IMHO, Bouknight should not be considering the NBA this year.

[superjohn]

Yes, the 2020 draft was weak, bro. That is also irrelevant to this discussion because Bouk is being drafted in 2021, bro. If you read the original comment it says 2020 and 2021 were weak, bro.

And I quote you, bro: "He will definitely be a first round for the fact this year draft will be weak like this past one we just had."

It's getting increasingly hard to communicate on this board.

 

[Lefty2one]

The sooner you get into the NBA and its system and how the game is played at that level, the better. That's why the G-League Ignite option is so enticing. The current NBA style is finally trickling into college here and there but by and large the style of play in college hoops compared to the NBA are nothing alike.

If you're Bouk, would you rather come back for your junior year of college or be paid millions to learn the game from better coaching/training staffs--who are developing you in the precise way needed to succeed in the NBA--and start the clock sooner on the coveted second contract? All while not having to go to class.

From the other end of this debate, with how weak the 2020 class was we're lucky he didn't bail after his freshman year. There's no doubt he would have been a first-rounder once teams saw him up close. A later first-round selection but he would have gotten a guaranteed deal.

 

[uconngb]

It's getting increasingly hard to READ this board.

FIFY

 

[Tampahusky]

Bouknight should enter. You get drafted on potential, not how NBA ready you are. As deep as this draft is his worse case scenario is late first round. Also the collective bargaining agreement has changed dramatically since Calhoun was coaching. Now you even get paid in the GLeague.

 

[husky429]

It's getting increasingly hard to communicate on this board.

I have found judicious use of the ignore feature helpful. For everyone except Chief--my fiancee likes periodic updates on what he's been up to.

 

[StllH8L8ner]

Barring major injury (knock on wood this doesn't happen), he'll declare and be drafted in the first round. If he has a great year and kills it in March assuming there is a tourney and we're in it, I think he'll be a lottery pick.

 

[CL82]

I think you are misunderstanding the NBA DRAFT. It is an excercise in projection just as much as production.

Whether or not he is 2nd/1st team big east is in someways irrelevant to the discussion. If he meets expectations he'll be really good - and his projection as a scorer at 6'5 merits a mid 1st selection.

The question is, if the projects are accurate, would he become a lottery pick if he stayed another year? If yes, stay, if not, go.

 

[CbbisGreat]

Bouknight leaves after this season 100%

 

[auror]

The Athletic's Sam Vecenie's podcast came out this morning covering first impressions after a couple games on some of the draft relevant players that returned to school: They started with Bouk. He was their favorite guy so far of all the returnees (caveat that Florida hasn't played with Keyontae Johnson yet). Vecenie said he had him 15ish now, which is a few spots up from where he had him before the season and mostly in line with other places. So for all the kvetching so far he's actually impressing scouts and professionals.

Main takeaways: Explosive, elite athleticism. Elite ability to create his own shot. Shooting about the same as he closed last year with, which is essentially good, but a little inconsistent. Will be able to carve out a role in the NBA as bench scorer at a minimum.

 

[David 76]

Staying is never the right option. Look what happened to KEA.

He became short and fat?

 

[bmayuc]

The question is, if the projects are accurate, would he become a lottery pick if he stayed another year? If yes, stay, if not, go.

No. This is insanely wrong.

There is no meaningful difference between being 11th(late lottery) and 21st(late first) that is worth losing a year's wage(and delaying an extension an extra year), risking injury or poor performance or whatever else. You just enter the draft.

Not sure why this is hard for people to get.

Now, if he has other goals/priorities that influence the raw $$ calculation(winning NC, etc) then that's a personal decision. But as a pure calculation of risk/reward from a $$ perspective if you are projected in the first round, you go. Lottery is a fake and meaningless construct and not sure why people's brains have turned into swiss cheese over this.

 

[Waquoit]

He became short and fat?

No, he got hurt as a junior. He was a 1st rounder if he left after the NC.

 

[Bongo Fury]

I don’t remember Hilton being that great junior year. I could be wrong.

 

[casual-yardin]

I don’t remember Hilton being that great junior year. I could be wrong.

Armstrong played 4 years. I'm not even sure why he was mentioned in the OP. There was no chance of him getting drafted after his Jr year.

 

[CL82]

No. This is insanely wrong.

There is no meaningful difference between being 11th(late lottery) and 21st(late first) that is worth losing a year's wage(and delaying an extension an extra year), risking injury or poor performance or whatever else. You just enter the draft.

Not sure why this is hard for people to get.

Now, if he has other goals/priorities that influence the raw $$ calculation(winning NC, etc) then that's a personal decision. But as a pure calculation of risk/reward from a $$ perspective if you are projected in the first round, you go. Lottery is a fake and meaningless construct and not sure why people's brains have turned into swiss cheese over this.

Because I heard Jim Calhoun say it multiple times over the years and bought into it unquestioningly. It sounds like you've looked at the numbers. Can you post the differentials? I am genuinely curious.

 

[bmayuc]

Look at this scale - there is no bonus for being in the lottery besides just a sliding scale of more money the first 3 years.



But to a 20 year old, the difference between 11 and 21(for example) amounts to 2 yr ~4.5m or 2 yr for 7 million. At 21 your family has $$ security still, and important to note the 3rd year options often are triggers for negotiating extensions so I don't even really take those into play here, but that would add another million delta.

Yes, its a couple million bucks, but keep in mind what you are gaining - you are now also adding another year to your earning potential, and you are a year closer to an extension, and you have reduced your risk of injury or poor performance to zero - you are getting paid NOW. Also going later means going to better teams with better development programs and less pressure.

I'm not saying that reasonable people can't look at those numbers and disagree - and when Calhoun made those comments in the late 90s early 00's the difference was greater in the payscale as everyone was not always slotted...

but in the modern environment - if you are projected in Rd 1 - unless there are mitigating factors, you just go.

 

[CL82]

Look at this scale - there is no bonus for being in the lottery besides just a sliding scale of more money the first 3 years.



But to a 20 year old, the difference between 11 and 21(for example) amounts to 2 yr ~4.5m or 2 yr for 7 million. At 21 your family has $$ security still, and important to note the 3rd year options often are triggers for negotiating extensions so I don't even really take those into play here, but that would add another million delta.

Yes, its a couple million bucks, but keep in mind what you are gaining - you are now also adding another year to your earning potential, and you are a year closer to an extension, and you have reduced your risk of injury or poor performance to zero - you are getting paid NOW. Also going later means going to better teams with better development programs and less pressure.

I'm not saying that reasonable people can't look at those numbers and disagree - and when Calhoun made those comments in the late 90s early 00's the difference was greater in the payscale as everyone was not always slotted...

but in the modern environment - if you are projected in Rd 1 - unless there are mitigating factors, you just go.

Interesting. Do you have the 1-10 numbers as well?

 

[JohnFSilver]

If you can get guaranteed money you take it.
You can either play in the nba or not. I don’t think another year helps you.

Why? First off, G League is a game changer for late first rounders and the stigma of going there is gone. Secondly, colleges don’t allow a ton of practice time.

Now. college is good because many players don’t know how to play under pressure. The AAU circuit has a lot of games, but not a ton on the li

Also, college is massively competitive. You see the kids in college, it really helps you evaluate them over second tier pro leagues.

Even second round picks are ok now. Look at tremor waters. He is on a 2-day again and essentially a developmental player getting over 100k a year.

College has massive benefits. There is No Zion without Zion going to Duke. That Marketing and discovery of players is huge.

Ja morant was a no name out of high school. College allows players to blossom.

 

[Lefty2one]

Because I heard Jim Calhoun say it multiple times over the years and bought into it unquestioningly. It sounds like you've looked at the numbers. Can you post the differentials? I am genuinely curious.

That was the case for many years, through most of Calhoun's tenure, but everything about the NBA has dramatically changed in the last 8-10 years. Now, it's essentially a game of "if you'll be a 1st rounder and get that guaranteed contract you should go".

There are completely average NBA players earning $10m a year. Hell, there are average NBA guys making $18m a year. You can now earn generational wealth by being an average NBA player, back then that wasn't the case.

If you are as gifted as Bouk you should leave so you can start the clock on your second contract as early as possible. A kid like Bouk, even if he's not a star, will be able to earn something like 4/$80m after his rookie deal.

 

[MDHuskFan]

 

[nelsonmuntz]

We are two games into the season. Can people just chill on transfer/draft speculation for a couple of months?

 

[BGesus4]

If you can get guaranteed money you take it.
You can either play in the nba or not. I don’t think another year helps you.

Why? First off, G League is a game changer for late first rounders and the stigma of going there is gone. Secondly, colleges don’t allow a ton of practice time.

Now. college is good because many players don’t know how to play under pressure. The AAU circuit has a lot of games, but not a ton on the li

Also, college is massively competitive. You see the kids in college, it really helps you evaluate them over second tier pro leagues.

Even second round picks are ok now. Look at tremor waters. He is on a 2-day again and essentially a developmental player getting over 100k a year.

College has massive benefits. There is No Zion without Zion going to Duke. That Marketing and discovery of players is huge.

Ja morant was a no name out of high school. College allows players to blossom.

Agree with everything except the Zion part. His legend was solidified in high school and he would've benefitted from not having had to do a year in college with an extra year of wear and tear on his knees without getting paid (or at least without getting paid a full NBA salary and endorsement contracts)

 

[Watchdog]

He literally scored 16 points in 5 minutes.

And Dan Cyrulik had a career night against St. John's in the first game at Gampel.

I watched the entire DH postgame press conference after the UHart game and DH sent multiple strong messages to and about JB.

The crux of it was: immaturity, relaxing, defense and realizing he must play a full 40.

I was at East Carolina this year and was blown away by his dunk off the wayward pass from JG and no one doubts he can be a very good offensive player wherever he is, but the NBA demands full-time effort and defense is way more important than some realize. Did MJ take plays off? Ask Scott Burrell.

DH said, "we were hard on him in the postgame and we're going to coach the hell out of him over the next practices because we need him focused and playing a full 40 if we're to get where we want to be this year".

If he listens and takes DH's coaching to heart he could be a first round pick, but take a look around the country at all the other players he's competing against for the first round.

 

[superjohn]

And Dan Cyrulik had a career night against St. John's in the first game at Gampel.

I watched the entire DH postgame press conference after the UHart game and DH sent multiple strong messages to and about JB.

The crux of it was: immaturity, relaxing, defense and realizing he must play a full 40.

I was at East Carolina this year and was blown away by his dunk off the wayward pass from JG and no one doubts he can be a very good offensive player wherever he is, but the NBA demands full-time effort and defense is way more important than some realize. Did MJ take plays off? Ask Scott Burrell.

DH said, "we were hard on him in the postgame and we're going to coach the hell out of him over the next practices because we need him focused and playing a full 40 if we're to get where we want to be this year".

If he listens and takes DH's coaching to heart he could be a first round pick, but take a look around the country at all the other players he's competing against for the first round.

He's a guaranteed first round pick, I think he's lottery.

 

[Watchdog]

Lack of maturity?
Like individually responding to all the people who have the opinion that you are wrong?

Hurley used the term "immaturity" multiple times in his postgame comments so why get on HuskyinSC for quoting the coach whose job it is to develop JB? If you didn't watch the interview you should because it's the most I've heard a coach publicly call out a player in years, especially a high profile player.