Fair or not, Livers could be judged for coming back given the NotNCAAproperty campaign. Dunno whether that’s important as a deciding factor but seems relevant.
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I cannot think of a reason he would come back. And have a much harder time thinking of a reason he should. This season just played out the exact script of why you don’t stay an extra year.
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The only reason it would make sense to come back is if there’s some financial/medical reason where he could get better treatment. I think that probably depends on where his stock sits in NBA circles. I’d imagine there’s a team out there that would take a chance on him with a 2-way but medical exams are probably the swing.
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Peripheral to this, Isaiah was one of three players (the others being Jordan Bohannon and Geo Baker) who met with Mark Emmert on the NIL stuff. None seemed optimistic and he certainly wasn’t shy about it. Personally, I am extremely impressed with Isaiah - taking a stand isn’t always easy, and doing so on an issue that probably won’t have much effect on him (I am assuming he won’t be playing by the time this would happen, though there is some retrospective money potentially) is admirable. I am proud of the vast majority of our basketball alums, but Livers’ constant maturity and clear-eyed sense of right and wrong (and willingness to speak to it) makes him my favorite.
“We brought up a lot of our points, and it’s kind of like he would say the same thing and kind of agree with us. But that really wasn’t going anywhere,” said Livers, who wore a #NotNCAAProperty shirt during the NCAA Tournament while sidelined with a foot injury. “And obviously, from what I hear, he likes to kind of talk about points instead of make action.”
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For context on this, there are generally somewhere between 40-50 two-way contracts available for undrafted players. 60 total contracts, a decent chunk are used on 2nd round picks and then some are not used.
A number also get used during the season, as teams use it as an alternative to the 10 day contract.
2nd round picks do not automatically get guaranteed contracts like 1st round picks but last I checked something like half of 2nd round picks were signing guaranteed contracts. It is far more than used to happen 10+ years ago.
Also some teams in cap trouble load up on 2nd round picks because they count far less against the cap. For example Milwaukee needed 2 2nd round picks on the roster this year to fit under the cap which is why Jordan Nwora and Sam Merrill made their team (cheaper than signing vet minimum).
I wonder if he took out an insurance policy before coming back and if that helps him if he goes undrafted. I am thinking of Jake B*tt, who went from an early pick to a late pick and has barely played in the NFL. (I had to adjust his name for the filter!)
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Jake “Rear” is the UMHoops filter preferred nomenclature
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Proud of Livers and happy our coach gives him the platform to do this.
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Does anyone know what Zay’s major is/was? Has he graduated yet or about to?
Not that this is a high probability: depending on what the doctors said about his specific stress fracture, he may decide his dream of playing in professional BB is over and comes back to rehab and be a player/coach in January, goes to graduate school on the universities dime, and learns from the best coaching staff men’s college BB has to offer.
Who knows only time will tell. As charismatic and intelligent Zay appears to be, he will be successful at what ever he decides to do.
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That’s a great point I don’t think we’ve discussed enough. It took a lot of courage from Livers, Bohannon, and Baker to do what they’ve done over the past few weeks. But also give credit to Juwan, Pikiell, and - I can’t believe I’m saying this - McCaffery for empowering their players to take a stance so publicly and confidently. So many control-freak college coaches would’ve either told their players they couldn’t wear the shirt on the sideline and make public demands for change just because it would be a distraction. And many other coaches would’ve looked the other way and not embraced their guys for sticking up for the cause.
Remember last year when Duncan went on the podcast with Brendan and Baumgardner and talked about the 2018 team’s potential boycott of the open practice at the Final Four? They essentially had to work around Beilein because he wouldn’t have been too interested in causing distractions from the main task at hand, which was of course the games. Just such a refreshing approach from coaches like Juwan.
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I don’t think there will be any unused two way contracts next year. The G League was much smaller and shorter this year due to the pandemic. I think more, if not all, teams will use both their two way contracts next season.
In these days of expanded rosters I think something like 90% of second round picks in the last 3 years have signed nba contracts
Livers should do whatever the heck he wants and for whatever that’s worth, has my full support whatever he does. My point is that he’s a closer call. If by some miracle he gets a guarantee from someone wanting to pay him a bunch of money when he’s healed up, I would be ecstatic for him. The Langford comp doesn’t seem so apt to me - I don’t think he was ever great, but it was clear that he was permanently diminished post surgery. There seems to be no reason to expect Isaiah to be anything less than 100% when he’s fully healed from this foot issue. It would be amazing to have him back; I want him to do whatever is best for Isaiah Livers.
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Playing again for Michigan would be an unnecessary risk. But if coming back just for access to high quality rehab and training facilities for free, plus meals, it might not be a bad idea. He could always “leave the team” mid season.
I do not want Isaiah Livers back. It is absolutely tragic to see an NBA ready player sticking it out in college because of an injury. If GRIII, Duncan Robinson, Jordan Poole, can play in the NBA there is absolutely 0 reason he can’t. Someone is going to give him a contract, and he will play in the league.
He should go to the G-League to rehab or whatever, absolutely not acceptable for him to come back to school for whatever reason.
It’s doubtful an NBA team will PAY him to rehab. That’s something he’ll likely have to do on his own like Charles Matthews.
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I want what is best for Isaiah too. Believe me I really do. I was just saying the other end of the spectrum to him coming back could be bad. It’s not a guarantee it’d go well
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