Those are valid points but it doesnt really matter if he is not ready to make an NBA roster much less play. There are some good big men this year in college and who knows around the world. I am not sure were Kofi ranks with those guys. Wiseman, Oturu, Garza, KUs big, Wesson, and others. I am an avid Illini Fan all my life and i think he can make it but I dont think he should go regardless of age if he isnt firmly in the first round. That is ere the money is and two years pay. I posted this early and I personally feel he needs at least one year. He is playing well but is getting his shot blocked and rushed at times in every game. He needs more experience big time because the NBA is a whole new level and he needs to get a different mentality to be ready for those guys imo. Here is a link i posted earlier that breaks down salaries for the draft and i found it interesting.
https://heavy.com/sports/2019/06/nba-draft-salary-contract-picks-money-rookie/
Dude, you are all over this thread and your opinions are just poor to me.
Kofi does not need to develop this mysterious mentality you speak of. He came to Illinois with a little bit of a soft body and has absolutely put in the work and transformed himself into a
7 time B1G Freshman of the Week. Do you understand how special that is? His work ethic and incredible progress in such a short amount of time show he already has the mentality of a pro. What he needs more of, as you correctly mentioned, is experience. He has only played organized basketball for 5 years. Dude has barely come into himself as a basketball player and put up 22pts & 15 rebs against Purdue. That's insane.
Most of the guys you mentioned as comparable big men are of little to no consequence when it comes to the NBA Draft. Wiseman and Oturu will be highly coveted but he's also going up against Vernon Carey of Duke, Zeke Nnaji of Arizona, Isiah Stewart of Washington, Onyeka Okongwu of USC, N'Faly Dante of Oregon, Oscar Tshiebwe of West Virginia, Filip Petrusev of Gonzaga. These are all promising freshman bigs he has to compete with for draft spots in a game where perimeter players are taking over.
For 1st round draft picks, the first two years of their contract are guaranteed but they all have two-year team options that are almost always picked up unless that player has really busted or has legal issues. You can have your opinion as an avid Illinois fan but if you have a first-round promise and even if you get picked #30, you'd be turning down a
guaranteed $3.2 million to come back to school. You should think about it like that instead of like a homer to your favorite school. Yes, he stands to make a lot more if he comes back and improves his draft position but what if he suffers a terrible injury? Kofi is currently 20 years old which is not young by freshman standards. James Wiseman is just about to turn 19. Kofi is 19 days younger than a sophomore Daniel Oturu. His time may be now to jump to the league.