Hamilton picked by Denver, #56 overall

[sportsart]

Help me understand something. Can't Dham improve as much or more working with coaches in the D league as he would have by staying one more year? Can he not make the improvement necessary to get a better contract down the road?

Basically if he has NBA talent won't the D league help him grow into that talent even more so than if he stayed?

 

[TasteofUConn]

I'm not sure if you are agreeing or disagreeing with.

And, based on your phrasing, I'm not sure with whom.

 

[TasteofUConn]

Much like the "haters" crap people love to post I see no one mocking or saying "I told you so." They are simply stating their opinion on what is going to happen to him in the future.

Bullsh-t, Mau.
How about this quote:
"Wow, how awesome!!!! If you can get a D-league slot, how can you NOT leave early? It is an incredible opportunity and a dream come true."
If that's not mocking, then there's no such thing as mocking.

Or the guy who wrote "25k plus housing." Or "Girls will be all over him."

THAT'S MOCKING MAU.

I have NO ISSUE with discussing DHam's decision. It's the nastiness I don't like, and mocking him by sarcastically noting that a D-league slot is "a dream come true" is despicable. F the dude who wrote that. What has he ever done with his life to merit him mocking DHam?

 

[TasteofUConn]

Help me understand something. Can't Dham improve as much or more working with coaches in the D league as he would have by staying one more year?

Maybe, but that's not the game, necessarily. The game is getting drafted high. If staying in college will move you into the 1st round, then that might be a reason to stay. If staying won't move you, then why stay?
For DHam, staying in school for a year or two may have provided him with a Shabazzian stage. If we go the FF in his Junior year and he's putting up big numbers, maybe he gets a 1st round guaranteed contract. Also, he just might get markedly better.

The game here is that the NBA only has his college career and combine and workout results to go on. If he has a great college career, then that will factor strongly into his draft spot.

But if he goes early, like he did, then what? Now he's making a lot less money, not guaranteed, and maybe he isn't good enough to stand out in the D-League, resulting in not much money or time in the NBA.

For a 2 year, million plus guaranteed contract, it may have been financially more sensible to stay at UConn IF you knew or believed that he was a marginal NBA player.

If you're right, and he is going to prove it up in the D-League or in summer camps or what not, then going might have been the right choice, financially.

That ignores that finances are not the only reason people make decisions, notwithstanding the overwhelming analysis that presumes that as true.

 

[TasteofUConn]

[Returning]certainly couldn't have hurt him.

Strongly disagree. If he has another season similar to this past one, or not much better, then it may have appeared to NBA scouts that he had reached his potential.
In other words, at the end of this year it would have been possible for NBA teams to estimate his trajectory as resulting in NBA potential in the near future. One mediocre year or regression could lead to a new estimated trajectory.
We've had players come back and not shown improvement, or actually posted worse numbers.

 

[businesslawyer]

He can always come back and get his degree if that's important to him. He preferred the idea of playing basketball for money over staying in school, it's as simple as that. No need to keep bashing him.

I don't see folks bashing him. Concluding that he made a move that was against his own interests is not bashing -- it's expressing an opinion.

Now, will it work out for him? We'll see. I hope it does. But it is not obnoxious or stupid to wonder if his long term interests would have been better served by improving his shooting and defense before putting his name in the draft.

 

[TasteofUConn]

If staying another year hurts your stock you probably wont be a very good nba player anyway.

Completely true, but completely irrelevant to the main focus of this conversation, which is how to maximize your profit potential, right?

Staying another year, for many, will, in fact, be "showing their cards," with "their cards" being the fact that they are not a great NBA prospect. So why do that? Go early and maximize results.

 

[TasteofUConn]

I don't see folks bashing him.

Re-read it counselor. Some did. I put it in bold and italics to make it easier to find.

 

[Kgun7]

Mixed feelings, he was drafted and that seems to be a good thing, but late second round picks are often better off being a free agent so they can try out for teams they fit in with

Good luck Daniel

I get what you're saying ... but you'd think an NBA GM would pick a player that they expect would fit in ...

 

[QDOG5]

Best thing for DHam was that OKC bought his contract. I don't think they'd buy into the draft to cut him. My guess is the Ollie/OKC relationship helped DHam out. Haters will hate but I hope he makes it. Having more former players in the NBA never hurts recruiting.

 

[Leebo]

Re-read it counselor. Some did. I put it in bold and italics to make it easier to find.

I suspect some of the haters might be ignored by some people.

 

[Pudge]

That's not how it comes across. Especially now. To me, the people who still say DHam made a poor decision are highlighting their self interests as fans not his. This turned out about as well as it could for DHam.

This kid & this Hamilton family knows a lot about the Professional basketball profession. There's nothing that his older brothers have been through that has laid this path for the Golden Goose dream. SO ... Daniel Hamilton was well versed in what this is about. I agree with the notion that WE don't get to be fans of these kids forever in Blue. WE enjoy them ... and then we get the next year's team. Loved watching him play; Next is Terry Laurier

 

[Fishy]

Help me understand something. Can't Dham improve as much or more working with coaches in the D league as he would have by staying one more year? Can he not make the improvement necessary to get a better contract down the road?

Basically if he has NBA talent won't the D league help him grow into that talent even more so than if he stayed?

Probably not.

He's already used up most of his margin for error. As a late second-round pick, no one has an investment in him.

If he doesn't make the team out of camp, he's likely heading for the D League. He's a bad week or an injury assignment away from being waived - he has to do well and do well quickly.

If he ends up heading to Europe, I'd say his odds start sliding towards single digits.

In either case, he's further away from the NBA than he would be if he were a junior at UConn.

 

[David 76]

Strongly disagree. If he has another season similar to this past one, or not much better, then it may have appeared to NBA scouts that he had reached his potential.
In other words, at the end of this year it would have been possible for NBA teams to estimate his trajectory as resulting in NBA potential in the near future. One mediocre year or regression could lead to a new estimated trajectory.
We've had players come back and not shown improvement, or actually posted worse numbers.

Either way, if he doesn't improve significantly over last year, he doesn't catch with the NBA. Doesn't matter if that is D league or UConn. He has to improve. I would choose the support and commitment of Ollie over a D league coach.

 

[Husky25]

In my opinion, it's a dubious honor to be picked among the last 5 of the second round of the NBA Draft.

In my opinion, Hamilton would have been better off not getting drafted.

In my opinion, Hamilton took some bad advice in hiring an agent, thereby shutting the Purvis/Brimah door.

In my opinion, Hamilton's circumstances indicate he probably shut the door on himself by letting his school work lag in the Spring Semester. Going Pro was a way to help UConn, APR-wise.

In my opinion, Giffey has a better shot than Hamilton of making an impact in the NBA at some point (if he so chooses.).

In my opinion, UConn has a decent shot at a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. However, had Hamilton remained eligible, they would have had a better shot.

In my opinion, UConn would be more entertaining to watch this upcoming season, had Hamilton remained eligible.

 

[David 76]

Completely true, but completely irrelevant to the main focus of this conversation, which is how to maximize your profit potential, right?

Staying another year, for many, will, in fact, be "showing their cards," with "their cards" being the fact that they are not a great NBA prospect. So why do that? Go early and maximize results.

Oh! Your take is that DHam does not have the talent for the NBA and this maximizes his relatively meager earnings. I think a lot of us felt DHam still had the potential to be an NBA player and he, pretty objectively, made the wrong choice.
Maybe you are more negative on DHam?

 

[TasteofUConn]

Either way, if he doesn't improve significantly over last year, he doesn't catch with the NBA. Doesn't matter if that is D league or UConn.

Yeah, but, it's possible he would improve at UConn, raising his stock, without that improvement translating to NBA success. Lots of guys are great in college and don't cut it in the NBA, for whatever reason.
Once he's in the D-League, his hand gets laid down for viewing, because there will be a direct, indisputable connection between his performance in the D-League and his expected performance in the NBA. That link does not exist between college and the NBA.

 

[TasteofUConn]

Oh! Your take is that DHam does not have the talent for the NBA and this maximizes his relatively meager earnings. I think a lot of us felt DHam still had the potential to be an NBA player and he, pretty objectively, made the wrong choice. Maybe you are more negative on DHam?

You inferred my opinion of DHam in the pros based on a general proposition I threw out. Not good!!
Regarding your "wrong choice" conclusion, you have no idea what he was thinking. I agree with you that "he made the wrong choice" IF AND ONLY IF his only goal was to make the NBA. But I wouldn't ever use the words "wrong choice" in reference to another person without knowing exactly what their goals were (which we don't in this case).
Regarding my opinion of DHam, I thought he was a lottery pick after watching him play his Freshman year. I attributed many of his issues to being asked to handle and distribute too much on a team lacking ball handlers.
I thought he didn't improve as much as I expected this year. He didn't ever start knocking down the 10 footer at the rate I thought he would. I thought his decision making would get better. I thought his team D would get better. Given the season, I thought he was a non-lottery 1st rounder who could move up if he stayed a year or two more.
Then the combine was held, and his results, frankly, were poor. For being such an outstanding rebounder, his jumping stats were quite poor. He's 6'6" with a 6/8 span and a 26" no step vert and a 29" max vert. Those numbers are quite poor. When I was at UConn playing rec games, with exactly an 8' reach to the tip of my middle finger, I could jump up and grab rim. So that's what? 25"? Maybe? And that's without a crap ton of lifting/conditioning. He also tested poorly for floor movement. So at that point, I started thinking 2nd round.

My opinion is that he doesn't have the physical talent to play in the NBA and no amount of practice will change that. I dearly hope I'm wrong and that he has a 20 year career.

He may end up being the perfect example of why staying in college can matter - he may end up being one of those guys who, by senior year, could have completely dominated, but who, for whatever reason, didn't have a game that translated to the next level. The Billy Bean effect, as it were.

 

[David 76]

Yes, I was speaking in terms of going for an NBA career, which was an assumption on a decision only Daniel could make. I still hoped he had the potential to be good enough for the NBA. He, obviously wanted out of UConn, and that is all that matters.
I have to say, it is very nice to have some difference of opinion with someone on the Boneyard and actually have an exchange of information and opinion and not an insult fest!
Thank you!

 

[TasteofUConn]

I have to say, it is very nice to have some difference of opinion with someone on the Boneyard and actually have an exchange of information and opinion and not an insult fest!

How about that!

 

[TheChamps990411]

Actually, I think a college degree is somewhat overrated. Either way though, why not just be happy for the kid and move on?

Sad but true. Seems like a college degree is just a faster way into debt.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Sad but true. Seems like a college degree is just a faster way into debt.

This thread is already an embarrassment so let's derail it into something potentially constructive.

The problem with college degrees are multi-fold (I'll leave out the raw cost due to government subsidized loans because that's not the actual degree/schooling)

The biggest in my opinion is that most kids come out of college with no marketable skill. The big majors like sociology, poli sci, psych, communications, etc., at best (in the case of psychology) require serious post-grad work and education i.e. doctorship. A past girlfriend of mine is about halfway through hers and it is killing her. My best friend also majored in psych but was lucky to find a niche market (that the vast majority of us wouldn't touch with a 50 ft pole [residential school for kids way down the autosm spectrum]) and, because he's a generally awesome and stand-up guy, worked his way up the ladder so to speak fairly quickly

Then you have kids majoring in history, philosophy, english, etc. who also have no tangible skill. They see college purely as a time to focus on one intellectual endeavour rather than focusing on developing something that will make a return on their massive investment. These are the kids who ended up camping out and sh-tting on themselves at Occupy Wall St: the now classic "over-educated" middle-upper middle class

And as a kind of umbrella problem, the vast majority of college majors (I am guilty of this, as is basically every non-business major) are focused on providing a service, which is great, but even those of us who are lucky to obtain a career in the field in which we studied will most likely not create a single job throughout our professional lives. Personal aside; I make myself feel better about this by not outright working for a boss where my job boils down to making a superior richer.

Yeah, the average American college degree is worth very little in the grand scheme, especially if (here's another opening of a can of worms) the whole country adopts a $15 minimum wage

 

[David 76]

Compare the incomes of people with college degrees to those without one. They are worth a lot. Most people without one would agree. I think this is a meme adhered to by people with a degree.

As far as college being about education vs career prep, that is another question. But it is a choice each person gets to make. You can use your education as a career move or use it in pursuit of knowledge that is not directly tied to a career.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Yeah, the average American college degree is worth very little in the grand scheme, especially if (here's another opening of a can of worms) the whole country adopts a $15 minimum wage

Lord that would be terrible for the country smh

 

[Leebo]

How about we not turn this DHam thread into a cesspool thread.