BECOME A BASKETBALL SCOUT

Meet Daniel Marks, hear the lessons from his journey from Bucks intern to NBA champion and college GM, and get a clear map of the course, assignments, and final project.

• Meet your instructor
• Lessons from Daniel’s journey
• Course structure
• Assignments and final project overview

Learn how a professional scouting operation runs behind the scenes, from scheduling scouts across regions to managing budgets, credentials, databases, and the reporting timelines front offices depend on.

• Entry-level roles in scouting
• Calendars and operational efficiency
• Budgeting and credential requests
• Database management and reporting oversight
• Scout assignments and reporting timelines
• Communication standards

Assignment 1: Washington Wizards Scouting Calendar
Build a monthly calendar for three regional Wizards scouts in DC, Dallas, and Seattle, covering 18-20 games with no more than 15 hotel nights each.

Explore the role of a scout in today’s NBA, how coaching staffs and front offices weigh evaluations differently, and the Modern Trinity Framework that connects film, metrics, and money.

• The role of a scout in the 2026 NBA era
• Coaching staff vs. front office needs
• Scouting ethics and objective evaluation
• Overcoming bias
• Modern Trinity Framework: film, advanced metrics, and financial viability

Build your evaluation baseline by learning what NBA teams look for, how to separate talent from fit, and how to read the traits that never show up in a box score.

• What NBA teams look for
• Talent vs. fit
• Video vs. in-person scouting
• Structural patterns vs. random breakdowns
• Bench demeanor, huddle presence, and processing speed
• Case study: Why players like Kelly Oubre and Jonathan Kuminga struggle in certain systems

Master film breakdown at a front-office level, separating outcome from process and pinpointing the swing skill that will make or break a player’s career in the league.

• Decoupling outcome from process
• Player SWOT analysis
• Swing skills
• Clips vs. full games
• Live lab: Breaking down offensive clips, defensive clips, and full game film

Assignment 2: Clips vs. Full Game Scouting Report
Scout one player on offensive and defensive clips, then again in a full game, and compare what each viewing reveals.

Discover how to merge tracking data with the eye test, reconcile film that contradicts the numbers, and speak analytics fluently with scouts who still trust their eyes first.

• Technical skills behind basketball analytics
• Communicating data to skeptical scouts
• Reconciling film with data
• Tracking metrics: shot quality, rim deterrence, EPM, and DARKO
• Filtering out noise
• Case study: Jaylen Brown and the analytics vs. eye test debate

Develop a detective’s approach to scouting, building trusted sources, asking the right questions, and grading intel so every player evaluation rests on information your front office can rely on.

• Building relationships
• Levels of sourcing
• Identifying direct stakeholders in a player’s success
• Areas of questioning
• Grading scales for assessing intel
• Case study: Mock intel call with Daniel

Assignment 3: Workplace Intel Report
Write a full intel report on someone in your current work environment using the framework and grading criteria from class.

Turn raw scouting notes into executive memos GMs actually read, with clear opinions, honest risk assessment, and specific evidence in place of tired scouting clichés.

• Architecture of a front-office memo
• Structuring the 500-word brief
• Eliminating scouting clichés
• Writing with candor about risk and upside
• Forming a clear opinion
• Workshop: Removing jargon to deliver high-impact, actionable communication

Examine real scouting successes and failures, quantify the winning plays that never appear on the stat sheet, and project how a player’s role scales up or down.

• Real-world scouting successes and failures
• Quantifying “no-stats” impact
• Off-ball gravity, screen assists, and box-outs
• Role scalability
• Case study: Winning plays from under-the-radar players like Fred VanVleet and Payton Pritchard

Step inside the draft process, from the NBA Combine and pre-draft workouts to separating real intel from smokescreens and building a big board ready for the war room.

• Real intel vs. smokescreens
• NBA Combine and the workout process
• Mock drafts and the role of media
• Impact of NIL on NBA scouting
• Building the big board and red flagging
• Inside the war room

Navigate roster construction in the apron era, scouting players through the lens of the new CBA, contract structures, team systems, and long-term developmental trajectories.

• First and second tax aprons
• Value contracts vs. production traps
• Percent of cap and contract structures
• System archetypes
• Aging curves and developmental trajectories
• Case study: Navigating the second tax apron

Assignment 4: 2027 Free Agency Retention Report
Write a 500-750 word report on whether a team should re-sign a player in 2027 NBA Free Agency, blending scouting, analytics, and finances.

Design a public-facing scouting portfolio and outreach strategy that positions you for video room and front-office openings, whether you’re freelancing or targeting a team role.

• Building a public brand on Substack and LinkedIn
• Freelance reality vs. team hiring timelines
• Positioning for video room and front-office vacancies
• Case study: How a consulting client used LinkedIn to land a CFO role at NBALAB

Prepare to launch your career with networking that leads with your dossier, interview prep for defending your methodology, and a plan to keep your portfolio growing.

• Strategic networking
• The technical interview
• Portfolio sustainability
• Continuous learning pathways

Assignment 5: Draft Day Closing Argument
Deliver a 3-minute closing argument recommending a specific player for a specific team and pick in the 2027 NBA Draft.