Yes NBA teams often choose potential & are looking for players with biggest UPside, but they do not categorically want unfinished products and want to pay them $5MM (#6 pick salary) a year to sit on the bench or in the G-league.
1. I'm not talking about Bouknight, he should & will enter the draft.
2. The NBA lottery changed drastically in 2019, it is theoretically possible that this ultimately changes the draft as better teams draft higher. In fact the change in the lottery is still not really accepted and we had a long 'yard debate earlier this year about what is an 'NBA lottery pick' - since now strictly speaking lottery only applies to picks 1-5.
3. Another key factoid if you follow the NBA closely is lots of team are trading multiple first-round picks. This is b/c of the changes in the lottery system and b/c teams have DEVALUED first round picks. As players get younger it is now recognized as more of a crapshoot = 1st round picks are less valuable. NBA teams would rather trade that option and spend $ for an established player (so again they don't really want unknown potential & some are trading this away in recognition of its diminished value).
Both sides of this debate tend to exaggerate their point-of-view b/c it is all subjective, it isn't a science. Of course Hamilton is a first-round pick regardless of if he leaves college as a frosh-senior, of course his playing style is a little different if playing today and of course in this era he would have come out after his sophomore year if not earlier. Even the current state/system doesn't necessarily preclude EVERY player from returning for a soph, junior or senior year. People (in all walks) have a lot of success going AGAINST conventional thinking, but often that is a harder path and isn't best for most.
