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At this point, who comes back next season?

Win #9 and we can bid adieu to all of them. Hopefully we have a few to return though.
 
Edwards needs to come back. Said in another thread, take the PJ Washington route, significantly improve his game especially from the perimeter if he is going to last in the league. It's one thing to get the rookie contract and another to make a career out of it.
 
Reed, Edwards and Bradshaw are gone in my opinion. Reed might love UK but he’s not turning down being a lottery pick, if that opportunity arose.
great-job-sarcastic.gif
 
I agree that Bradshaw is gone, but I just don’t see his fit in the NBA. I’ve been really surprised at his lack of athleticism. It seems like a struggle just to convert an alley oop to him.
He is so slow to get off the floor. Same on blocks. Ball is always past him it seems.
 
We've seen guys leaving before who had no business leaving when they did - Gabriel, Montgomery, Briscoe, Diallo, Goodwin, Skal, Teague, Orton, Hagans, Humphries, etc. - the same will be true for Edwards and Bradshaw. They could play like dog crap the rest of the season and we still know how this story ends.

It's the culture that Calipari sells them on in the first place. It's how he gets them here and it's the main reason they come here.
 
Reed has not looked superb in the first two SEC games. It’s a small sample size and could be that he is not asserting himself offensively. Or it could be the athleticism of the SEC is bothering him a little.

It would be great if he continues to blow up and becomes a lotto pick. It would mean a pretty deep run or even a ship for UK.
 
We've seen guys leaving before who had no business leaving when they did - Gabriel, Montgomery, Briscoe, Diallo, Goodwin, Skal, Teague, Orton, Hagans, Humphries, etc. - the same will be true for Edwards and Bradshaw. They could play like dog crap the rest of the season and we still know how this story ends.

It's the culture that Calipari sells them on in the first place. It's how he gets them here and it's the main reason they come here.

And none of those guys are still in the nba, should tell Edwards and Bradshaw something but it won’t, they never learn. They’ll both be out of the league in 4 years

The hope is NIL would keep some of these guys around an extra year, that’s yet to be seen
 
adu
burks
reed only bc he's from here

Edwards 2.0 is probably a dream. Could be really good next year. 750k nil might keep him here. We raised money for big Z what's stopping fans from buying players now.

Dilly gone
dj gone
ugo back
big z gone

by my math we get 2 back
 
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And none of those guys are still in the nba, should tell Edwards and Bradshaw something but it won’t, they never learn. They’ll both be out of the league in 4 years
Bradshaw will not be out of the league in 4 years. The guy has been practicing at full speed in college for just 6 weeks. He was injured in March and was pretty much inactive for 6 months.

All 7 footers take a while as freshman, and he is 6 months behind the curve. He might have a limited roll the first year or two in the league but he will definitely get a pretty nice second contract.
 
Wagner
Dillingham
Edwards
Bradshaw
Reeves - No Choice
Mitchell - No Choice


I think Reed stays 3 years and gets his degree. This kid grew up with UK as his dream and not the NBA. He'll get $$$ with NIL and he'll get a degree in 3 years then turn pro. I also agree with Jimmy Dykes Reed will be a college basketball coach someday. He will want to gain as much knowledge in this game as possible.
 
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Reed, Edwards and Bradshaw are gone in my opinion. Reed might love UK but he’s not turning down being a lottery pick, if that opportunity arose.
Reed is not a lottery pick this year, he will watch his draft stock decline as the season progresses. I think he comes back for another year.
 
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I agree that Bradshaw is gone, but I just don’t see his fit in the NBA. I’ve been really surprised at his lack of athleticism. It seems like a struggle just to convert an alley oop to him.
That’s not on Bradshaw, those failed alley oops were bad passes on the guards part. When it was executed properly last night, Bradshaw finished with his head above the rim. He’s plenty athletic enough.
 
Reed is not a lottery pick this year, he will watch his draft stock decline as the season progresses. I think he comes back for another year.
That sounds like wishful thinking. I'd like to see you substantiate that with actual reasons.
 
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Reed is not a lottery pick this year, he will watch his draft stock decline as the season progresses. I think he comes back for another year.
I'm not a huge NBA mock draft expert, but I think this year's draft is supposed to be pretty weak overall. Any guy coming back with the expectation of improving his draft stock is running a risk because of that. If next year's draft is substantially better than this year's it might be really hard to play your way into the lottery even if you improve your game quite a bit.
 
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Have some of you guys not been following along since 2010? No way possible that all those guys come back. We will be lucky if all the freshman don't declare and Adou doesn't enter the portal.
This.

Assume everyone leaves and be happy if someone returns.
 
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And none of those guys are still in the nba, should tell Edwards and Bradshaw something but it won’t, they never learn. They’ll both be out of the league in 4 years

The hope is NIL would keep some of these guys around an extra year, that’s yet to be seen
Not being in the NBA has nothing to do with them leaving early though. Once you're in the NBA your success is all on you. No one is coming back to UK for a second year and learning things that guarantees them a long NBA career. There's nothing you learn here as a sophomore you can't learn in the NBA when it's your full time job.

Coming back to school has one goal and one goal only. To improve your draft stock. You don't come back to improve your chances of having a long NBA career. If you're in the NBA and can't guarantee that second contact it's your own fault. You either didn't work hard enough or just weren't good enough to make it at that level. There's nothing coming back to UK could have done to change that.
 
I would not be shocked if Edwards came back. Dude obviously needs work. Also wouldn’t be shocked if Reed left, although I think the only way that happens is if we make the FF at minimum.

DJ, Dilly and Bradshaw are gone for sure.
 
Are you being serious? No way Bradshaw or Edwards come back. And Reed probably gone too.
Yep. Anybody who expects ANY of these freshman to come back next year haven't been paying attention during the Cal tenure. Players who are borderline almost always go. Players who show potential but could use two more years almost always go. Players that show first or second round potential almost always go.

You're better off enjoying this season and looking forward to the next recruiting class, because frankly, that's who's going to be here.
 
We've seen guys leaving before who had no business leaving when they did - Gabriel, Montgomery, Briscoe, Diallo, Goodwin, Skal, Teague, Orton, Hagans, Humphries, etc. - the same will be true for Edwards and Bradshaw. They could play like dog crap the rest of the season and we still know how this story ends.

It's the culture that Calipari sells them on in the first place. It's how he gets them here and it's the main reason they come here.
None of the guys you listed would have turned into long term NBA players even if they were here all four years. They weren't learning anything new or improving anything here at UK they couldn't also learn at the NBA level while basketball is their full time job. If you have NBA aspirations you come back to improve your draft stock, that's literally the only reason.
 
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What people seem to forget, like always, is coming back for a second year is solely about increasing your draft stock. That's it. You improve your overall game more in the NBA with world class coaches and world class facilities more than you ever could by coming back to UK.

And even if we assume coming back is guaranteed to improve your draft stock, the money still might not be in your favor to return.

If you come back and play your way into the lottery that's great, your first contract is worth more. But your second contract starts a year later. Without getting into the details of a fourth year option, let's say you have two players, one who leaves after one year and is drafted 25th, and one who comes back and plays himself into the lottery the next year and is drafted 10th. Let's also assume the one and done guy is an average player and secures a second contract at the league average salary of $10 million.

The one and done guy, despite being drafted 25th, makes $17.2 million in the four years after his freshman year. The guy who comes back makes $14 million in those same four years, because his second contact will start a year later. And if that one and done guy is even a little above average he's making a lot more.
 
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If history has taught us anything, edwards will leave and it's silly. kids like him are the reason for cal's underachieving imo. If kids like him come back like they should then we probably have one more title.
 
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I would not be shocked if Edwards came back. Dude obviously needs work. Also wouldn’t be shocked if Reed left, although I think the only way that happens is if we make the FF at minimum.

DJ, Dilly and Bradshaw are gone for sure.
No way he comes back. He doesn't WANT to work. Look at his arms. They're barely bigger than Bradshaw's and he's been here and had access to the gym all season.
 
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No way he comes back. He doesn't WANT to work. Look at his arms. They're barely bigger than Bradshaw's and he's been here and had access to the gym all season.

I was actually going to start a thread about this. It’s not just his lack of definition… he seems to be poorly conditioned as well. Seemed like he was gasping for breath at one point last night. And we all know fatigue contributes to missing shots and loafing on defense, both of which he has struggled with.
 
Bradshaw certainly does not look unathletic to me.

He is not strong though. He has to gain strength.

His timing on shot blocking, rebounding and catching the ball is way off. That’s to be expected with all the time off. That should change pretty quickly.

The getting stronger is a long process. Probably not happening this season.
 
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No way he comes back. He doesn't WANT to work. Look at his arms. They're barely bigger than Bradshaw's and he's been here and had access to the gym all season.
I could be wrong, but a vaguely remember a quick comment from Cal during a press conference that alluded to that. Something along the lines of "Justin doesn't seem to want it as much as the other guys do" with a follow that he hopes they can get Justin the same level as everyone else. Again, don't quote me on this.
 
Leave:
Dilly
Reeves (no choice)
Mitchell (no choice)
Wagner

Stay:
Z (I think he doesn't get drafted and elects to stay a year)
Reed
Edwards
Ugonna
Bradshaw
Thiero
Burks
Bradshaw is gone noway a 7footer with a 3 point shot stays. Also at 7ft2 if Z has any skills at all he is gone. Sheppard stock is only gonna go up. His mom and dad understand you have to capitalize on your draft stock. Edward's is 6ft8 with guard skills chances are he is gone as well
 
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