Did Aaaron Harrison make a mistake by declaring?

[BlueRunner11]

Well I guess then he is going to be the top pick of the draft. Nuff said it's settled.
Clearly I do have an agenda and it's called being down to earth, realistic expectations. He was not a 1st round pick last year was he? If's and's and but's and if pigs had wings they could fly. It's all pretty moot on ur all's argument, he wasn't drafted and at best was a mid 2nd round pick if that. He come back improved his D and his shot was still off and gotten worse.
Oh and by the way a 35.6385729583626485950372 % shooter is not that good. It may of been better than urs but to many other SG it is not. Just as I stated in the previous post Lamb is prob our best shooting guard of all time when u factor in just his shooting which seems to be the topic of why Aaron should be drafted and Lamb was not 1st round material. Darius Miller who was also a better shooter more talented, more athletic, bigger etc was not drafted on the first.

So what makes any (I'm refraining from calling names) think that Aaron was a first round pick??? I haven't heard a good reason yet except the argument that he was a 35.64948573930388473 shooter and he was a winner once upon a time. None of those is a reason to be drafted. Their are many players who do not play in the league that actually won a title and have better shooting percentages.

I haven't read everyone else's posts but nowhere did I say he was or ever was a first round pick. My point was that his stock (whatever that may be) was higher last year than this year. It's a simple point and easy to understand.

I'm not sure how you can reasonably not see that unless a) you're not paying attention or b) you just want to argue for the sake of arguing.

 

[lkc1234]

Looks like Aaron is heading towards the realms of the undrafted. I always thought he would need one more year than his brother to grow into himself and used the example of the Hayes brothers at UGA for reference. Jarvis Hayes' twin brother Jonas graduated from UGA after Jarvis left his sophomore year, not sure he had any pro potential to speak of though. Either way it seems like the twins we going to make the same decision regadless. Does anybody think Aaron would have benefitted from an extra year in college?

Should have left after one year

 

[BostonCat2001]

What you talking about? No one you have responded to has said that. Or anything near that. You are literally disagreeing with the actual players. 2012 must have been torture for you since they TJ was so taken advantage of and so dumb for coming back.

great for us. probably not so great for TJ. i'm sure he had fun though.

If declaring for the NBA Draft, having 2 years of eligibility remaining, with no guarantee of actually being drafted is the right choice, then what do these kids define as the wrong choice?????

Shooting and ball handling can be improved with more hard work and repetition. Playing in the D-League without a guaranteed contract is a heck of a lot harder path to improvement than spending another year at UK. I would hate to think that Aaron has reached his peak as a 20 year old.

His combine performance was a huge detriment to his aspirations of being drafted at all. Hate it for the kid. Hope he tears it up in those individual workouts. It may be his only hope of getting picked up as a free agent. Hope he makes it into the league.

false.

spending time in college you are limited to how much instruction you can get. no such limitations when you are a pro.

with more time to spend working on your game....path to improvement is much more likely as a pro than as a college student. but for some reason....fans are under the delusion that college and only college is the place to get better.

 

[qwesley]

great for us. probably not so great for TJ. i'm sure he had fun though.

You sound miserable at our success. Hang in there. TJ has a ring and is now set to get a very nice second contract. As a matter of fact, if you look at the players that went 10-24 in that draft he is probably the most successful in that group. But somehow you have judged his situation to be not so great, astounding arrogance.

PPat is pretty active on twitter, hit him up and tell him how stupid he was to stay his junior year. Or go to a WCS signing and give him a good talking to.

 

[kats23]

based on what? fandom?

terrence jones returned for his SO year...stock DROPPED. spent most of his rookie year in the d-league.....got better. like most do

Jones' stock didn't drop. He was a projected boarderline lottery pick after his freshman year. He was drafted at 18. Just outside the lottery. So it's possible that he could of fell even his freshman year. You're reaching a lot there. You just seem to be in the camp of kids not ever returning or even going to college being positive. You just can't lump every kid in one side or the other. I think for Jones, it was good he came back. He needed another year of maturity. He wasn't ready mentally to be a professional. You said it yourself, there's not restrictions. That can be a good thing and a bad thing. If you're not ready to handle all that comes along with that, you won't make it. I think that's why Stein stayed for 3 years. For the 7 guys this year, I think they all made the right decision. Too much risk over reward to come back. I think Aaron probably should of left last year, and Andrew made the right call coming back.

These are not the cookie cutter decisions that you are making it out to be.

 

[wcc31]

based on what? fandom?

terrence jones returned for his SO year...stock DROPPED. spent most of his rookie year in the d-league.....got better. like most do

Yeah, and Jones did that with an NBA 1st rounder contract. Aaron may be doing it on a D-League contract. Not the same.

By the way, Jones' stock didn't drop. It stayed about the same, mostly having to do with the 2012 draft being much better than 2011.

 

[wcc31]

What you talking about? No one you have responded to has said that. Or anything near that. You are literally disagreeing with the actual players. 2012 must have been torture for you since they TJ was so taken advantage of and so dumb for coming back.

That's Boston's MO. There have been very few homer posts in this thread. Speaking specifically of Aaron, there is a very good argument to be had that he should have stayed. I'm usually the other way. We're not talking about Booker here. We're not even talking about his brother. We're talking about a guy who is a borderline 2nd rounder.

Boston acts like guys never improve their stock and NBA career prospects by returning to school. It happens all the time. NBA GMs and scouts advise players to do it all the time.

 

[BostonCat2001]

You sound miserable at our success. Hang in there. TJ has a ring and is now set to get a very nice second contract. As a matter of fact, if you look at the players that went 10-24 in that draft he is probably the most successful in that group. But somehow you have judged his situation to be not so great, astounding arrogance.

PPat is pretty active on twitter, hit him up and tell him how stupid he was to stay his junior year. Or go to a WCS signing and give him a good talking to.

i love our success. but i'm not a blind homer who thinks college is the only place to get better like everyone here.

patterson playing for cal was the best thing that happened for to him. he let him play outside more. showcase his game. cal didnt "develop" that. but look at patterson now in the league after 5 years. has improved and is solid 3 point shooter.
got better at the next level working on his game more than he can do in college. and you have to do that regardless if you have a 1st round or 2nd round contract.

college is great for building a brand for yourself. marketing.

 

[zannmann]

Both twins and Dakari made a mistake declaring.

 

[qwesley]

but i'm not a blind homer who thinks college is the only place to get better like everyone here

You gotta stop a)manufacturing arguments no one is making and B)speaking in such absolutes when supposedly debating them.

Each player/situation is different. Some kids need to grow up a bit (TJ) to be the best longterm player they can be. Some kids have a ceiling of overseas so they might as well go (Aaron). Some should pass of late first money to get into a better draft situation and much better money and playing opportunity (Teague, Orton). Many scenarios.

 

[wcc31]

You gotta stop a)manufacturing arguments no one is making and B)speaking in such absolutes when supposedly debating them.

Each player/situation is different. Some kids need to grow up a bit (TJ) to be the best longterm player they can be. Some kids have a ceiling of overseas so they might as well go (Aaron). Some should pass of late first money to get into a better draft situation and much better money and playing opportunity (Teague, Orton). Many scenarios.

Exactly. You've had a strong showing in this thread, Q. Good work.

BTW- life isn't just about $$$. Even for a schmoe like me, the college experience was invaluable. Jones' experiences and learning how to win playing on a F4 team and national title team shaped his game mentally and physically. I'm sure he wouldn't trade that ring for getting drafted five places higher.

 

[rcj_texas]

Both twins and Dakari made a mistake declaring.

Yes, a mistake since their replacements (Newman, Brown, Diallo, Vick, Ingram) didn't come to Lexington. However,if we would have been able to sign those guys, no mistake to push them out and move on. Too bad Cal wasn't able to trade up. Leaving for the NBA might have been a huge mistake for Twins and Dakari, They were not ready. But we need to remember to trust Cal. Put the team first. It isn't about last year's team, it is always about next year's team. Not how good we were but how much better we will be. The name on the front of the shirt is much more important than the name on the back of the shirt. If Cal can find someone better (and he will), it's time to have them leave whether they want to or if they are ready.

Twins can always play overseas.

 

[K_TIME]

If declaring for the NBA Draft, having 2 years of eligibility remaining, with no guarantee of actually being drafted is the right choice, then what do these kids define as the wrong choice?????

Shooting and ball handling can be improved with more hard work and repetition. Playing in the D-League without a guaranteed contract is a heck of a lot harder path to improvement than spending another year at UK. I would hate to think that Aaron has reached his peak as a 20 year old.

His combine performance was a huge detriment to his aspirations of being drafted at all. Hate it for the kid. Hope he tears it up in those individual workouts. It may be his only hope of getting picked up as a free agent. Hope he makes it into the league.

II agree with this point 100%. I get he can develop in D-league, work on his jumper, etc..but then why would we not say the same for all kids?
Why not Tyler Ullis, Derek Willis, etc..just get out of college and "work on their game" with no guaranteed money coming into to support this career choice?

Let's be realistic...Aaron Harrison is a below average jump shooter (2 years in college is a sufficient sample size to draw upon...not just 3 games in 2014 tournament) as well as not being an above average athlete by all audiences. So he really is going to have to make a living not with a basketball either next year or in 3-4 years...he isn't a NBA guy.

Having a college degree to work towards, paid tuition, paid room/board for 4 years is a pretty good support that a kid like Aaron should utliize in his scenario....even if you don't think playing college ball on a big stage at UK is all that big of a deal personally. My only beef with Calipari...is we've got a mindset in almost all of our kids that staying in college is a waste of time. I have no problem with the AD, Wall, Cousins...even the first round kids that had things to work on like Bledsoe, Booker, Knight, etc..I'm fine with. But kids like Aaron Harrison, Archie Goodwin, Dakari Johnson, Orton, DeAndre Liggins, Poythress would be on this list if not for his injury, even Teauge was lucky as heck, etc.. why so many choose to leave college while proving very little and bascially have no legit NBA careers that will earn big money is an aura at UK that Cal has brought with him. These kids should really give college degrees a chance as they are all extreme longshots to make legit money wtih basketball.

 

[ukfan03]

Yes, a mistake since their replacements (Newman, Brown, Diallo, Vick, Ingram) didn't come to Lexington. However,if we would have been able to sign those guys, no mistake to push them out and move on. Too bad Cal wasn't able to trade up. Leaving for the NBA might have been a huge mistake for Twins and Dakari, They were not ready. But we need to remember to trust Cal. Put the team first. It isn't about last year's team, it is always about next year's team. Not how good we were but how much better we will be. The name on the front of the shirt is much more important than the name on the back of the shirt. If Cal can find someone better (and he will), it's time to have them leave whether they want to or if they are ready.

Twins can always play overseas.

Twins can always play overseas? They're not Siamese twins. Andrew should be a 1st round pick. He has the skills to play in the NBA. Why does everyone lump them together all the time? BTW I'm sure you're a troll. Why come here posing as a UK fan?

 

[3rex]

Yep, absolutely.

This idea that you can't improve your stock by improving your skills (in Aaron's case, his shooting) is utter nonsense. Don't know why so many people have fallen into this lazy way of thinking.

If he comes back, shoots better and more consistently, varies his game a bit more, he's an early 2nd rounder at least in 2016.

At the same time, his inability to do anything to improve his "best skill," shooting, in his 2 years at UK might cause an executive to wonder what would be different once he got to the league.

 

[catben]

At the same time, his inability to do anything to improve his "best skill," shooting, in his 2 years at UK might cause an executive to wonder what would be different once he got to the league.

Then why leave UK as a 2 guard at a point when you are a 30% 3 pt. shooter?

This is my problem with Aaron leaving now. He is not projected to even be drafted at all. How could his parents believe that it is in his best interest long term to leave UK now?

When a kid leaves with no academic or money problems, with no guarantee of being on an NBA roster the next 3 years, how is it what's "BEST" for the player?

Some how I doubt that playing in the D-League with no guaranteed money or guarantee of moving up to the NBA, is "Living your Dream".

 

[3rex]

Then why leave UK as a 2 guard at a point when you are a 30% 3 pt. shooter?

This is my problem with Aaron leaving now. He is not projected to even be drafted at all. How could his parents believe that it is in his best interest long term to leave UK now?

When a kid leaves with no academic or money problems, with no guarantee of being on an NBA roster the next 3 years, how is it what's "BEST" for the player?

Some how I doubt that playing in the D-League with no guaranteed money or guarantee of moving up to the NBA, is "Living your Dream".

I think it's just because that's what was expected of him. Coming out of high school, he & his family thought he would be in the league after a year. The prospect of still being here for his junior season, added to the fact that 6 of his teammates were going, equaled a feeling of failure in his mind if he didn't make the move also.
Just my opinion.

 

[cardsfan53]

Phoenix got the Morris twins together. They also had both Dragic brothers, who then both moved to Miami together. It isn't as far-fetched as you make it out to be. Especially when it will probably be fairly cheap to test the theory.

The suns also did a combined contract where they split the money also, which seems crazy to me. But it wouldn't surprise me to see both of them on the same team.

 

[wcc31]

I think it's just because that's what was expected of him. Coming out of high school, he & his family thought he would be in the league after a year. The prospect of still being here for his junior season, added to the fact that 6 of his teammates were going, equaled a feeling of failure in his mind if he didn't make the move also.
Just my opinion.

I think you're dead on.