James Rodriguez

I was born and raised in San Antonio and as one would suspect, I grew up loving the San Antonio Spurs. By the time I was old enough to remember players' names, Tim Duncan was drafted. Literally, the rest is history. I witnessed the small market Spurs turn into one of the most consistent professional teams for two decades: five championships, and a 50+ wins season streak stretching from 1997 to 2017. Absolutely incredible! And they accomplished this through savvy signings and successful draft selections. My admiration for the front office, scouting department, and coaching staff is unparalleled and I want to be a part of something like that. I want to be an integral part of a successful basketball organization. This is the career I always envisioned for myself.

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Life took an unexpected turn when I was ten years old and my father suffered a stroke. He lost everything. He lost his ability to swallow, see, stand, and walk. My hero was down but he wasn’t out. He spent months at a rehabilitation hospital and by the time my dad returned home, he was restored. It was an incredible transformation. The rehab team did more than rehabilitate my dad. They gave my family hope and support in a time when we were overwhelmed with fear and worry. I was inspired to help families in a similar way, and I did. I became a physical therapist, and I have worked in rehabilitation settings for 10 years. The journey has been challenging, gratifying, and humbling. I am grateful to those who helped my family, to the medical practitioners who I have learned from and worked alongside, and to the patients and families that received my care. And now I want to pursue my dream.

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That brings us to this book. I officially began scouting NBA prospects in 2020. I recorded copious notes throughout the collegiate season identifying strengths and weaknesses, but it didn’t feel like enough. What does “I like this prospect over this prospect,” really mean? Then I read Superforecasting by Tetlock and Gardner. Their book details the art and science involved in making and adjusting predictions. I needed a way to quantify my ratings of each prospect, compare each of them to one another, and evaluate my forecasts in the future to improve my overall process. So, I developed my own grading scale to compare the prospects to one another based on their projected roles, minutes played, and potential accumulation of accolades. I combined all my reports and organized them within this draft book. Did the prospect exceed or fail to meet my prognostications? This book serves as a resource to evaluate my predictions in the future. The time invested in this project is very difficult to calculate, but the love and passion I invested to produce it is unquantifiable.