I understand people sign guaranteed contracts in the 2nd round. What I am saying is that 2nd round picks are not assured a guaranteed contract, and if they do sign one, it doesn’t need to be 3 year/4th year option.
As I said, OKC is going have a ton of 20-23 year olds running around, and only more coming.
Hell, Isaiah Livers got 3 years guaranteed at pick 42
The evidence seems to be mounting. I am pretty sure Juwan, with all of his contacts and having spoken, probably at some length, about all this with Caleb knows what is happening/will happen. I think we will see Juwan actively pursuing a replacement for Caleb, and perhaps both Caleb and Moussa, even though he remains pretty quiet about his intentions.
I, of course, have no say in the matter but I would have Pete Nance near or at the very top of the list of players Juwan may pursue. If that is the case, and if Pete opts out of the draft, he is a player we could get and one who would be a great fit.
Again, I will cheer for MICHIGAN no matter which players are on our roster, but I think Pete Nance would look REALLY good in Maize 'n Blue. He’s a high character kid who can play. He’s smart, mature, and experienced, and I think he’s a kid who would love playing for Juwan, next to Hunter. 
I think I found a better way to explain our mixed feelings on this board for Houstan going early. We all are rooting for him to succeed and I think we all agree that if he is going to get drafted in the 30s then he should in fact go even if might be able to move to the lottery next year. Yet many of us (me included) are confused and a bit frustrated with this turn of events and struggle to see why he’s being picked there…only for Dylan and others to point out to us why it is totally logical and we should calm down. 
Here’s how I think I can explain where we’re coming from: Since 1991 there appears to be 21 Michigan players who have left with eligibility remaining to go pro (I’ll list them in a reply to this post). Of those players, two went in the 2nd round (Iggy, GR3) and two went undrafted (Manny, Matthews). But when you look down the list of players, almost all of them had a very successful final year at Michigan before going pro - where you could relate their performance to their desire to go pro and thus to a team wanting to draft them.
The exceptions to this would be Poole (who shot 37% from three, had a middling TO and AST numbers, and struggled inside the line), McGary (who was hurt and the NCAA forced out), Crawford (who the NCAA forced out), and I guess maybe Maurice Taylor (who was still good, just a little underwhelming). Of those players, Houstan had a “worse” season that anyone except maybe Poole.
So of all these 20+ players who we’ve experienced leaving, Houstan had the least productive season before getting drafted…depending on your thoughts on Poole.
How was Poole’s sophomore year a disappointment? He shot 75-of-203 from deep and 52% inside the arc.
He had some disappointing games and performances late in the year, but statistically he was really good that year.
I think the big takeaway is that fans are focused on the specific wins/losses/etc. (things like home/road split, performance vs. MSU, a defensive mistake at crucial moment) when in reality those things aren’t as important for the big picture eval.
How would you include Moussa in your analysis?
Yeah, feelings on Poole were even more varied than Houstan. I think Poole was meant to be a star and drafted as one (and now actually is one) but didn’t perform like that. While 37% was good, we had just ended an era where guys were shooting over 40% and Poole’s disappointing performances in several games were really obvious. He was good…he just wasn’t a star. (Not unlike Houstan I guess)
I don’t know what to do with Diabate honestly. In some ways he’s exactly like Houstan from a productivity vs. potential. I think people are less frustrated because he fits the narrative of “hyper athletic guy the NBA drafts totally on potential” where Houstan doesn’t.
I honestly think one of the hardest things to contextualize when talking about basketball is the relationship between volume and 3-point accuracy – especially when you incorporate shot type (OTD vs CS).
Poole made 75 threes (only other Torvik era players to do that: Stauskas (2x), Duncan (1x), Hardaway (1x), Walton (1x)) and he had roughly a 50-50 split between C&S and OTD threes.
Most guys who shoot a true 40% are only taking catch and shoot threes and rarely taking 200 3s.
I think I’ve pulled this before but this is every Torvik-era U-M player with 60 made threes.
High 30s is a good 3pt percentage for someone getting up 200 triples. Now obviously Poole had a slump and didn’t shoot it great in Big Ten play but he was a key starter, secondary creator and volume shooter for a top 10 team. Feels like U-M got its money’s worth despite how the season ended up.
Example… Michigan as a team this year was 63-186 on OTD jumpers… Poole was 36-100 on OTD as a sophomore by himself.
Yes. The NBA doesn’t care that MSU successfully hunted him as a defender. The NBA knows he has the skills and will coach him up.
And Poole hit The Shot, let’s not forget 
(Ok I guess if we’re just talking sophomore year then The Shot doesn’t count. But still. Million reasons to love Poole and what he did at UM)
yeah poole was up and down, but there were flashes of brilliance with him
If it makes anyone feel better, he has 100% retained the defensive issues that made lots of people tear their hair out.
My frustration lies in the fact that I would be annoyed if my favorite NBA team spent a pick on Houstan based on what I saw this year. Many of his deficiencies (e.g., athleticism, ball handling, strength) aren’t quick fixes or fixable at all. I simply don’t understand what a team would see in film that would be enticing to pick him over the other options available. The “potential” argument makes a lot more sense when discussing Moussa.
All of that being said, if Houstan gets drafted (especially in the 1st round), I will be happy for him and agree that he made a good decision in leaving.
It makes me feel better, yes please and thank you!
Uh, no he hasn’t? What a random shot at Poole, have you been watching the games?
Also, adding on to what I said earlier. If Caleb’s selling point is his shooting, I simply didn’t see enough this past season that would make me believe he’s truly an elite shooter. His role will likely be similar to Livers (who has a 2nd round pick, with a lot more game, albeit multiple years older at time of draft), but the thing is - Isaiah routinely showed how deadly he was from 3. If my life was dependent on Houstan or Livers making a 3, I’d pick Livers all day long.
Livers at the same stage attempted less 3s than Caleb made this year
I’ve watched every playoff game, and 15-20 in the regular season? He is 100% the guy that gets picked on. The Warriors had to re-conceptualize their defense in the Grizzlies series to protect him - they stopped switching when he stepped on the floor!
Setting eye-test aside, he’s a negative in BPM, in RAPTOR, and Cleaning the Glass, the team allowed 2 more points per possession with him on the floor in the regular season, and 6 points more per 100 possessions in the playoffs.
He’s a very good scorer!
expected but simply absurd
someone get him ice cream
