NEW YORK — Tyler Ennis was at the Westin Hotel in Times Square, Manhattan, on Wednesday to answer questions before the NBA Draft tomorrow night at the Barclay’s Center. Here’s what he had to say.
Q. What are the things you have to improve at the NBA level?
A. I definitely want to improve my strength. Get stronger for the next level. Getting stronger and getting faster will only help me at the point guard position, especially with the athletes that are in the league at the point guard position today. I think getting faster and stronger will help me a lot.
Q. Has the reality set in yet that you’re going to be an NBA player?
A. There’s definitely been some moments where I kind of sit back or just look around and realize it’s actually happening, but I don’t think it’ll feel real until I’m on the stage shaking [Adam Silver’s] hand.
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Q. What were some of those moments you were just describing?
A. I think the first one was arriving at the NBA combine. I had been watching the combine on NBA TV the past couple years, and just seeing myself there, seeing my name and doing media and everything like that just made me realize that I’m actually there.
Q. Which teams did you work out with?
A. Toronto. LA. Sacramento. Orlando twice. Phoenix. Atlanta. Minnesota.
Q. Do you have any idea where you may be headed?
A. I actually have no idea. I think I worked out well for the teams that I went to. Most of the teams that brought me in need point guards, so at any given moment I can go.
Q. How important is the fit with the team you end up with?
A. You really don’t get to choose where you go in this situation, so I have to hope that it’s the right fit for me, whatever team picks me up. I think everyone would want to go as high as they can in the draft, but I think fit is the most important thing.
Q. What do you think about possibly playing for the Toronto Raptors?
A. Toronto in general would be a good fit at the point guard position. They have some free agents at that spot, but I think most players would love to go home and play in their home town. Personally, I would love to play in Toronto. But you have to wait and see if it plays out.
Q. Have you been working out with other Canadian players leading up to the draft?
A. I’ve been working out with a bunch of Canadians. Whenever a Canadian is drafted, I think the whole country kind of bands around him. And it takes pride in the picks because in the past couple of years we’d have two or three drafted, but seven or eight is something that we’ve never seen in Canada before.
Q. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve gotten in the last 24 hours?
A. I talked to Tristan Thompson yesterday. He was telling me just to enjoy it. I think whenever you talk to the NBA players who went to the draft, they tell you how much fun they had and what an experience it was. You have a lot of guys come back and watch just because of how much they miss it and how much they enjoyed the process. I’m just going to enjoy it, and regardless of the result tomorrow, I’m going to be happy.
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Q. What do you feel you can bring to the table for an NBA team?
A. Every team that calls me in knows my background, knows what I can do in a game situation, so it’s just going to come down to the whole draft night, really. So many trades can happen, no one really knows what the teams are going to do. So you’re just going to have to wait it out and hopefully I end up on a team that’s successful.
Q. Have you spoken with Michael Carter-Williams about the draft process?
A. He’s been on the road, but I think he’s going to be there tomorrow. I talked to him a bit. The main thing, like I said before [with Thompson] was to enjoy it. You only get drafted once.
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