Mock Drafts - some bad decisions

[tornado]

There are a number of mock drafts out, and one thing I found interesting is the guys who nearly decided to come out last year for the draft.
Several college kids contemplated going in the 2006 draft but when it appeared they would land either late in the lottery selections or fall beyond the lottery selections, they opted to return to college for another year.

But the interesting twist is that many of those players may have made a huge mistake.
That's becasue last year's draft was relatively very weak being the first one without the high school talent.
So by waiting a year, their draft chances have taken a dive, because now they are all but lost in a better and deeper draft.

Here are a few examples.

Brandon Rush (Kansas), announced for the draft in 2006 and when he was projected as going perhaps in the early 20's, he returned to Kansas. Now in this year's deeper draft, he isn't even projected to be a 1st rounder. Most sites have Rush going early in the 2nd round, which will mean a huge loss in contract terms and loss of guarantee revenue.

Aaron Gray (Pitt) was projected as late lottery or possibly as low as early 20's in last year's draft. So he pulled out and decided to wait a year. Considering how high Patrick O'Bryant ended up going, Aaron should have stayed in as he might have been selected in the top 14.
Then, despite all the hype about him this year, there are so many better centers in this year's draft, that again, Gray has fallen all the way into the 2nd round in most mock drafts.

Josh McRoberts (Duke) briefly considered the draft last year but was said to fall just outside the lottery selections, so he returned to Duke. Of course the Blue Devils had a pretty disappointing year and some of McRoberts' weaknesses were exposed, so now he's projected as early to mid-20's at best.

Rodney Stuckey (Eastern Wash.) an explosive scorer and athletic talent, he was predicted as a possible lottery pick in 2006 but returned to college. Now he is pegged as a late 1st rounder or 2nd rounder.

Nick Fazekas (Nevada) was predicted as high as the teens/mid-1st Rd. in last year's draft but certainly was no lower than late 1st round. Nick returned to Nevada hoping to do better this year, but the far deeper young talent pool has Fazekas now pegged as going mid-2nd round, maybe the 2nd biggest drop of anyone.

Jared Dudley (Boston College) was a mid-to-late 1st rounder had he come out of college last tyear, but that wasn't good enough so Jared went back to BC.
He didn't have as good of a year, so in this deeper draft he has fallen way off.
He is now projected aa a 2nd round pick.
nbadraft.net has him at #54, so he has a real chance of maybe not even getting drafted at all!

But the the guy I think is the biggest loser by staying in college is Glen "Big Baby" Davis (LSU).
After a tremendous season in 2005-2006, and leading his team to the Final Four, he was an almost certain lottery pick in 2006.
But he went back to LSU and they had a BAD year, finishing last in the SEC West.
Big Baby really has something to cry about now, as his stock dropped more than anyone, and he's now projected to fall somewhere in mid-to-late 2nd round.
nbadraft.net has him at #46

http://nbadraft.net/

[Scouter]

Speaking STRICTLY in terms of financial reasons, this only reinforces that POB made the right decision to go pro last year. This is one of the deepest drafts in quite some time. Joakim Noah, who probably would've gone No. 1 overall last year, will probably land somewhere between 5 and 10.

[TheAsianSensation]

The new age rule from the NBA is the reason for all of it.

And I'm happy for POB, playing time be darned, he made the right decision last year.

[patrick_o'brian]

Speaking STRICTLY in terms of financial reasons, this only reinforces that POB made the right decision to go pro last year. This is one of the deepest drafts in quite some time. Joakim Noah, who probably would've gone No. 1 overall last year, will probably land somewhere between 5 and 10.

I know this will be picked apart, but remember even had he stayed. This upcoming year would have been his senior year, so he technically would have not had to go into this draft either.

[TRIMAN]

Speaking STRICTLY in terms of financial reasons, this only reinforces that POB made the right decision to go pro last year. This is one of the deepest drafts in quite some time. Joakim Noah, who probably would've gone No. 1 overall last year, will probably land somewhere between 5 and 10.

I know this will be picked apart, but remember even had he stayed. This upcoming year would have been his senior year, so he technically would have not had to go into this draft either.

He could have gotten better this year too, and there's not a great center in the draft after Oden. It's difficult to say how much he would have progressed since he's been rotting in GS, but I doubt he would go 10 this year. Of course next year, he might be higher...