10 million to develop his skills and test his talent against the best of the best, for 4 years, does not seem so bad. Waiting in AA for or a year or two might have resulted in a worse outcome.
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Why do you think staying one more year wouldāve suddenly netted him an 8-10 year NBA career? What is your justification for saying that? His skill set wouldnāt have changed and he wouldāve had less time to train and get better.
If anything, it could have just cost him his chance to be a top 10 pick and he would have then earned less money over his 4 year career.
Itās so silly to think like this. Nik made the right decision. Anyone who is a top 10 pick clearly made the right decision. Whether they have an extended career is independent of that.
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You act as if he was guaranteed to have a longer career and make more money had he stayed. He most likely wouldnāt have. If Nik canāt extend his career beyond his rookie contract, it has more to do with his overall talent level than it does regarding leaving early. He made the absolutely right decision and itās not even debatable.
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There is no ārightā answer in these situations, but to say Nik made the wrong decision seems ludicrous.
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I agree that he was best served leaving - the real issue is that he performed poorly (especially in the one translatable skill area that should have allowed him to continue to be a role player and carve out a decent nba career - shooting 3s). And having watched a few games over the years, his defense was atrocious at times (a lot of it appeared mental too). Itās too bad, because I really thought Nik could have peaked somewhere between Korver (everyoneās comparison for a white 3 point specialist) and Kevin Martin. I hope he gets another chance somewhere and gets that michigan confidence/swag back.
Wtf is the logic here? $10 million is a dream in and of itself, it really doesnāt matter how itās achieved.
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People seriously think that if he had come back for another year he would have had a longer career? What could that have possibly done to change his career? You guys realize that when people leave college they can still improve, and actually should improve more because they have constant access to the best trainers, health gurus, etc. and donāt have to go to class and study/do homework either.
I think we all know Nik works his tail off. Things didnāt work out. Maybe he can be a great player overseas.
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Nik Stauskas made the absolute right decision. You guys act like a top ten pick and millions of money does not matter. No one is guaranteed success in the NBA (ask Greg Oden).
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Greg Oden should have come back to school. He may not have injured his back if he was in class.
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More than that, too! Heās made almost $12.5 million
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And unless the player becomes an all star with a long career, isnāt it just as ludicrous to say that he absolutely made the right decision (as some on here are saying)? Only the player knows what is most important to him.
Hard to find fault if someone is a lottery pick, and just because he may not be on an NBA roster next it does not mean his playing career is over. Plenty of money to be made overseas and who knows he could always find his way back.
Lot worse jobs than playing hoops for a living that is for sure.
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Your point about staying in the league is very good. The second contract is way more important than the first.
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What could coming back to school for a year have done to help Nik earn his second contract?
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There is a pretty big false choice going on here - as if Nikās shortcoming as an NBA player, after four years of NBA training, player development, and laser focus on hooping (instead of class) would have been cured by 1 more season of part-time development at Michigan.
With all due respect - thatās insane.
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I should have clarified - if youāre a lottery pick like Nik, leaving is the absolute right decision. I didnāt see most of the other posts on this before replying.
Really, the thing hurting Nik the most right now is that heās not, in fact, a knock down three point shooter in the NBA. Coming back to college would not have helped him at all with that.
Iām looking more at the one and done guys who get drafted in like the 28-40 range and never make it to a second contract, when another year or two in college would put them in position to improve their draft status. Like, for example, if Trey had left after a year. Darius Morris is maybe another good example, depending on whether he could have improved his jumper at Michigan (no guarantee, but I think so).
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There are really only two explanations for why Nikās situation is precarious today:
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He is, after four years, two of which saw appreciable playing time, not good enough.
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He landed in bad organizations (definitely true in Sacramento, but Philly and NJ have been more than willing to audition guys and have had good coaching staffs in place that have developed other marginal prospects (Covington, McConnell, Joe Harris, Caris)
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Nik was also drafted by an organization that is the poster child for incompetence at the NBA level. Not to mention they had just drafted their shooting guard of the future the year before in Ben McLemore and the emotional leader of their locker room was Boogie Cousins, who literally threatened to beat Nik up on a plane his rookie year.
Then he gets shipped to Philly who was actively trying to lose games for two seasons until this year when they suddenly were loaded with talent and Nikās role disappeared.
The guyās only 24. He shot 40% from three for a full season this year in both Philly and Brooklyn (first time he has done that in his career). There has been zero stability in any situation he landed in up to this point. Iām not giving up on Nik yet. Trey Burke was on his way out of the league too until NY gave him a chance and now heās a 25 year old promising backup PG again.
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I think how you feel about that depends on whether you feel that a player can improve at a faster rate in college or in the NBA.
At the very least, every year you stay in college makes you older (less potential) so that has to be considered.
In college you spend time going to class, limited practice time, etc. but more guaranteed to get game reps in college. NBA you can work on your game with top quality instruction basically 24/7, but maybe harder to get NBA game reps. Thatās changing with the G-League and 2-way contracts and I think weāll continue to see that option become more viable especially once the 1-and-done rule is wiped.
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Just to clarify my own take. If I was Nikās Dad, I would have urged him to go pro after his sophmore year. His marketability was at a peak and thereās always the risk of injury, or going seriously backwards.
However, now we know what has happened to Nik. It sure seems like he wasnāt really ready for the NBA, particularly his confidence was too easily shaken. I consider a 4 year $10 million dollar career a bust if thereās no substantial accomplishment. Better to be an 8 year journeyman who contributes at 500,000K/year. In either case, itās a lot of money to do something that you love. (BTW, I know that journeymen in the NBA now make a lot more than 500K!)
Money isnāt everything guys.
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