The right thing would have been to stay and continue his development. He still needs improvement before taking the next step and would have developed more staying one more year.
It’s not like he’s going to go somewhere and be buried on a bench and not play next year. He will continue to develop as a player. He will just get paid while doing so. If he continues to develop his pay will go up each year. These overseas contracts aren’t long term contracts. The argument to stay if you think you can improve your draft stock from late first round to mid first round makes some sense. The argument to stay because you might get $20,000 more on your first contract makes little sense. Leron is not going to be an NBA player next year or the year after or ever most likely. I think it is wrong to think that the only way can develop is by staying at Illinois. He will be playing against good competition and believe this, if he’s good enough to jump up in competition, scouts will find him.