What a mess. That's the only way to describe what's happening in the NBA
today, as 58 players filed for early entry - and 75 counting international
types.
Aside from the fact that there's not room in the draft for these players, at
least not as 1 of 29 first round picks, there is not room enough in the NBA
for this many at one time. There just won't be anywhere near that many
spots open. A cagey veteran like Chucky Brown will find a way to hang on to his
spot, and so will guys like Danny Ferry, Scott Williams, and so on.
A year from now a lot of these guys are going to have given up a free
education, and will be playing for peanuts in the USBL or overseas.
There's not much glamour in Siberia or China. It's just not the same as the NBA,
or, for that matter, a nice job with decent income and potential for
improvement.
Some of them of course will be in the green room, and a handful are
destined for wonderful things, but most of them have significantly harmed their
futures. So it goes in the culture of basketball, where money is driving
people to make very rash, short-term decisions.
Mike DeCourcy has some
interesting comments about this, concluding with an insult to Damien
Wilkins.