NBA Q&A: Magic GM Rob Hennigan

Courtesy of John Denton

JD: You have talked several times this offseason about how well your young guys have embraced the notion of hard work and how many of them were back in the gym two weeks after the regular season ended. How happy are you with the work that those players have put in this offseason?

HENNIGAN: "It’s very refreshing to see guys who want to get better and are willing to put in the work requisite to make it happen. It’s something that is becoming a mindset and a habit of putting in an honest day’s work. It’s a testament to our players, but also to our coaches for structuring the development that makes it fun and challenging at the same time."

JD: There are several rebuilding teams in the NBA right now, but most of them are devoid of young talent and promise. Your roster appears to be chock-full of talented young players. How encouraged are you that you have players loaded with promise who could be budding all-stars?

HENNIGAN: "We view our players, all of them to a man, as guys who can still get a lot better. Especially our young players who haven’t been in the league very long and are still trying to solidify their niche – it’s a really powerful thing to have that mindset (that you still have a lot to prove). We feel that with the development plan that we have in place for each guy we’re confident that they will be able to maximize their potential. We certainly have high hopes for our young guys."

JD: With the team still in somewhat of a growing phase, how will you gauge success this year both on a team level and an individual level?

HENNIGAN: ``We’ll have some external and internal benchmarks that we will try to analyze to make sure that guys are making steps in the right direction. Some of it is subjective and some of it is objective, but a lot will be based on attitude, approach, effort and consistency. We’ll use those four pegs to determine progress.’’

JD: Congratulations, you’re no longer a first-year GM. How are you different now than you were 16 months ago when you first took the job? What was the hardest part of your first year and what was the most surprising part of the job?

HENNIGAN: ``The most challenging part was putting together an entire basketball operations staff that fits together and creates synergy together. A year later, we could not be happier with the staff that we have working toward a common goal. The most rewarding thing was just watching our guys continue to flight, claw and keep getting better every day. Going through a transition period and a building phase like this, it’s not for the faint of heart. You have to have resolve and resilience and really want it every day. The fact that our guys showed that desire was impressive. The fact that Coach (Jacque) Vaughn and his staff were so resilient every day with their message and coaching style, so that was really rewarding to see.’’

JD: You are a very humble guy so I can imagine what your answer will be to this question, but I’m going to ask it anyway. What is your reaction to the fact that people around the NBA now are saying that the Magic ``won’’ the trade last August that sent Dwight Howard to the Lakers? At first, there were a lot of people who had questioned you and the deal, but now they have seen the promising parts that you acquired. Does that reversal give you some satisfaction?

HENNIGAN: ``You know, I think anytime someone declares whether a trade was won or lost it’s very subjective. I’m sure we’ll make a trade or two in the future that doesn’t work out. Things have a funny way of balancing out in the end.’’

JD: Tobias Harris was hardly playing in Milwaukee, buried on Scott Skiles bench. What did you know, what did you see in him at that time that told you that he could come to Orlando in the February trade and average 17.3 points and 8.5 rebounds, score 20 points nine times and hit 30 points twice?

HENNIGAN: ``Well, we didn’t know and it was an educated guess, if you will. A lot of it was based on how he approaches the game, what he’s about and what he wants to be. A lot of it came down to us valuing what he values as a human being and as a player and seeing a fit with how we want the rest of the team to gel and look.’’

JD: You have said that when building a team you never want a roster that is too old or too young and that having a mix of both is vitally important. How do you like the mix of veterans that you have in Jameer Nelson, Arron Afflalo and Glen Davis to go with all of the young talent on the roster?

HENNIGAN: ``I think balance is the name of the game and it’s a critical element to how your roster comes together. It’s also a critical element to living life. I think that balance provides a yin-and-yang effect that can be powerful and help build chemistry.’’

JD: What’s the latest update on Glen Davis after he had to have a second surgical procedure on the broken bone in his foot in July? Will he be ready for training camp next week or for the start of the regular season?

HENNIGAN: ``He’s progressing on schedule and he is progressing slowly. And that’s by design. One thing that we want to make sure of is that when Glen does come back we don’t want him to re-aggravate that foot. So we’re being very cautious and very vigilant in how he is preparing. He is moving along as scheduled but we still don’t have a firm timetable yet to when he will return.’’

JD: How about the status of Arron Afflalo? Is there any lingering effects from the hamstring that he tore late last season?

HENNIGAN: ``He’s fine. He spent the majority of the summer really tapping into his body and doing some things that are different than he did in the past in relation to his weight-training and his diet. He’s feeling great.’’

JD: As it relates to rookie Victor Oladipo, do you see it as out-of-the-box thinking when you take an athlete who played almost exclusively at shooting guard in college and you turn him into a point guard in the NBA? Or is that just the position that you project him to have the most success at in the NBA because of his skill set and size?

HENNIGAN: ``You look at players and you look at the game, but we try to look at it a little differently. We try to look at players who we feel can fit the style that we want to play. It’s not as much about allocating a concrete position as it is identifying what are the areas of the game that Player X can impact. We’re trying to find players who can impact a lot of areas at the same time regardless of what position they are playing.’’

JD: In Jacque Vaughn, you have a head coach who is about teaching, consistency and patience – things that you often preach. How confident are you that he is exactly the right person to mold the young players on this roster?

HENNIGAN: ``We couldn’t be happier or more excited about the job that Jacque and his staff have done. His leadership, consistency and fairness to how he coaches and motivates players are incredible assets for us. We feel incredibly confident in his ability to lead us where we want to go as a franchise.’’

JD: Your stated mission is that you want to build a sustainable winner in Orlando, and you are well aware that it will take time to do that. You are a former athlete and as competitive as the next guy, so how difficult is it for you to stay patient and continue to preach process?

HENNIGAN: ``It’s a challenge in real time, but if we can manifest the right kind of discipline and toughness as we build our team, looking back we’ll really appreciate the path that we took and the adversity we’ve had to deal with while getting to that point.’’

JD: You told me that the most influential book that you read this summer was, ``Thinking Fast and Slow.’’ Sounds like there are probably a lot of things in that book that could come in handy as a GM who has to balance the short-term with the long-term future of a basketball franchise. What did that book teach you?

HENNIGAN: ``It was just about decision-making and all of the complexities that factor into making decisions. As a management staff, we’re always trying to educate ourselves on the best mechanisms to do that. We’re as thirsty for knowledge and as thirsty for ways to gain advantages as anyone is. Reading books like that can provoke and stimulate thought, and that’s never a bad thing.’’

JD: A big part of being a wise leader is knowing how to surround yourself with smart people. How much do Assistant GMs Scott Perry and Matt Lloyd make your job easier with talent acquisition?

HENNIGAN: ``Our staff is incredibly talented and incredibly hard-working. Scott and Matt lead the charge on that front. Their expertise, their leadership abilities and how they are able to motivate and connect with our basketball staff and the people in our organization speaks to how committed they are and how unselfish they are to the common goal.’’

JD: I know that you prefer to stay in the moment and focus on the present, but do you ever close your eyes and think ahead to a time when Nik, Mo, Tobias and Victor are deeper into their careers and in their primes? Do you see that group being able to grow together and make the team something special?

HENNIGAN: ``Certainly, we feel like those guys are going to get better and they want to become really good players. It’s incumbent on us as an organization to have the infrastructure in place to allow them to do that. We’re excited about their futures.’’