Jamal Murray vs. Buddy Hield

[NMSooner'80]

The NBA's fascination with drafting teenagers has a lot to do with the following:

1. Why I think the quality of play is WAY down compared to the 70's and 80's.
2. Why I will never live and die with the NBA like I do the college game.

But, I'm well aware that the NBA "brass" just have to have the next Kobe or Garnett. And I hate it that the "mindset" can hurt a good senior, who has proven you can improve by staying in school and having a great workout, like Buddy Hield has.

And no, I don't feel a bit bad for the multitude of high-school-to-the-draft washouts from the era when it was such a fad to keep drafting them. I barely feel a bit bad for some of those poor kids who applied for the draft who weren't even consider Top 500 prospects by D-1 recruiters. They screwed up royally.

 

[sperry]

The NBA's fascination with drafting teenagers has a lot to do with the following:

1. Why I think the quality of play is WAY down compared to the 70's and 80's.
2. Why I will never live and die with the NBA like I do the college game.

But, I'm well aware that the NBA "brass" just have to have the next Kobe or Garnett. And I hate it that the "mindset" can hurt a good senior, who has proven you can improve by staying in school and having a great workout, like Buddy Hield has.

And no, I don't feel a bit bad for the multitude of high-school-to-the-draft washouts from the era when it was such a fad to keep drafting them. I barely feel a bit bad for some of those poor kids who applied for the draft who weren't even consider Top 500 prospects by D-1 recruiters. They screwed up royally.

The quality of play in the NBA is up immensely. You combine better sports science, training and nutrition with the fact that now the best players in the world play in the NBA, instead of just the best players from the 5% of the World's population that live in the U.S.


These kids leave because there is no reason for them to be playing for free in college when they can get paid to play in the NBA. It's ridiculous to think that Ben Simmons should be playing for a $40,000 scholarship at LSU when he can get a 10 figure shoe contract and millions from his NBA team.

The small percentage that "leave too early" are generally kids that are not cut out for college. This again marks a failing of the NBA, who have not set up a proper minor league system for kids that aren't academically cut out for college but aren't surefire ready for the league players.

As for the "multitude" of high school to the draft that washed out, that couldn't be further from the truth.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBA_high_school_draftees

The success rate on guys who went from high school to the pros is outrageous, and orders of magnitude better than the success rate of seniors who are drafted.

 

[NickZepp]

Jamal Murray hit 79 of 100 3’s in Boston last week. Buddy Hield, per source, hit 85 of 100 in front of Celtics brass today in California.
https://twitter.com/GoodmanESPN/status/742442243852734465

 

[bearcreekfan]

Jamal Murray hit 79 of 100 3’s in Boston last week. Buddy Hield, per source, hit 85 of 100 in front of Celtics brass today in California.
https://twitter.com/GoodmanESPN/status/742442243852734465

Impressive for both guys.

The comments are interesting/entertaining. Most prefer Hield, but those that prefer Murray cite his youth. I agree with the comment that said Hield's performance is backed by his NPOY award and 25 ppg for the season.

 

[SoonerTraveler]

Jamal Murray hit 79 of 100 3’s in Boston last week. Buddy Hield, per source, hit 85 of 100 in front of Celtics brass today in California.
https://twitter.com/GoodmanESPN/status/742442243852734465

Wow!

 

[CoachTalk]

Buddy told James Fraschilla that he was going to make 90-100... lol he was close.

 

[sperry]

Minnesota trying to trade the #5 pick for Jimmy Butler. that would be a great trade for Minnesota, but Buddy could end up in a dumpster fire in Chicago. Still think Minnesota is the best fit for Buddy, and Buddy si the best fit for htme if they keep the pick.

 

[BCSooners]

Minnesota trying to trade the #5 pick for Jimmy Butler. that would be a great trade for Minnesota, but Buddy could end up in a dumpster fire in Chicago. Still think Minnesota is the best fit for Buddy, and Buddy si the best fit for htme if they keep the pick.

If Minnesota has the chance to get Butler for the #5 and a few solid players then they should jump on it. Butler is a top 3 SG in this league.

 

[furge]

Minnesota trying to trade the #5 pick for Jimmy Butler. that would be a great trade for Minnesota, but Buddy could end up in a dumpster fire in Chicago. Still think Minnesota is the best fit for Buddy, and Buddy si the best fit for htme if they keep the pick.

I'm not sure Chicago is quite THAT bad, even if they lose Noah and Butler in one offseason... they still have serviceable pieces (Gibson, McBuckets, Bobby Portis looking awfully nice) and Pau and Mirotic complement each other pretty well. Anything they get from Rose at this point is a bonus, so if they trade to #5 I'd believe they're targeting Kris Dunn or a shot-blocker... Buddy wouldn't stop the bleeding as fast but he's definitely a Hoiberg-style run and shoot guard so anything is in play.
Seriously, though, this year's Bulls were a basket case shifting from a taskmaster in Thibs to a players' coach, and without DRose in star form they had no identity. They don't seem likely to stay down for long. The East makes it easier.

 

[WaymanFan]

The quality of play in the NBA is up immensely. You combine better sports science, training and nutrition with the fact that now the best players in the world play in the NBA, instead of just the best players from the 5% of the World's population that live in the U.S.


These kids leave because there is no reason for them to be playing for free in college when they can get paid to play in the NBA. It's ridiculous to think that Ben Simmons should be playing for a $40,000 scholarship at LSU when he can get a 10 figure shoe contract and millions from his NBA team.

The small percentage that "leave too early" are generally kids that are not cut out for college. This again marks a failing of the NBA, who have not set up a proper minor league system for kids that aren't academically cut out for college but aren't surefire ready for the league players.

As for the "multitude" of high school to the draft that washed out, that couldn't be further from the truth.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBA_high_school_draftees

The success rate on guys who went from high school to the pros is outrageous, and orders of magnitude better than the success rate of seniors who are drafted.

First, based on your own link, most of the guys who went from high school to the NBA were washouts or simply way under-performed. The quartet of KG, Kobe, McGrady and J. O'Neill made it popular. Of the 30+ players after them, you have a pair of Hall-of-Famers, a few solid guys, and a couple of dozen wasted talents. Every year, there are more college players who leave early for the NBA draft than there are draft picks. That, in and of itself should tell you that most of these players either just don't want to go to college or are making incredibly stupid decisions. No one is saying guys like Ben Simmons shouldn't go pro the first chance they get...but he's the exception not the rule.

As for Buddy, in a word...WOW! 85 - 100! I think both he and Murray will have very good NBA careers. I can understand why some teams would pick Murray due to his age. However, if Murray doesn't have Buddy's work ethic, there is no sure thing he will ever be as good as him. That's why about half the mock drafts have Murray going first and the other half go with Buddy. I think their careers will be compared with each other for many years to come.

 

[sperry]

First, based on your own link, most of the guys who went from high school to the NBA were washouts or simply way under-performed. The quartet of KG, Kobe, McGrady and J. O'Neill made it popular. Of the 30+ players after them, you have a pair of Hall-of-Famers, a few solid guys, and a couple of dozen wasted talents. Every year, there are more college players who leave early for the NBA draft than there are draft picks. That, in and of itself should tell you that most of these players either just don't want to go to college or are making incredibly stupid decisions. No one is saying guys like Ben Simmons shouldn't go pro the first chance they get...but he's the exception not the rule.

That's not remotely accurate. The only guys who washed out of the league were Korleone Young, Leon Smith, Ousmane Cisse, Ndudi Ebi, James Lang, Robert Swift, and Ricky Sanchez. That's out of 40 guys who declared early from 1995 to 2005. Of the remaining 34, the only guys who didn't have careers of at least 9 years were Darius Miles who had a career ending injury, and Andrew Bynum who retired early by choice. Both of those guys made a pile of money.


As for the guys that leave early, again it's because they aren't cut out for school. Only 37% of the American population will get a college degree. There are plenty of great hoopsters who fall in that bottom 63% of not cut out for college.

 

[WaymanFan]

That's not remotely accurate. The only guys who washed out of the league were Korleone Young, Leon Smith, Ousmane Cisse, Ndudi Ebi, James Lang, Robert Swift, and Ricky Sanchez. That's out of 40 guys who declared early from 1995 to 2005. Of the remaining 34, the only guys who didn't have careers of at least 9 years were Darius Miles who had a career ending injury, and Andrew Bynum who retired early by choice. Both of those guys made a pile of money.


As for the guys that leave early, again it's because they aren't cut out for school. Only 37% of the American population will get a college degree. There are plenty of great hoopsters who fall in that bottom 63% of not cut out for college.

It just comes down to what you and I perceive as "washouts". I don't care how many years he played, someone like Kwame Brown was a BUST...no two ways about it. If just making money and not having a productive NBA career means you aren't a bust, then you are correct. I can't help but think many of those players would have been better with a couple of years in college where they could have developed their game on the court vs. on the bench...but I do see your point. Had they been a bust in college, they wouldn't have made the money they made...but not sure that makes the NBA a better product.

 

[SuperHoops]

That's not remotely accurate. The only guys who washed out of the league were Korleone Young, Leon Smith, Ousmane Cisse, Ndudi Ebi, James Lang, Robert Swift, and Ricky Sanchez. That's out of 40 guys who declared early from 1995 to 2005. Of the remaining 34, the only guys who didn't have careers of at least 9 years were Darius Miles who had a career ending injury, and Andrew Bynum who retired early by choice. Both of those guys made a pile of money.


As for the guys that leave early, again it's because they aren't cut out for school. Only 37% of the American population will get a college degree. There are plenty of great hoopsters who fall in that bottom 63% of not cut out for college.

But this doesn't take into account the numerous guys that declared out of high school and never got drafted. There were a bunch of cautionary tales about guys who got a big head playing AAU ball and wound up bouncing around the minor leagues or overseas trying to eke out an existence playing ball.