Friday, June 25, 2010

All Cat's Land on Their Feet in NBA Draft

The NBA Draft took 30 players in the first round last night. Of those 30, 5 were from the University of Kentucky. The Wildcat's broke the record of the most players from one school being drafted. Kentucky also broke into the record books with their first overall #1 draft pick. All 5 Cats were underclassmen with Jr. Patrick Patterson being considered the "Old Man" of the group.


While I was unable to participate in the Jay Bilas drinking game, I personally counted 12 drinks aka instances where Bilas said "Length", "Size", or "Athleticism." But let's take a look at the Draft Cats, where they will play, and see if it was worth coming out when they did.

#1) John Wall, Washington Wizards - Wall came from a broken home. He lived in an apartment with his mom and sister. He often went to bed hungry despite his mom working two jobs to make ends meet. Those days are long gone now. Wall signed his Reebok deal two weeks ago and with the Rookie Salary Scale, he is set to make:

Year 1: 4,286.9 Year 2: 4,608.4 Option Year 3: 4,929.9

That's a total of 13.7 million dollars in the next 3 years. While Wall has won the hearts of D.C., he has said his first purchase will be a new home for his mom.

#5) Demarcus Cousins, Sacramento Kings. Marred by rumors and concerns with his attitude, Boogie broke into the league with the Kings. While his personality is his calling card and he is likely to get into a little trouble here and there - he's a good guy that just happens to wear his emotions on his sleeve and in a game of basketball there's a lot of emotions. Cousins reminds me of Chris Webber, tall, athletic, quick for his size, and can find himself in a bit of trouble every now and then. Overall, he'll be a great addition for a team in need of more talent. If everything pans out for Cousins, he's the steal of the draft.

Year 1: 2,812.2 Year 2: 3,023.1 Option Year 3: 3,234.0

Total amount for going to college for one year: 9 million dollars in three years.

#14) Patrick Patterson, Houston Rockets. The rockets already have Chuck Hayes, an undrafted, undersized player from Kentucky. Hayes was known at UK for being high character, his leadership, and his heart. Each one Patrick Patterson has heart a hundred times - just from Jay Bilas' commentary last night. Patterson will come in and play a small 4. The Rockets have a staple of guys now with high integrity and big heart for the game. They are definitely making a push for my fandom.

Year 1: 1,519.4 Year 2: 1,633.3 Option Year 3: 1,747.3

Total amount for going to college for three years: 4.9 million dollars in three years. By coming back for his Junior year, he increased his stock from a 20 something to 14, which made him at least 1.2 million more dollars for his first contract.

#18) Eric Bledsoe, Los Angeles Clippers (via Oklahoma City Thunder) Bledsoe was immediately traded from the land of Kevin Durant to backup status in LA. He'll immediately come in and challenge the incumbent PG Barron Davis who is said to be about 260 lbs right now (Bledsoe comes in around 6% body fat). He is a project at the point, but showed streaks of greatness handling the ball. He seems to get out of control, but for a team that is used to a point guard that runs faster to the doughnuts than the rock, it'll be a welcomed change. I look for Bledsoe to force Davis into a shape other than round and eventually take the starting spot. If Davis doesn't do well with the competition, Bledsoe will be a starter by the end of the season.

Year 1: 1,237.5 Year 2: 1,330.3 Option Year 3: 1,423.1

College Experience Nets: 4 million dollars over the next 3 years. Not a shabby tab for a kid that was living in a $400/month apartment with 3 other people just over a year ago.

#29) Daniel Orton, Orlando Magic. All looked lost after Orton's "promised" land of Oklahoma City stood him up and went a different direction. If Orton fell to the second round, his money would not be guaranteed. Then swooped in the Eastern Conference runners up, Magic. Orton moved from the bench, well, to the bench. By dropping so far in the draft, he will now be behind an even larger shadow in Dwight Howard. Orton should learn a lot from Howard and could always be used as a bit of trade-bait. If Orton sticks around in the Magic, he needs to pick up a few pointers from the perennial All-Star instead of complaining about floor time.

Year 1: 857.0 Year 2: 921.3 Option Year 3: 985.5

What does 3.3 points per game and 13 minutes buy you for 3 years: $2.8 million. Not chump change, but it certainly shines a light on Orton that makes him look like a chump. In three years, he will have made just slightly more than half of what Wall will make next season.

Other Notable Players: Samardo Samuels didn't get drafted last night. As one Cardinal website wrote
Once upon a time, Samuels was among the top three college prospects by every analyst. But when this draft is over, he’s still waiting for his name to be called.

All alone.

Now the former University of Louisville basketball player is off to see the world, taking those talents to who knows where.

Overall the Cats performed in the draft as they did on the court last season - like superstars. The only person that should be happier is John Calipari. This is the type of exposure that last night brought in - you couldn't pay for and is worth more than anything else in the minds of an 16-17 year old high school kid.

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