**2024 NBA Draft Thead**

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

The NBA has established enough of a developmental program that I question the value in coming back for another year for MOST players.

Because ultimately, if he's an NBA caliber prospect, ball don't lie. He can get to the G-League and prove it. He can work on the same stuff he would've had to work on at KU to get himself a lucrative deal.

And those G-league deals are typically shorter, so if he DOES prove it, he'll have an opportunity to cash in on a similar timeline. Moreover, my memory serves, that 2nd round picks actually have a chance to get to big money SOONER than 1st round picks. The old Gilbert Arenas thing.

Now maybe they've closed some of that stuff up. But my memory is that a 2nd round pick his RFA status a year sooner than a 1st rounder and RFA contracts are getting awfully rich in their own right. A guy can play his way up and still vault quickly into the high-earner ranks if he has the tools for it.

If he's a ballplayer, he'll be able to show it. If not, another year at KU wasn't going to change that.

Yes, if he's destined to be a NBA player, this won't change much in the end. However, his path to that will now be a much more difficult one without a guaranteed multi-million dollar contract to fall back on. And if he ends up being a scrub after all a few years down the road, it's gonna hurt.