I doubt that. For that to happen, Wilson has to jump in front of him. While you can argue Wilson has the higher ceiling, Boozer's floor is much higher. I think he might be better than his dad but still not a superstar.
NBA Draft
Have a hard time buying Boozer will be a superstar. Maybe it's my Dook hatred. Don't get me wrong. He will be a very good player, probably all star level. But superstar? I just don't see it.
i agree, and i really want the bulls to take wilson. i'll be bummed if it's boozer; however, i am very often wrong about who will be good in the nba.
No worries. Bulls will take whoever is left at 4. LoL! Glad I am only a MJ fan.
Don't think they'll be passing up anybody at #4.
I don't really see the criticism as "hate". In many recent years, teams would have run to the podium to take him 1st. There is just more competition this year, so they spend more time nitpicking to differentiate.
I'd argue Wiggins is his floor comp. AJ is bigger, sees the floor better, and has better handles.
A lot of guys would have loved to have had Andrew's career. Average 18, 4, & 2 over 12 seasons, win a championship, and sign about 250 million dollars worth of contracts...
great minds think alike and cover their balls around Jeremy fears!
There's no guard in this draft that has a better combination of size, ball skills, shooting, and shot creation.
Hall of Famer Andrew Wiggins?I don't really see the criticism as "hate". In many recent years, teams would have run to the podium to take him 1st. There is just more competition this year, so they spend more time nitpicking to differentiate.
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I'd argue Wiggins is his floor comp. AJ is bigger, sees the floor better, and has better handles.
A lot of guys would have loved to have had Andrew's career. Average 18, 4, & 2 over 12 seasons, win a championship, and sign about 250 million dollars worth of contracts...
“5. Los Angeles Clippers: Keaton Wagler, Illinois
The Clippers get their pick of a talented guard crop at No. 5 assuming the board plays out as expected. It will be interesting to see how much L.A. picking up Darius Garland at the trade deadline this past season impacts their decision-making here, potentially making a smaller, more ball-dominant guard less palatable. If that’s the case, Wagler becomes an even stronger factor at this spot as the tallest and most seamless off-ball player of the four top point guards on the board.”
He’s also a heck of a competitor, which was always the big knock on Wiggins, who tended to float in and out of games in the NBA. A will to compete is one of those attributes that is too often overlooked. Same thing can be said of Boozer: the kid competes and has a will to win.I don't really see the criticism as "hate". In many recent years, teams would have run to the podium to take him 1st. There is just more competition this year, so they spend more time nitpicking to differentiate.
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I'd argue Wiggins is his floor comp. AJ is bigger, sees the floor better, and has better handles.
A lot of guys would have loved to have had Andrew's career. Average 18, 4, & 2 over 12 seasons, win a championship, and sign about 250 million dollars worth of contracts...
Really interesting how landscape is evolving and how the incentives right now favor returning to school for any player projected to be outside the top 20 or so, which is making the second round pretty weak. Does the NBA attempt to sweeten the pot and start to offer more guaranteed money to entice those players into the draft? Or does the nba just not care enough about second round picks to make any changes?
Given that second rounders have a less than 50% chance of making I roster I tend to think it’ll be the latter, which I think is a win/win for both college and the nba and is looking more like a baseball model. The guys who can impact a team go pro, and those that need more development stick in college, which will continue to elevate the college game. Works for me.
That said, surprised there wasn’t more of a market for Momcilovic given he has positional size and he was the best shooter in the draft.
Given that second rounders have a less than 50% chance of making I roster I tend to think it’ll be the latter, which I think is a win/win for both college and the nba and is looking more like a baseball model. The guys who can impact a team go pro, and those that need more development stick in college, which will continue to elevate the college game. Works for me.
That said, surprised there wasn’t more of a market for Momcilovic given he has positional size and he was the best shooter in the draft.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
I mean it's a little bit of a misnomer to say that it makes the second round weaker since the league will have their chance at all of these players returning to school eventually.
The question from the league's perspective is whether they would rather have these players as 19 year old mystery boxes with promise who they could potentially mold at a higher level than the college game could, versus as 22 year olds who are bigger stars, more ready to contribute immediately, but who have had certain warts weaknesses exposed in their games.
For me that's a really, really easy decision.
The new reality is a win for the players, it's a win for college basketball and it's a win for the NBA.
Did you see the commercial with the 2 Boozer brothers flanking their Dad?
I think Dad looks bigger than both of them combined!
The NBA has taken steps to sweeten the pot, mainly the second round exemption. This allows teams to go over the salary cap to sign second round players above the rookie minimum. As an added bonus, they don't count against the salary cap until July 31, which functionally means you can sign free agents as if that player is not on your roster until July 31.
The use of the exception is optional, and so a team is only going to part with guaranteed money like that for a guy they really want. It seems teams are using the guarantee of an exception to dangle to prospects who might choose to go back to college.
The risk if you don't get a second round exemption is a 2-way deal, where your guaranteed money is like $85k. In Last year's draft, picks 31-38 all got second round exemptions as did four other players. So a little less than half the second round.
This is kind of where the common knowledge of "it's better to stay in college if you're not in the first round" is potentially not true. If you get a second round exemption guarantee after your Junior year, there's no guarantee you get one next time around. And that's a big deal potential earnings-wise. Tyrese Proctor could have come back to Duke but he stayed in the 2025 draft and got a 4yr/$8.7 million deal as the #49 pick. Brooks Barnhizer got drafted ahead of him (#44) in the same draft, with no eligibility left, and got a 2-way deal. Proctor, who played in 50 NBA games this season, will have earned about $1.3 million this year while Barnhizer's earnings, after 40 NBA games, are $138k according to Spotrac.
Now, I think the reason this hasn't really swayed many guys is it makes the most sense for juniors, with only 1 year of eligibility left. With NIL the way it is, if you're in the NBA discussion at all you're going to make good money and having eligibility is almost like having guaranteed contract years. So I think caring about the second round exemption just really isn't a thing until you're down to one year of eligibility. And then at that point you're potentially the most desirable guy in the transfer portal. You are good enough for a 2nd round NBA pick and have three years of NCAA experience under your belt. You can get PAID, and who knows, maybe sneak into the first round the next year. But there were reports around here that Stoj was fishing for a second round exception guarantee, so my guess is it is playing a role in some decisions, but really only the very close ones.
Dre is a junior. But to me he is closer to the middle end of the 2nd round rather than the front.
The bulls would trade down to #7 for two second round picks.
There were players towards even the end of the 2nd round that got second round exemptions. Will Richard, at #56, got one.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
It's more about providing teams with the flexibility to sign second-rounders to long term contracts than about an enticement to get second rounders to stay in the draft, and the Stojakovic's fishing for a guarantee in that regard was a bit of a quixotic enterprise.
A player who performs well on a conventional second round deal (see: Dosumnu, Ayo) can reach free agency more quickly than someone signed to a second round exception deal, team control is the whole purpose. That said, a team is more invested in developing a player they have a longer-term commitment to, so it's a two-way street.
He's a junior? How? He played 32 games at Stanford, 29 games at Cal, and 34 last year for Illinois.