Jabari Parker officially declares for NBA Draft

[Kitaman]

Parker was a man among boys. Inside, outside game mixed with strength. He will be just fine in the NBA.

 

[superjohn]

Parker was a man among boys. Inside, outside game mixed with strength. He will be just fine in the NBA.

He looked like a little boy against Mercer.

 

[aceboon]

That's the fallacy of the argument. Everyone should go early folks always pick the highest possible projection and accept that as fact. I think a lot better indication of where someone WOULD have been drafted might be where they DID get drafted. Sullinger slid and was picked too low, but if you read his story that's happened to him at every level. He's a slightly overweight, earth bound kid who knows how to play.
I acknowledge there are some examples of kids who came out early and cashed in on irrational hype. Tryus Thomas comes to mind or Marvin Williams (UNC). But an occasional skyrocketing guy doesn't mean that every guy rumored to be a high pick would have stayed there, every single year there are guys who fall in the draft AND if a guy opts out of the draft it is very likely that he heard something behind the scenes that questioned him or made slipping a real possibility.

Sullinger slid mainly because of the issues with his back, besides all the other mumbo jumbo the main point is you countered BUHusky's post by naming 3 guys who weren't even 1st round picks after their freshman years, let alone lottery picks, who returned for their sophomore years. There seems to be a disconnect with you that pops up quite often in posts like these that renders debate useless.

 

[ASweet3781]

When I read that Parker was "torn" a couple days ago I was beginning to wonder if K would hoodwink him into coming back, Thankfully he made the right choice for himself.

Kentucky's Will Young (the guy who dunked on Amida) and Duke's Rodney Hood also declared today. I think Randle and the Harrisons are still left. And of course our guys.

 

[HU5KIES]

Kentucky's Will Young (the guy who dunked on Amida) .

I think you meant James Young. Man, was that an impressive dunk though. I was watching in Gampel and the whole place fell completely silent in awe.

Glad to see he's leaving, though.

 

[ASweet3781]

Yup, James Young!

 

[BUHusky]

Nick Stuaskas, TJ Warren, Rodney Hood?!!!

There are sophomores in every draft.

Of course there are sophomores every draft... That's not the point. My original post clearly clearly said "stud" freshman. None of the 3 guys you named were stud freshman projected to even go the 1st round. aceboon's subsequent post listing Smart, Jones, Barnes, and Sullinger (projected top 5 to top 10 guys) pretty much hit the nail on the head so I'll leave it at that.

 

[Dogdeacon]

Sullinger slid mainly because of the issues with his back, besides all the other mumbo jumbo the main point is you countered BUHusky's post by naming 3 guys who weren't even 1st round picks after their freshman years, let alone lottery picks, who returned for their sophomore years. There seems to be a disconnect with you that pops up quite often in posts like these that renders debate useless.

No one said top 5, BU said "I can't recall the last time one of these stud freshman returned to school and actually increased their stock."
I define stud freshman as someone who was highly rated in high school and rumored to be first rounder, but unless we specifically state that it is open for debate.
Wiki: Ranked number 32 in the MaxPreps Class of 2012 Top 100, Warren became a hot commodity for college recruits.T. J. Warren decided to stay for his sophomore year despite being rated as one of the top 31 prospects in the NBA draft during his freshman year by Draftexpress.com. His main influence was his father who convinced him that playing another year at NC State would benefit T. J. more, by allowing him to further develop his basketball skills and also improve his draft spot for the NBA
As a freshman at Michigan, he moved into the starting lineup for the 2012–13 team in the team's 7th game. He was named Sports Illustrated national Freshman of the week once, Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Week 3 times and to the Wayman Tisdale Award (USBWA National Freshman of the Year) top 12 midseason list. During the 2013 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, he earned South All-Regional Team recognition.
Rivals ranked Rodney Hood 16th out of high school.

I can't name Marcus Smart because everyone will counter that he would have gone #1 last year even though that is totally unknowable. I do bet he learned a lot by staying in school and will be a better pro because of it. My constant refrain is that college basketball develops players better than the NBA and it is weird the college basketball fans don't agree. Would Amidah Brimah be better off declaring?!

One of the things the NBA is considering along with changing the draft age (2yrs college) is making it so the contract length changes. So right now if you come out it takes 4yrs to get to the next contract. They may make it such that if you stay in school you can sign for 3yrs with the intention that star players get off the rookie scale to bigger money contracts at the same pace whether they come out or stay in school. Unfortunately that may have the unintended consequence of enticing marginal guys to earn say 2M x 4yrs rather than gamble for say 2M x 3yrs and a bigger but unknown 2nd contract. Surefire stars will theoretically no longer be penalized for staying in school on the timing and $ of that 2nd contract, but for borderline guys it'll be hard to turn down $M and years.

 

[Dogdeacon]

Of course there are sophomores every draft... That's not the point. My original post clearly clearly said "stud" freshman. None of the 3 guys you named were stud freshman projected to even go the 1st round. aceboon's subsequent post listing Smart, Jones, Barnes, and Sullinger (projected top 5 to top 10 guys) pretty much hit the nail on the head so I'll leave it at that.

Harrison Barnes
Harrison Barnes was rated as the number 1 player in the class of 2010 by Scout.com[2] and in the ESPNU 100.[3] He was rated as the number 2 player by Rivals.com. Barnes's 40 point performance set the record for points by a Freshman in an ACC Tournament game.[27] On April 18, 2011, Barnes announced that he would return to North Carolina for his sophomore season despite being projected as a lottery pick for the 2011 NBA draft.
On March 29, 2012, Barnes announced that he was entering the 2012 NBA Draft along with Tyler Zeller, Kendall Marshall and John Henson. He worked out with 4 teams: Cleveland Cavaliers, Charlotte Bobcats, Washington Wizards, and Toronto Raptors.[31] He was selected 7th overall by the Golden State Warriors.

 

[TheChamps990411]

I mostly agree on Randle, but not 100% confident due to his length and lack of explosiveness. He will be a good player for certain, but I think his range is wide (we agree Parker's is more narrow and better). Randle could be Zach Randolph+ explosiveness or Rodney Rogers (this is prob too low, but let's see what Randle's actual height is).

I think he`ll be good and his size should be good enough just look at guys like Sullinger and Klove who arent the tallest or most athletic guys but are doing very well in the league. i think Randle will find similar success.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

Talented young man. He will be the next in the long line of Duke players who excel in the NBA.....

 

[Edward Sargent]

I think he could go #1 overall. I think Wiggins, Embid have huge variances in what kind of NBA players they'll be. Parker will very likely be an all-star or cusp all-star. I'd be picking between him and Randle if I had #1 leaning towards Jabari.

What do you see in Randle to even sniff # 1?

 

[Dogdeacon]

What do you see in Randle to even sniff # 1?

Honestly nothing (I watched Randle in NCAA only, 3-4 games), just hedging off declaring Jabari a consensus #1. I've only seen 2 full games from Wiggins and one from Embid. Parker probably 5 games so just not enough of anyone to feel really strong about order.

No doubt that Jabari belongs in and at very top of the draft.

 

[intlzncster]

I can't, for the life of me, figure out why Sports Illustrated feels compelled to put an essay by the kid explaining his decision on the front of their web page.

It's "the decision".

 

[dogfan96]

I think you meant James Young. Man, was that an impressive dunk though. I was watching in Gampel and the whole place fell completely silent in awe.

Glad to see he's leaving, though.

Randle got all the hype, but Young was their best player overall

 

[mauconnfan]

Randle got all the hype, but Young was their best player overall

I thought he might be but then I saw his stats…….seemed to shoot better than he actually did and for a while seemed like a spot up shooter only. He did show, not only the dunk, but throughout the tourney that he could get to the hole a little better than I first thought. But his overall shooting of 40% and only 35% from 3 makes me wonder…….

 

[intlzncster]

Randle got all the hype, but Young was their best player overall

He was nasty in the Final, but I'm glad he got lackadaisical on a few defensive series. UCONN capitalized on those.

 

[Inyatkin]

When I read that Parker was "torn" a couple days ago I was beginning to wonder if K would hoodwink him into coming back, Thankfully he made the right choice for himself.

Maybe he really was torn. Caron Butler was. Rudy Gay was. Just because it makes sense to go pro doesn't mean it's easy.

 

[mauconnfan]

Maybe he really was torn. Caron Butler was. Rudy Gay was. Just because it makes sense to go pro doesn't mean it's easy.

I do think he was…….good kid from a solid family and really wanted a title as well as liking the campus life I bet.

 

[BleedHuskyBlu]

Smart decision by him. I can't recall the last time one of these stud freshman returned to school and actually increased their stock. If anything it hurt their stock to varying degrees.

Exhibit A Jared Sullinger...

 

[rover]

Why did he go to Dook in the first place? K isn't great at developing talent. Would love to see him on a structured NBA team though (not a huge celtics or Knicks fan so I just appreciate great players and great basketball). If he goes to a team like the Kings or Cavs, his career will be ruined

 

[mauconnfan]

Why did he go to Dook in the first place? K isn't great at developing talent. Would love to see him on a structured NBA team though (not a huge celtics or Knicks fan so I just appreciate great players and great basketball). If he goes to a team like the Kings or Cavs, his career will be ruined

He should have gone to Kentucky where Cal is sooooo good at developing talented one-and-done's ………..

If you appreciate great players and great basketball you should have been rooting for him to transfer to UConn for a couple more years, not go to the NBA…………

Need a coffee…….

 

[rover]

He should have gone to Kentucky where Cal is sooooo good at developing talented one-and-done's ………..

If you appreciate great players and great basketball you should have been rooting for him to transfer to UConn for a couple more years, not go to the NBA…………

Need a coffee…….

Cal's players are good in the league

 

[Dogdeacon]

Exhibit A Jared Sullinger...

First I think there are too many ill-conceived websites (nbadraft.net primary example) and espn idiots like Chad Ford that do mock drafts that can encourage kids to come out before they are ready (a zillion examples basketball skill-wise) and that is why I beat the drum hard about stay in school. Its obviously an opinion and its not personal if I argue against a giant wave of folks saying strike while the iron is hot.

For Sullinger I'd bet if you ask him he is very happy with the Celtics, he's making 1.4M per year and on track for a long professional career. So there is at least an argument that he helped himself by not coming out when he did, maybe not in first 4-5yr dollars, but possibly in long term $ and definitely in team/career development & satisfaction. In terms of draft slot Sullinger had bad workout numbers which always would have happened due to his body type, as I mentioned in an earlier post have dogged him at every level of basketball. The back thing likewise would have come up in either draft. See link below and this quote:
"Honestly, I’m shocked the way I’m playing now,” the Celtics forward said after practice Thursday. Shocked in a good way, he means. His back had been giving him trouble since his freshman year at Ohio State, and doctors had said that the surgery, performed in February, would make the second-year Celtics big man better than ever."
So I think it is nonsensical that people accept as irrefutable fact that a player like Sullinger was PROJECTED to be a top-5 pick because nbadraft.net & Chad Ford once said so. How is that a better indication of where he'd be drafted versus where NBA GM's actually picked him? To me it is like the 'perfect market' theory of the stock market. We have to accept that the price of a stock reflects its actual value determined by demand of the open market. Acknowledging there are occasional aberrations of scarcity and striking while iron is hot (again ie Tyrus Thomas) most times the best indication of a player's (Sullinger's) draft stock is not where they were projected before entering a draft and being evaluated, it is where a player is actually picked.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2...improvement/ITfXYfRhZXQ2rpw2REnBVM/story.html

 

[intlzncster]

Why did he go to Dook in the first place? K isn't great at developing talent. Would love to see him on a structured NBA team though (not a huge celtics or Knicks fan so I just appreciate great players and great basketball). If he goes to a team like the Kings or Cavs, his career will be ruined

Look, he may be a rat face, but he can develop players. The guy can coach. He does develop guys differently than say UCONN, but many of the the kids get better.