ... and ‘third round’ this year

In talking about how “smart teams” look a the Draft process, Adrian Wojnarowski and ESPN Draft Analyst Mike Schmitz spoke this week about the value of working out a lot of players, even those who were likely to drop out before the May 31 (college) and June 11 (international) deadlines.

Both said they thought teams —like the Nets— who work out a lot of prospects a have a leg up on the next draft because they accumulate a great deal of data on those players who go back to school or their home countries.

“If you’re a smart team, you bring in as many guys as you can,” said Schmitz. “you bring them in early. You get their interviews and their medicals, you see them play. Potentially, they’re going to go back to school and you have a leg up on those guys.”

Schmitz noted that working out players who planned on dropping out can have value down the road. For example, last year the Nets worked out several players who have been linked to Brooklyn this year, including Mo Wagner, Hamidou Diallo, Elie Okobo and Rawle Alkins.

For the Nets, of course, planning for the next draft, in 2019, is crucial. It will be the first time since 2013 that they’ve had their own first rounder, mainly because of the disastrous Draft Night deal with the Celtics ... but also because of the ill-advised pick swap with the Hawks in 2015.

The Nets worked out more than 25 players who decided against keeping their names in the 2018 Draft, reclassifying to 2019, which virtually every NBA pundit believes will be weak. So the more data the better. No one knows where the Nets will pick in the first round a year from now, but already the Nets database has details not just on these prospects’ play but their psychological profiles as well. Both will be updated by scouts looking at their play next season, then again when a new round of workouts and interviews begin next May.

Here’s our list of those players who the Nets worked out ... and have reclassified for 2019. The highest rank in the 2019 Draft? Maryland’s big Bruno Fernando who’s currently ranked 7th in NBADraft.net’s 2019 mock.

Shamorie Ponds, 6’1” point guard, St. John’s, sophomore

Barry Brown Jr, 6’3” shooting guard, Kansas State, junior

Chris Silva, 6’9” power forward, South Carolina, junior

Mustapha Heron, 6’5” shooting guard, Auburn, sophomore

P.J. Washington, 6’7” swingman, Kentucky, freshman

Jordan Caroline, 6’7” shooting guard, Nevada, junior

Cody Martin, 6’7” swingman, Nevada, junior

Admiral Schofield, 6’5” shooting guard, Tennessee, junior

Bruno Fernando, 6’10” center, Maryland, freshman

Reid Travis, 6’8” power forward, Stanford, junior

Sagaba Konate, 6’8” power forward, West Virginia, sophomore

Ky Bowman, 6’0” point guard, Boston College, sophomore*

Jalen Hudson, 6’6” shooting guard, Florida, junior

Carsen Edwards, 6’1” point guard, Purdue, sophomore

Quinton Rose, 6’9” small forward, Temple, sophomore

Caleb Martin, 6’7” swingman, Nevada, junior

Jon Davis, 6’3” point guard, Charlotte, junior

Tyus Battle, 6’6” shooting guard, Syracuse, sophomore

Jalen McDaniels, 6’10” power forward, San Diego State, freshman

Yoeli Childs, 6’8” power forward, Brigham Young, sophomore

Kris Wilkes, 6’8” shooting guard, UCLA, freshman

Fletcher Magee, 6’4” shooting guard, Wofford, junior

Tyler Cook, 6’9” power forward, Iowa, sophomore

Matur Maker, 6’10” PF, Mississauga Prep, 20 years old

Brian Bowen, 6’7” shooting guard, South Carolina, high school senior

The workouts could have even more immediate value. There’s the so-called “third round” of the Draft. Starting around 10:30 Thursday night and continuing through the next day, scouts from NBA teams will be making calls to agents for the undrafted players, offering summer league spots, training camp spots and in some cases, free agent contracts, including two-way deals with G-League teams.

Those calls yielded Yogi Ferrell two years ago and Milton Doyle this season, both of whom made the team at one point.

Of the 70 plus players the Nets worked out, around 30 were not projected to be drafted. That list of course can change on Thursday night, but again, here’s our list.

Matt Mobley, 6’3” shooting guard, St. Bonaventure, senior

Abudushalamu Abudurexiti, 6’10” small forward, Xingyang Long Lions, 22 years old

Deng Adel, 6’6” small forward, Louisville, junior

Kendrick Nunn, 6’3” shooting guard, Oakland, senior

Joel Berry II, 6’0” point guard, North Carolina, senior

Matt Farrell, 6’1” point guard, Notre Dame, senior

Desi Rodriguez, 6’6” shooting guard, Seton Hall, senior

E.C. Matthews, 6’5” shooting guard, Rhode Island, senior

Dusan Ristic, 7’0” center, Arizona, senior

Yuta Watanabe, 6’9” shooting guard, George Washington, senior

Jeffery Carroll, 6’6” shooting guard, Oklahoma State, senior

Wenyen Gabriel, 6’9” power forward, Kentucky, freshman

Marcus Derrickson, 6’7” small forward, Georgetown, junior

Alize Johnson, 6’9” power forward, Missouri State, senior

Jared Terrell, 6’3” shooting guard, Rhode Island, senior

Yante Maten, 6’8” PF, Georgia, senior

Tyler Davis, 6’10” C, Texas A&M, junior

Terry Larrier, 6’9” SG, UConn, senior

B.J. Johnson, 6’7” SF, LaSalle, senior

Ajdin Penava, 6’7” SF, Marshall, junior

Jemerrio Jones, 6’5” PF, New Mexico State, senior

Theo Pinson, 6’6” SF, North Carolina, senior

Elijah Bryant, 6’5” SG, Brigham Young, junior

Allerik Freeman, 6’3” SG, North Carolina State, senior

Todd Withers, 6’8” SF/SG, Queens (N.C.) College, senior

Jaylen Adams, 6’2” PG, St. Bonaventure, senior

Neither of our lists are complete of course. The Nets don’t release the names of who they’ve worked out. We (meaning @GNYR) have put together the list, based on social media posts. And of course, the Nets could make a call to an undrafted player they didn’t have in.

Overall, the Nets Draft strategy won’t end on Thursday night when the 60th pick is called out. They’ve got phone calls to make and databases to update.