I do. Don't underestimate the importance of getting additional game experience under your belt. NBA players don't have the same type of practice schedules that college players do. Yes, they can work with assistant coaches without restriction [unlike college], but many days where they are traveling, have back-to-back games, etc. they might not even practice beyond walk throughs / shoot arounds. I also remember reading an article several years ago where a backup center [might have been Tree Rollins, but I can't recall--like I said, this was a long time ago] talked about how important it was for him to do extra cardio to stay in game shape, because he wasn't playing enough minutes in games to maintain peak physical condition.
In my mind the question becomes whether Donte would have improved his draft position by adding a year of physical maturity and game development and playing a figural role as a starter on a team that might have been capable of making a deep run [made the BET finals without him], versus sitting as a rookie. If he's shown better shot selection as a more experienced player, better rebounding [he averaged 7+ as a skinny frosh], etc. then his draft position would have probably improved, meaning that he would have made more $$$ as a function of where he was drafted.
And even if he wasn't a good player with long-term NBA longevity, at the very least making the additional money over one contract would have been better than making less money as the #28 pick, for the same number of years.
