For Franz to make it to the 1st round of this draft he’d have to Donte Divincenzo late in the tournament. Which I’d be fine with. But anything short of that and I believe Franz will be back with the idea of having a huge season to make him a guaranteed 1st round pick.
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100% meant best guess. Brain and fingers not together on that one hah if I remember correctly, he wasn’t getting much if any love on draft boards before the season. I don’t remember him being a constant top 100 guy until the beginning of January(i could be wrong on this) And then he got injured. With him hitting 50% on 3s in the first half of the season and with the freshman class that’s coming in next year, He might think that the draft would be the most beneficial option for him. I might be 100% wrong on this, but I would not be shocked if he took his chances.
I agree with this — the jump in draft stock is what should matter an awful lot for Isiah. I don’t agree Livers has no ability to raise his draft stock. I think 30 games at All Big 10 level would raise his stock. Mostly by alleviating the “injury risk” label that I would expect will affect his draft stick right now. I do think, all else equal, an NBA player will draft the more accomplished college player. But that means all else equal (skill, ceiling).
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I don’t think Isaiah’s injuries will cause the NBA concern. A sprained ankle and hamstring are just things that happen.
And yeah I guess if he plays at an All Conference level he can guarantee he gets drafted, but what if he just plays like he did this year? And even still there’s a cap on his draft stock for how high it can go
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I think he can improve it, but not to the point he is a first rounder.
And if Livers goes the G league route and performs well he could get a guaranteed contract the following season like Duncan did. He’ll be playing to try and earn a guaranteed contract no matter where he plays next year, unless he does get drafted and gets on this year.
The NBA Draft is a futures draft more than an “instant impact” draft. As such, it is rare to see 22-23yr old college players drafted by the NBA. To drive the age factor home, Frank Ntilikina is viewed as boarderline too-old to develop further as a prospect… Ntilikina is the same exact age as Livers (to the day).
Selfishly for Michigan’s sake, I hope Livers returns next season. But if he wants to play in the NBA, he has a better chance to get there by going pro after this season. Nothing more he can show scouts with another college season … and nearly impossible for a SR with his pedigree to jump into the first round of the draft. (Baring winning a national title and being an All-Tournament caliber player in the run)
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This why Robinson is a point of reference. If you think Livers will struggle to guard NBA 3s because of athleticism, surely we’d all agree he’s a good bit more athletic than Duncan, who is in the NBA. Saying he’s ready for the NBA doesn’t mean he’s gonna be a star. It means the rotation.
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More and more comments by those covering Michigan Hoops in regards to Franz testing the waters.
Not that I don’t believe you but could you link a few of those comments?
I would expect Howard to encourage more kids to go through the evaluative process. I would also hope he’d be listened to more than JB was when kids make those decisions.
I don’t even like his 3 point shot and I think Franz would get drafted if he entered. He is just on the path to be all around great in all other areas. If he can become a decent 3 point shooter he is going to at least be a major contributor in the NBA, IMO.
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Did you watch the game last night? It came up multiple times as it did the last game.
And I agree, he has a lot of work to do omg his stroke, but when he gets that fixed he will be a lottery pick.
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The sky’s the limit.
I hope both Livers and Franz come back. However, Livers should absolutely leave and Wagner should absolutely stay if I were them.
The announcers said it wouldn’t shock them to see him put his name in there for feedback. That’s all. That’s far from what your insinuating, the whole point of Wagner coming to Michigan was because he didn’t want to live the pro life style yet and wanted to enjoy college. He’ll be back
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I wouldn’t read into what Brandon Gaudin and Donny Marshall had to say about Franz’ future plans.
To me, Franz feels like a perfect chance to test the waters, get a list to work on and then go out next year. Of course, if you do that you are five workouts away from being a first-round pick too.
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I think there’s a place for Bajema, and I don’t want to see him anywhere but AA. So many good teams are still short a shooter (and that could describe next year’s Michigan team), and that’s a skill that Cole brings, with as pure a stroke as you’ll see. He could be a perfect complementary piece to next year’s team (possibly more if his defence improves), and could develop into a key piece in his junior and senior seasons.
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One should read the Fab 5 book (p 39) and how the upperclassmen reacted to the newcomers. I am sure Juwan would like to have a 10 player rotation (at most). The real question is what are the other 3 scholarship players going to do? If they feel that they need minutes and they might not be part of the rotation, the only way is for them to transfer and get more minutes elsewhere. I am not worried about Davis. He will get his minutes. Also not worry about the incoming freshmen. They will get their minutes in the future.
However, you have Livers, Brooks and Wagner who get top minutes now, and DDJ with Jones who get less minutes. You bring in Todd and perhaps Christopher, who expect to also get some serious minutes with Dickinson. So far you have a rotation of 8-9. You bring Jace Howard, Williams and Jackson. And you already have Bajema, Castleton and Nunez.
There are only 200 minutes to go around. You do the math if you are a returning player and you hope to get some of these 200 minutes. Attrition is the next best thing. Other than the fact that you need room in the roster for incoming players, you evaluate your chances to get some real minutes. Bajema Castleton and Nunez will be the victims of reduced playing time and over-recruiting.
Agreed. There are some good stories about how Michael Talley, among others, had to deal with a significant cut in playing time.
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