NBA Draft

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#151      
WeWillWhen
OrangeBlue98 said:
As someone who has a son going through the college search process in a different sport and has a good friend who is fielding legitimate D-1 offers, I honestly don't think the college experience really applies to athletes. Sure, they may have a little time to do "normal college things". But their non-class time is pretty much consumed by their sport. For example, family friends of ours have a son playing soccer for a mid-major D-1 school. He had to drop a class where he was doing well and enjoyed the class because he was going to miss too many classes due to an extended trip. The professor was simply not going to compromise on attendance standards and would drop him one letter grade for each absence above the threshold.

I get what you're saying, but I don't think Will Riley's college experience is anywhere close to Joe/Jane Q.Public who is not a D-1 student-athlete.
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It really depends on the individual. Most of them regularly go to class, including the starters whose names you know. They do the typical schoolwork things. Lots of them go to parties, bars, sorority events, etc. They have non-athlete friends. If they WANT to experience the college stuff, they can; I mean, speaking of Riley, a few months ago my kid called me while on a McDonald's run with him.

Of course, athletes *do* spend a lot of their waking hours in practice/training time, and the basketball and football kids in particular have money to drive fancy cars and rent very nice places pretty far off campus if they want. Even many of the freshmen who are assigned top-of-the-line university housing in a place like Bousfield have rented themselves another crib elsewhere. That "not living in the student housing" element is one of the most notable deviations from regular student life.
 
#153      
Goillinikobd
He seems to be describing the guy we saw all season, so, no room to complain.
 
#154      
Bigtex
Don’t watch any nba but today turned on the lakers and timberwolves. Not comparing kj to Luka but I saw some similarities with my small sample size. Both skilled offensive players. Both make lazy/sloppy passes for turnovers and runouts.
 
#155      
jjv0004
Someone mocked Kasparas to the Bulls at number 12. As a Bulls fan I say, "please, no!" He was a very good player for the Illini this year but I don't want him on the Bulls as a pick in the top half of the 1st round.
 
#156      
Joel Goodson
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#157      
21ChampaignSt
#159      
rdk573
#160      
IlliniShelt
#161      
ChiefGritty
Joel Goodson said:
Riley is #31 (first 2nd rounder) in Vecenie's latest mock ($): https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6291015/2025/05/01/nba-mock-draft-2025-cooper-flagg-tre-johnson/

if he gets a guarantee, it's a foregone conclusion that he's gone. but if he doesn't, coming back and gunning for next year's lottery seems like a good option. we'll know a lot more after the combine
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I'm going to *guess* that the seeming finality of Riley's departure says more about his draft stock than these mocks.

But I guess we'll see. It's obvious he wants to be a pro, that much is clear.

It's good news for Illinois that the transfer portal has closed and therefore Will can't field other NCAA offers, even though that's not really fair to the players and seems like it can't be how the system works long-term.

It would be a real shame if he winds up going through the draft process and ending up in a position where he's not being invested in to stick on an NBA roster. Kofi left a ton of money on the table doing that and Will would be leaving even more.
 
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#162      
Emerson Bigguns
ChiefGritty said:
I'm going to *guess* that the seeming finality of Riley's departure says more about his draft stock than these mocks.

But I guess we'll see. It's obvious he wants to be a pro, that much is clear.

It's good news for Illinois that the transfer portal has closed and therefore Will can't field other NCAA offers, even though that's not really fair to the players and seems like it can't be how the system works long-term.

It would be a real shame if he winds up going through the draft process and ending up in a position where he's not being invested in to stick on an NBA roster. Kofi left a ton of money on the table doing that and Will would be leaving even more.
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I find it difficult to imagine a team taking Will, even in the 2nd Round, would not invest a lot in his development. His relative youth is likely to get him a multi-year deal regardless of draft position. He is an upside play for a GM. If you aren't playing the long game with him, you aren't going to draft him at all.
 
#164      
Mobi
Emerson Bigguns said:
I find it difficult to imagine a team taking Will, even in the 2nd Round, would not invest a lot in his development. His relative youth is likely to get him a multi-year deal regardless of draft position. He is an upside play for a GM. If you aren't playing the long game with him, you aren't going to draft him at all.
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I agree. We all assume he wants to go 1st round and there is no question about that. However, he can bet on himself and ends like Ayo, which is far from the end of the world.
 
#165      
fatboyslim
Bigtex said:
Don’t watch any nba but today turned on the lakers and timberwolves. Not comparing kj to Luka but I saw some similarities with my small sample size. Both skilled offensive players. Both make lazy/sloppy passes for turnovers and runouts.
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Also have trouble keeping players in front of them on defense.
 
#166      
Boskydell
Mobi said:
I agree. We all assume he wants to go 1st round and there is no question about that. However, he can bet on himself and ends like Ayo, which is far from the end of the world.
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Don't imagine that he slides like Ayo. Think he goes late teens/ early twenties. If was AK, would be having serious discussions about trading down a few spots for him.
 
#168      
LouHenson
Joel Goodson said:
heck, late first round (25 and up), without a guarantee, might do the trick
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I agree, at that point we make way more sense for a 19 year old. I think this is sort of the cut off line on where a college can pay and the diminishing returns of postponing your first NBA contract collide (about pick #25 or so?).

If your 22 years old different story, but at 19 with serious potential to be a top 15 draft pick in 2026 that would pay like $5.5/yr? The combine WILL tell us everything we need to know.
 
#170      
ptgrd23
No guarantee in draft -Shedeur Saunders slid to 5th round and left $4M of $NIL on the table. Instead he gets $4.7M 4 year contract - NON GUARANTEED.

Will and KJ made very interesting decision to not enter portal. Very complementary to Illinois but if Will flames out in draft - it has eliminated his $NIL leverage.
 
#171      
ChiefGritty
Emerson Bigguns said:
I find it difficult to imagine a team taking Will, even in the 2nd Round, would not invest a lot in his development. His relative youth is likely to get him a multi-year deal regardless of draft position. He is an upside play for a GM. If you aren't playing the long game with him, you aren't going to draft him at all.
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Tell that to a guy like Trevor Keels who was also a very young 5-star scoring wing, had a similarly up and down but with flashes of brilliance freshman season at 18 at Duke, insisted on staying in the draft, got taken 42nd overall by the Knicks, played a grand total of 8 minutes across three games, got waived, and has been in the G-League ever since with multiple organizations.

He's still just 21 and put up huge G-League stats this year, maybe his NBA dream isn't finished just yet. But he left millions of dollars on the table by making that decision, and with the way the NIL money has inflated in the years since it's way more now.

That's an unusually stark case, but lots of college freshmen are second round picks and never really get a chance.

The boring old conventional wisdom about the importance of being a first rounder, amid so much chaos and change, remains basically the best advice.
 
#172      
pweo
Bigtex said:
Will ask again - who scores more NBA points (sorry can't figure out how to do a poll)
Shannon
KJ
Riley

My vote is on Riley
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KJ will have the most opportunities early. TSJ turns 25 this summer and has under 150 pts in his career. I'd love to see what he can do with more minutes but his current situation isn't doing him any favors.
 
#173      
BTM33
To me...not just as an Illinois fan...but Will should come back to school for another year, get stronger, get better, play a great season and go top 10 next year.

He is still way to thin in my opinion, and NBA scouts are going to tell him as much. The reason he will probably stay in is because this draft is not very deep at all. He will get drafted in the 20's probably because of upside and age.

As a prospect, he is very thin, he is not a great athlete (by NBA standards) and his only year, the shooting numbers were...OK and his defense leaved a bit to be desired. This is purely from an NBA scouts point of view.

My worry for him is...a team tells him he needs seasoning and to add weight, and he goes to the G-League and you never hear from him again. I AM NOT rooting for this at all, and think Will, if everything goes right, can be a great player. But I would hate to see him get drafted right at the end of the first round, when he could come back to school and significantly raise his stock.
 
#175      
IlliniFan42
FreshlySqueezed said:
The most interesting thing from Vecenie's mock draft article today is the stark decline in the number of early entrants declaring for the draft. There were 106 this year. There were 195 last year and 242 the year before that. NIL is making the college game an older game again.
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Also interesting that declaring for the draft is no longer the death sentence for eligibility that it used to be and yet the numbers are still declining.
 
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