To me, just reading tea leaves, it sounds as if Isaiah wants to go to Michigan, but his mom may have different ideas. If she is the one making the final decision, as has been speculated, my guess is that it will likely end with him going overseas. This is NOT to say that she doesn’t like Michigan–she does–or even that she wants her child away for a year; simply that she believes it is best for her son’s future to play overseas next year (and/or to get paid, both by a foreign team, and by a shoe company, to play).
Edit: One more thing to throw into the hopper here is the roster make-up for next year, especially at his positions. While I’m on record as thinking Todd will be a really good player, he’s extremely unlikely to beat out either Livers or Wagner assuming they are both back for a starting spot–both are pro talents, and both would have significant experience and S&C advantages over Todd. There is also Johns in the mix at those positions. Todd is not built to play the 5, nor are any of the others mentioned. Accordingly, this may also be a wait to see whether Livers, Wagner or both return–he.(or certainly his mom) are not likely to want to have him come off the bench during his one and done year.
Gotta go get Dickinson, Terrance Williams, and a scoring guard, and then the whole Todd saga feels like a cherry on top if he comes and not that big of a deal if he doesn’t.
This is the right line of thinking, in my opinion. If someone is going to make Todd an offer that makes it worth it to play overseas, then the chances of him playing overseas increases significantly. All-Star season could be key in that regard.
Think there are probably different offers for a guy who is top 5 versus top 15.
Yeah I’m curious about this too. Money is nice, but I think college really helps your branding if you’re an elite guy. I’ll bet the majority of people don’t have a clue who RJ Hampton is right now, but if he was lighting it up at Kansas he would be a household name.
Guessing around 500k, its supposedly quite a big higher than the g league deal. Guessing the majority of his money comes from the shoe deal he got from the Chinese company.
Yeah that feels like chump change compared to being able to market yourself in America / have a more enjoyable year playing basketball that people care about.
Shoe-deal might change the equation though depending on how much Hampton got from that.
I know the NZ league is most aggressive now, but has he said it’s NZ or bust? Or willing to go anywhere if the money’s right and the nature of the league/team to his liking at well?
A small correction, they are playing in the Australian league. It has one team from NZ, sort of their Toronto Raptors. LaMelo plays for one of the Aussie teams. Hampton plays for the NZ team.
Why would he lie? I would rather him be up front than to wait to the last minute a go pro. He’s lying and saying " I’m going to college" and not go. The kid is keeping his option and is entitled. It shouldn’t be a issue if the kid still admits to looking at his option. He has a chance to make money now or have the college experience. He has the right to evaluate those options.
You guys also gotta consider that staying here as opposed to going overseas means he will have to deal with classes, NCAA, etc. As much as I want Todd here (and think he still probably ends up here) when a kid goes overseas I see the logic 100%. Hampton is a great experiment so we’ll see how that pans out
I’m assuming Livers will go pro and Franz will stay another year. I may be totally wrong, but that seems like the likeliest outcome IMO. As for Todd, I am not counting on him either and hoping to be pleasantly surprised.
It’ll honestly just be up to what he wants. He’s never gonna be a first round pick, so it’s up to him to decide whether a two-way contract/getting a head start on his professional career sounds better to him than another year in college.
When is the late signing period? Is there any chance Todd wants to know if there’s a really good senior taking up the 4 spot before making an official decision, or does NBA stuff happen way after that?
I immediately think of Nasir Little getting blocked by senior Luke Maye and falling way down in the draft.
The late signing period is Apr 15-May 20. That’s before the deadline for withdrawing from the draft. Todd doesn’t have to sign in the spring either. He can just fill out the financial aid paperwork.