This stat should be a reality check for future NBA draft hopefuls
Here’s a statistic that should serve as a lesson for the 2017 draft class.
Of the 44 college players selected Thursday night in this year’s NBA draft, all but two received invites to the draft combine in Chicago last month. The exceptions were Iowa State senior Abdel Nader and Cal senior Tyrone Wallace, two of the final three players selected in Thursday’s second round.
What that suggests is future NBA hopefuls would be wise to take advantage of the new rules governing the early-entry process and wait until after the May combine to decide whether to stay in the draft or not. Those not among the roughly 70 draft combine invitees have little chance of being drafted and even less hope of being taken high enough to receive a guaranteed contract.
Whereas the NCAA’s draconian rules have forced previous draft classes to decide by late-April whether to turn pro or return to school, a much-needed rule change allowed this year’s prospects until one week after the May combine to make that choice. Many players wisely waited until deadline day, assessed the feedback they received and returned to school, but others were more rash.
USC’s Julian Jacobs, Maryland’s Robert Carter and Texas’ Isaiah Taylor all declared for the draft and hired an agent before combine invites were sent out. Each went undrafted. Stanford’s Rosco Allen and USC’s Nikola Jovanovic learned they had not been invited to the combine in May and then hired an agent anyway. Both not surprisingly also went unselected.
It’s important to note that going undrafted doesn’t necessarily mean a prospect made the wrong decision to turn pro despite college eligibility remaining.
Some guys come from cash-strapped families that require them to begin earning a pay check even though they’re not NBA-ready. Other guys have European ties and are content to play professionally overseas. There are also players like UC Irvine center Mamadou N’diaye, a 7-foot-6 center whose recurring knee problems require him to start making money off his size and skill now because his joints are unlikely to hold up as long as those of smaller players.
But what this year’s dire stats should do is help future undecided prospects take a clear-headed look at where they stand in the pecking order rather than allowing themselves to be swayed by agents or friends and family members.
Only two players who NBA teams didn’t feel were worthy of a combine invite last month managed to work their way into position to be drafted Thursday night. By contrast, all but 13 players who received a combine invite and opted to remain in the draft heard their name called.
That doesn’t mean an NBA roster spot is guaranteed to a combine invitee, but the odds are certainly more favorable for those who make the cut than those who don’t.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
