2008 NBA Draft: Decisions, Decisions, Who made the right choice?By: Kevin Duffy

By
Kevin
Duffy
6/17/08

With the passing of the early entry withdrawal date, here’s a look
at the players who made a good decision or a bad decision about
entering or pulling out of the draft:

The Good Decisions

Joe
Alexander, West Virginia — Stayed in draft
After seeing
his stock rise immensely in the postseason, and then seeing it rise
another notch following the Draft Combine, Alexander had little
choice but to stay in. He’s projected to go as high as No.
5 by some and probably won’t fall past No. 10. No matter what
he did next year, Alexander’s stock would be relatively the
same. His time is now.

Chase
Budinger, Arizona — Withdrew
Had he stayed in the draft, Budinger would have been a mid-first
rounder. But by coming back to Arizona — especially now that
Jerryd Bayless is gone — Budinger will have a chance to be
the go-to guy and play himself into the top ten of a weaker 2009
draft.

Ty Lawson,
Wayne Ellington, Danny Green, North Carolina —
Withdrew
Lawson salvaged a poor decision — last week’s DUI —
with a better one by returning for his junior season. When Ellington
and Green followed in his footsteps (by returning to school that
is, not by operating a vehicle under the influence), the ‘Heels
instantly became the preseason No. 1 team.

Anthony
Randolph, LSU — Stayed in draft
Is he ready for the NBA? Probably not. But Randolph is being mentioned
as a sure-fire Top 8 selection, and if that is that case, leaving
is an absolute no-brainer.

Ryan
Anderson, California — Stayed in draft
Never confused for a potential top ten pick, Anderson seems like
a safe bet to land at the end of the first round. At this point,
getting a guaranteed contract and playing for a playoff team is
the best option for Anderson.

Blake
Griffin, Oklahoma — Didn’t test waters
Griffin never entered his name into the process, and I applaud him
for that. Here’s a guy who would have gone in the Top Ten
as a freshman, but didn’t even consider making the leap. Usually
when someone passes up the chance to be a top ten pick, I’d
call it a mistake, but Griffin is the odds-on favorite to be the
No. 1 overall pick next year. His skills will catch up to his physical
ability much quicker at Oklahoma than it would on an NBA bench somewhere.

Mario
Chalmers, Kansas — Stayed in draft
Chalmers will probably be a late first-rounder, but there’s
no way his stock will ever be higher than it was after his tournament
performance. Besides, Chalmers won a National Championship at Kansas.
There’s nothing left for him to prove at the collegiate level.

Robert
Dozier and Antonio Anderson, Memphis — Withdrew
Neither was anywhere near being considered a first round pick, so
their return was no surprise. Memphis will be one of the premier
teams in the country again next season, and both Dozier and Anderson
will have a chance to play even bigger roles and hope to find a
spot in the draft next year.

AJ Abrams,
Texas — Withdrew
Abrams is the classic example of a good college player who doesn’t
translate to the pros. He’s better off going back for his
senior season, earning his degree, and then maybe trying to crack
the league or make a go of it in Europe after he has the insurance
of being a college graduate.

The
Bad Decisions

Davon
Jefferson, USC — Stayed in draft
Mistake number one was participating in the Orlando predraft camp,
as he failed to stand out and gave the impression that he was a
second rounder. Aside from being two years older than his class,
there’s no reason for Jefferson to jump ship this early. He’s
just a freshman and has very little chance of going in the first
round. Plus, with OJ Mayo gone, hed play an even bigger role
in the Trojan offense. I can only suspect he was wary of sharing
the spotlight with Lil’ Romeo.

DeAndre Jordan, Texas A&M — Stayed in draft
Jordan will almost surely be a lottery pick, but he’s nowhere
near NBA ready. if he played next season at A&M and improved
his fundamentals, he’d be a top five pick, if not the No.
1 overall selection. Like Blake Griffin, Jordan is more likely to
take the next step as a college sophomore playing a lot of minutes
than as a first-year NBA player picking splinters out of his rear.

JJ Hickson,
North Carolina State — Stayed in draft
This is probably Dick Vitale’s least favorite early entry.
First of all, he’s only a freshman and projected as a possible
late first to early second round pick. But most importantly, he
plays in the ACC and that conference should NEVER lose an underclassmen
to the draft. In fact, I believe Vitale is trying to get a petition
signed that would require all ACC players to stay all four years
and then do two additional years to earn their Masters. Only then
would they be eligible for the draft.

Bill
Walker, Kansas State — Stayed in draft
Last season, Walker still wasn’t fully recovered from a torn
ACL. If he had stayed in Manhattan, he would have had a chance to
get to 100 percent while being K-State’s go-to scorer. He
still might find a place in the late first round, but after the
knee injury, odds are he’s going to slip to the second. Walker
has his work cut out for him if he wants to crack any NBA rotation
right now.

George
Hill, IUPUI — Stayed in draft
There is some chatter that Hill could even grab a spot in the late
first round. But more likely he will parlay his excellent showing
at the Orlando Predraft camp into being an early to mid-second rounder
similar to Ramon Sessions a year ago. Having played most of the
year on the wing, it’s unlikely a team feels confident enough in
him as a lead guard to take him in the first round. Returning to
IUPUI could have given teams that kind of confidence in him.