It was an absolute no-brainer for Michael Carter-Williams to enter the 2013 NBA Draft. Or was it? Under the current system and conventional wisdom the answer is definitively yes. Carter-Williams, despite being a sophomore, is already 21 which is old for his draft class. This draft isn‚Äôt just weak, it has the potential to be the worst of the modern era. It‚Äôs so bad a possible #1 overall pick is injured. This year Nerlens Noel follows in ’00 Kenyon Martin’s footsteps. He was followed by such gems as Stromile Swift, Darius Miles and Marcus Fizer.
MCW will be a lottery pick and might even squeeze into the top 10 with solid workouts and the right draft order. With that projection, the prevailing thought is “go and get your money because you probably won’t be drafted as high next year.” It sounds simple and really is in terms of short-term business. Because of the unpredictable nature of sports, this has become standard wisdom. Should it be?
This isn’t going to be about getting a degree, although there’s unquestionable value in that. This is about basketball. There’s no doubt Carter-Williams  - and almost everyone else in this draft Рcould use more college basketball before heading to the NBA. Noel has an extremely limited offensive game. Ben McLemore needs to be more aggressive and develop an off-the-dribble game. Marcus Smart’s jump shot is erratic, and he’s very unrefined as a point guard. Those are your top 3 picks.
If those players return to school, are they better players next year? Unquestionably, but for some reason that makes them less coveted prospects. The NBA loves potential and part of that is the unknown. The thought that development stops when a player leaves for the NBA is silly, but you do have to play to develop. Noel, Smart and McLemore will likely play solid rotation minutes next year…¬†but a guy like Carter-Williams is probably looking at a role like Kendall Marshall has with the Suns. He plays less than 15 minutes per game, spending most of his time on the pine, carrying bags and getting donuts for the vets.
If Carter-Williams returned to Syracuse and played 30+ minutes per game, got coaching from a hall of famer, and became a better basketball player, it would surely help him down the road. It could hurt him on his rookie contract, based solely on what pick you are in the draft. But what about all the ensuing contracts that will be based on NBA production?
Think of Shane Battier. He‚Äôs been in the league over a decade now doing seemingly the same things he did at Duke. Battier was the rare top 5 pick as a senior, but he was NBA ready as a rookie and has stayed in the rotation for a lengthy career. His teams have always won, and was highly coveted by Miami on the open market. The other end of the spectrum is Sebastian Telfair, who jumped to the pros out of high school. He will never be in a rotation on a winning team and hasn‚Äôt played more than 20 mpg for any of his 5 teams the last 4 seasons. Who‚Äôs had a more lucrative career? Battier has brought in over $50M in his career since ’01, including $7.3 two years ago in Memphis. Telfair has earned $16M since ’04, topping out at $2.7M last year.
It’s happened to a ton of Syracuse players. Dion Waiters stayed an extra year¬†and it absolutely helped him. Jonny Flynn and Wes Johnson chose to leave early, and it’s seemed to hurt them in the long run.
There are also plenty of guys who have left early (or gone straight to the NBA) and done well. LeBron James is only the best player on the planet. Kobe used to be. But when Cody Zeller might “get exposed” by going back to school that’s a problem in our thinking. Maryland’s Alex Len is slotted one spot higher than Zeller in Chad Ford‚Äôs latest mock draft, despite unquestionably not being ready to play in the NBA. If Len declares now but Zeller has a solid NBA career down the road, and earns a bigger second contract than Len who made the right decision?
The nature of sports says we shouldn‚Äôt ever look past the first contract, but if we do we‚Äôd see the shame in the current setup. What‚Äôs best now isn‚Äôt really always what‚Äôs best later. Where a player is drafted matters, but it shouldn‚Äôt be the only thing. What should matter is what‚Äôs truly best for the player’s career, which includes everything from short term financial gain, long term success and a degree.
For a guy like McLemore, there‚Äôs zero question he should go. His mom struggles to keep the power and heat on. He needs to take care of his family right now. Carter-Williams might very well be in that same boat. There‚Äôs no question his family could use some immediate money after their house caught fire. For those two cases, and many others, the answer might be an overwhelming ‚Äúgo.‚Äù But the next time a player’s decision to leave early is called a “no-brainer,” it’s time we started using our brains.
Posted: Craig Hoffman
247 responses to “Carter-Williams Leaves Syracuse for NBA: Fizz Challenges Conventional Wisdom”
Best of luck to him!
I already said this. The 2nd contract is the richest. NBA rookie contracts are based on a sliding scale. Anyone /w a brain knows he’s not rdy. No jump shot. Not strong enough to finish through contact(ex: Michigan game anyone?). Suspect decision making at times.
He will be drafted somewhere between 10-15. If he came back and he improved he probably find himself back in that same range. Wish him the best but probably will be in the D-league from day 1.
I don’t think he’s gonna spend a ton of time in the D-League but he might spend some. His length and vision will help him and he can work on his shot this summer and while he’s in the league. There’s zero question another year would benefit him though. As long as you don’t fall out of the first round (where contracts are guaranteed) then dropping a few spots if it’s better for you in the long term shouldn’t matter.
That said I think my last point is important. Michael’s family might need money now because their house burned down. If that’s the case, go and get it.
FOOTBALL!!
The picture at the top of your MCW article clearly shows one of Williams’s ballhandling deficiencies ,the high dribble which makes for easy steals an turnovers.Williams will be missed for his height on top of the zone and his ability to go inside for points and rebounds. Other than that kid,Stay out of trouble and good luck.
Team automatically gets better with him gone. Too selfish in my opinion. Michael started to hang his head after the 1st foul was called against him. when the 5th fouls was called,he not only let himself down but gave up on th e team when they needed him the most.
I wish him well in all of his future endeavor’s. But I for one am glad that he’s leaving.
I’m sorry I was talking about the Michigan game in the Final Four about his giving up.
1) I would never say he gave up. You can question his decision making. You cannot question his heart. Kid played very hard. 2) You guys do realize he had one of the best seasons in SU history for a point guard and led his team to the Final Four right?
MCW was a first year starter. All he did was lead the team to the Final Four, and people are hating on him? Wow. There is no Final Four without him leading the team, and his game against Indiana showed what he can do. He didn’t have a great game against Michigan, but neither did senior James Southerland, who played so badly he had to be benched for part of the second half when, not coincidentally, SU got back into the game. Is MCW’s game perfect? No, but Nerlens Noel has no low post game and he will be the top pick. Ben McLemore can’t hit an outside shot on the road or on a neutral court (check out his splits, they are scary), but he’s probably going #2. NBA drafts on upside. Players who stay an “extra year” rarely see that pay off. Going back in time, John Wallace did that, and ended up being drafted later in the first round after his senior year than he was projected to go after his junior year. This year, there’s a kid from Texas State who was projected to be a first rounder last year. He came back, and now may not get drafted in the first round at all. Coming back when you’re a projected lottery pick is a mistake 100% of the time. MCW is a projected lottery pick. This was the only rational decision that could be made. Case closed.
My opinion is that of a greedy Syracuse fan. I don’t want anyone that talented to leave early. I got upset when Carmelo announced. Yes, I was one chanting “one more year” and when asked what more number 15 could do for Syracuse, I’d say “win another 3 NCAA Championships!”
Clearly, I knew there was nothing left for him to prove, but still…!!!
Just imagine how good we would have been this year if Dion returned as a junior… man.
I know, I’m daydreaming my life away.
Anaheim – I’d much rather see your “irrationality” as a fan than people who are irrationally unappreciative. Wanting what’s best for your team is exactly what a fan should want!
Ed – I blatantly say in my article that draft stock shouldn’t be the end all be all of what was the right decision which is exactly what you say. That’s wrong. However in Michael’s case going might very well be what he needs to do for the immediate financial security even though coming back is probably the best move for his career. It does work.
I’ve been exploring for a little for any high-quality articles or weblog posts in this sort of area .
Exploring in Yahoo I ultimately stumbled upon this website.
Studying this info So i’m glad to express that I’ve a very excellent uncanny feeling
I came upon just what I needed. I so much undoubtedly will make certain to don?t disregard this site and give it a glance regularly.
I just want to tell you that I am new to blogs and honestly savored your website. Almost certainly I’m planning to bookmark your website . You actually come with impressive article content. Thanks a lot for sharing with us your web page.
What’s up, yup this paragraph is really nice and I have learned lot of things from it
concerning blogging. thanks.
Loven@gmail.com
Blaze@gmail.com
Staniszewski@gmail.com
Guereca@gmail.com
Cappellano@gmail.com
I needed to draft you this very little remark to say thanks as before on the magnificent ideas you’ve shown in this article. This is really generous of you to offer freely precisely what a number of people would’ve marketed as an ebook to help make some cash on their own, especially given that you could have done it if you ever considered necessary. The good tips also acted to become a fantastic way to realize that other people have a similar fervor like my personal own to understand lots more with respect to this matter. I am certain there are millions of more pleasant moments up front for individuals who look over your website.
I needed to create you the little bit of remark to help give many thanks again for all the magnificent concepts you’ve documented on this page. This has been really open-handed of you in giving easily what exactly most people would’ve supplied as an e book to generate some dough for themselves, particularly considering that you might well have done it if you ever considered necessary. Those thoughts as well acted as the good way to understand that most people have the same desire similar to my own to figure out many more with reference to this issue. I’m sure there are millions of more fun sessions in the future for many who check out your website.
If you’re immobile taking place the fence: grab your favorite earphones, president down to a Paramount Procure and ask to plug them into a Zune then an iPod and distinguish which one sounds enhanced to you, and which interface makes you smile further. Next you’ll identify which is proper in support of you.
Hi, Neat post. There’s a problem along with your site in web explorer, might check this‚Ķ IE still is the market leader and a huge component to people will leave out your magnificent writing because of this problem.
great issues altogether, you just received a new reader. What might you suggest in regards to your submit that you made a few days ago? Any certain?
Hey! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any trouble with hackers? My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended up losing a few months of hard work due to no back up. Do you have any solutions to protect against hackers?
Only wanna remark that you have a very decent web site , I the layout it actually stands out.
I have one computer running Vista which is connected to the internet and I want to be able to get the internet on my second computer (that’s got XP) which is connected via a crossover cable. What do I need to set to be able to surf the net on my second computer?. The LAN connection is running fine, I just don’t know what to set and where to get the net working on my XP computer..
How do I get Firefox not to block the installation of farmville toolbar, Allow did not work?
What is online blogging and how do people make money out of it?
What sites and blogs do the surfing community communicate most on?
Am new to blogging. So would like to know more about blogs..
How to make my second blog my default one on Tumblr?
In other words, how do i search for blogs that fit what I want to read about? Does anyone know how to BROWSE through blogs by subject or whatever on blogger?.
Is it true that blogs are just forum discussions with rss that would enable the user to watch what they wanted to watch more convieniently? Is that all the differences?.
Make an attempt the Small Italy growers market it truly is my fav!
What is the default username and password for Joomla Stand Alone Server?
Fact: 99% of all articles and website content online is regurgitated and rewritten material from some original piece of literary or artistic work.. . So, isn’t it true about web content copyright that as long as you reword or rewrite a piece of content from a site’s copy online, then it’s not theft or copyright infringement?.
But wanna remark on few general things, The website design and style is perfect, the written content is very excellent : D. If you have more time, please visit my site: http://tintucnhadepaz.blogspot.com
I have been wanting to start blogging and/or vlogging for a while, and I was wondering what to do to prepare to start vlogging and what type of camera to get and just anything information you could give me on the subject. This would be a tremendous help to me. Serious answers only please. Thank you..
Im a computer engineering student but i am planning to shift to other programs if computer engineering will not have a licensure/board exam.. i want to be a registered computer engineer!.
Is it possible for a 16 year old to make money out of blogging?. . I have no idea what a blog is or how they work.. . I know that it can make money though. . Thanks!.
How to install a custom blog design while using ftp publishing?
What type of images am I ‘legally’ allowed to include in my blog posts?
I am not experienced with joomla but I want to use to make a website. My only trouble right now is getting it installed on Yahoo hosting I don’t know what to do.. . Can anyone direct me to a site or forum for this or tell me how do it? Greatly appreciated, thank you..
I want to create a blogspot of my own and want to earn some money from that. Is possible?.
Ja mam gdzieś około 4k komentów do scrapeboxa (znalezione w sieci), za 10zł mogę się podzielić
Immediate Programs Of Chicago Long Distance Mover – For Adults at::- CHICAGO Long Distance Moving
Dne 01.09. jsme pozastavili prodej produktu Vimax kvuli nálezu léciva sildenafil v šarži LOT:1212 EX:DE16. Sildenafil se nemuže pridávat do doplnku stravy. Pokud máte doma balení z této šarže, mužete nám ho vrátit a my Vám vrátime peníze v plné výši.
Purely to follow along with up within the up-date of the subject on the web web site and would like to let you understand simply how much I prized time you took to produce this important post.
How To Find Out If Your Child Has Dyslexia? at:: InfertilityCure.tk