Gun to my head predictions...

[Briancuse]

That's because you're thinking about it logically. Mali's already has his mental bags packed, therefore the information he gets at the combine likely won't matter.

Sadly I don't think things are going to end well for him, its a shame.

 

[OrangeDW]

Or that they are one injury away from no career. I think the current system begs for these 19 year old kids to take the money now. It would take a big set of cajones to leave a million bucks on the table. And unless the system changes that forces these kids to stay 2 or 3 years in school, schools like Syracuse are going to continue to lose kids. One thing to your point, is change how you pay the kids. If I remember correctly, the way the ABA was able to compete with the NBA was because they offered big contracts through annuities and paid them out over 20 years or so. I know the union would never go for this, but force these kids to take their pay over a ten or twenty year period (Ask Bobby Bonilla about his great deal). Then you wouldn't have so many go bankrupt.

If he goes, I hope he gets his money. And like MCW, I hope he's smart with it. Lots of these young guys aren't. Being a pro is a different world. Immaturity can be a major obstacle. Hopefully I'm misreading that aspect.

 

[RF2044]

Yup I think he struggles in the combine and does not get drafted in the first round. He may decide 2nd round is ok and enter in to the draft. That would be a mistake imo.

It likely will be from the standpoint of maximizing his draft position [and his pre-slated salary for this first contract].

 

[Cusefan69]

Jake your like the EF Hutton of fan.com "When Jake talks...people listen" (including me...like your inputs here Jake) To be honest...if Mal stays...great...if not life moves on and I wish him well...we are in on some nice talent...we have battle...the transfer from Colorado...Lydon should only be getting better over the summer and when I wake tomorrow Georgetown is still gonna suck...Go Cuse!

 

[jsshap]

The whole thing is a joke, it would be nice to get someone who actually wants to be here.

This email and each one like it is a joke. On so many levels.

 

[jgeorge322]

Because he wants to go.

Not to go back in time but this is what i said a week or two ago and i was told i was wrong by you and a couple others.

I still think the first round guarantee or likelihood is what he needs. I dont see him making too irresponsible of a decision.

However, getting drafted late in the first round to a good team isnt a bad spot at all to land in. If pop says, hey well take you at 28, who would turn that down.

 

[FrancoPizza]

Mystery situation evolves: 15%

if the odds are truly 15% - why drop hints and get our hopes up if in all likelihood it won't be a reality? Just seems like it would have been better to wait until things are more settled. Don't get me wrong - I love good news and the prospect of anticipating good news- but when the odds are this low it just seems counterproductive... especially when things are clouded in mystery and we have overactive imaginations.

 

[bpo57]

It likely will be from the standpoint of maximizing his draft position [and his pre-slated salary for this first contract].

I have mixed feelings on what would be his best move. I know I'm in the minority here but I'm not that bullish on his pro prospects. On the one hand if he hears 1st round isn't happening then you'd think he be better off coming back to SU. But these NBA guys seem to sour on players the more they see them play in college.

 

[OrangeDW]

Not to go back in time but this is what i said a week or two ago and i was told i was wrong by you and a couple others.

I still think the first round guarantee or likelihood is what he needs. I dont see him making too irresponsible of a decision.

However, getting drafted late in the first round to a good team isnt a bad spot at all to land in. If pop says, hey well take you at 28, who would turn that down.

If he's a first rounder for an organization like the Spurs, any questioning of his decision goes out the window as that would be a great spot to be in for any player. Being a 2nd rounder is not a good place to be though, when your potential is much higher than that. Occasionally it works out, but the odds would not be in favor of it.

 

[jgeorge322]

If he's a first rounder for an organization like the Spurs, any questioning of his decision goes out the window as that would be a great spot to be in for any player. Being a 2nd rounder is not a good place to be though, when your potential is much higher than that. Occasionally it works out, but the odds would not be in favor of it.

I think hes a great pick at 20-32 range. Id be tempted as a gm

 

[cuseguy]

I have mixed feelings on what would be his best move. I know I'm in the minority here but I'm not that bullish on his pro prospects. On the one hand if he hears 1st round isn't happening then you'd think he be better off coming back to SU. But these NBA guys seem to sour on players the more they see them play in college.

Get the sense he just wants to be drafted.

Mentally he's already moved onto the NBA.

But the D league isn't exactly the NBA.

 

[OrangeDW]

Get the sense he just wants to be drafted.

Mentally he's already moved onto the NBA.

But the D league isn't exactly the NBA.

One thing with the D League...these bad NBA teams have gotten so goofy with how they operate that they just shut guys down way before the season is over. That leads to all kinds of D-Leaguers/NBA 11th-12th men getting weeks worth of starts at the end of the season.

 

[orangehomer]

I think hes a great pick at 20-32 range. Id be tempted as a gm

malachi has average athleticism from an NBA point of view. I just don't see it, I think dion was way better or even a guy like Jeremy lamb but neither of them have really shown anything in the nba.

 

[Briancuse]

malachi has average athleticism from an NBA point of view. I just don't see it, I think dion was way better or even a guy like Jeremy lamb but neither of them have really shown anything in the nba.

I don't either.

 

[bpo57]

malachi has average athleticism from an NBA point of view. I just don't see it, I think dion was way better or even a guy like Jeremy lamb but neither of them have really shown anything in the nba.

Therein lies the rub. The competition is intense. It's a lot harder to stick in the NBA than most think. You mentioned Dion. At essentially the same age as MR when he came out and it hasn't been easy for him (in comparison to where he was drafted) yet for my $$$ he was 10x more skilled.

 

[manleyzoo]

Yup I think he struggles in the combine and does not get drafted in the first round. He may decide 2nd round is ok and enter in to the draft. That would be a mistake imo.

The big risk for Mali is if he goes undrafted, he has to try to stick somewhere as a free agent (which basically is impossible) then he's shuttled off to the D league where he has to hope to get noticed. That's pretty tough even if he does well (See Fair, CJ and Onuaku, Arinze) because now he's chasing a roster spot that's a moving target. By staying in the draft, he's rolling the dice that doesn't happen to him but it easily could if enough Euros get picked. Talk about a life changing experience at age 20 that's kinda difficult to recover from...It's not like some of the draft pickers who have him on the outside looking in don't know what they're doing.

 

[cuseguy]

One thing with the D League...these bad NBA teams have gotten so goofy with how they operate that they just shut guys down way before the season is over. That leads to all kinds of D-Leaguers/NBA 11th-12th men getting weeks worth of starts at the end of the season.

That's a perk.

I guess I just don't know,

Stopped watching the NBA years ago.

 

[iommi]

"Se7en"
Sorry to be pedantic, but i love that movie...

Ha, thanks. I think there was maybe a pro wrestler who spelled it the way I did...and yeah, great movie.

 

[jsshap]

malachi has average athleticism from an NBA point of view. I just don't see it, I think dion was way better or even a guy like Jeremy lamb but neither of them have really shown anything in the nba.

What seems to get confused however is that if this is accurate it is just as much a reason why he should go as it is why he should not. If as you say he is a fringe NBA talent, and he is reasonably confident of a first round selection, then (from a purely basketball standpoint) of course he should go.

Equally confusing is how so many discuss this decision with such certainty, while analyzing it in the abstract with only a fraction of the data that informs the decision.

 

[dasher]

if the odds are truly 15% - why drop hints and get our hopes up if in all likelihood it won't be a reality? Just seems like it would have been better to wait until things are more settled. Don't get me wrong - I love good news and the prospect of anticipating good news- but when the odds are this low it just seems counterproductive... especially when things are clouded in mystery and we have overactive imaginations.

It seemed that the % should have been better to just talk about it. We didn't contact the mystery recruit. His camp contacted Syracuse. I just can't imagine that we would say no to him. But somehow, it doesn't look promising. I just don't understand it.

 

[bpo57]

What seems to get confused however is that if this is accurate it is just as much a reason why he should go as it is why he should not. If as you say he is a fringe NBA talent, and he is reasonably confident of a first round selection, then (from a purely basketball standpoint) of course he should go.

Equally confusing is how so many discuss this decision with such certainty, while analyzing it in the abstract with only a fraction of the data that informs the decision.

I don't think anybody has said he shouldn't go if he is assured of a first round selection. He'd be crazy not to go.

 

[RF2044]

I have mixed feelings on what would be his best move. I know I'm in the minority here but I'm not that bullish on his pro prospects. On the one hand if he hears 1st round isn't happening then you'd think he be better off coming back to SU. But these NBA guys seem to sour on players the more they see them play in college.

Generally, staying a second year isn't a problem in terms of NBA perception.

If Mali were to come back, he'd be [presumably] the focal point of the offense, the team's leading scorer, and have every chance to show his game diversification. If he can't do the latter, that's on him. The athleticism is there, the size is there, and the shot is there. Now he just needs to put it together.

He might still be drafted in the first round, but I haven't seen anything from any reputable source outside of Ford projecting him in the first round. I've seen numerous lists / mocks that don't have him being drafted at all. Ford appears to be an outlier in his projection. I'd assumed that a dose of that reality from the NBA projection committee would be enough to convince him to come back, but it doesn't appear to be the case.

 

[bpo57]

Generally, staying a second year isn't a problem in terms of NBA perception.

If Mali were to come back, he'd be [presumably] the focal point of the offense, the team's leading scorer, and have every chance to show his game diversification. If he can't do the latter, that's on him. The athleticism is there, the size is there, and the shot is there. Now he just needs to put it together.

He might still be drafted in the first round, but I haven't seen anything from any reputable source outside of Ford projecting him in the first round. I've seen numerous lists / mocks that don't have him being drafted at all. Ford appears to be an outlier in his projection. I'd assumed that a dose of that reality from the NBA projection committee would be enough to convince him to come back, but it doesn't appear to be the case.

You're probably right to a degree but I have seen several guys fall from where they would have been drafted by staying for another year. The Buddy Hield stories are not that frequent. I don't think he's going in the first round but it only takes one team to take a shine to him. If that happens then he should go even if it is fairly late in the first round. If he's going just to go - (draft position be damned) as some have speculated - then he could be making a very big mistake.

 

[AlaskaSU]

Generally, staying a second year isn't a problem in terms of NBA perception.

If Mali were to come back, he'd be [presumably] the focal point of the offense, the team's leading scorer, and have every chance to show his game diversification. If he can't do the latter, that's on him. The athleticism is there, the size is there, and the shot is there. Now he just needs to put it together.

He might still be drafted in the first round, but I haven't seen anything from any reputable source outside of Ford projecting him in the first round. I've seen numerous lists / mocks that don't have him being drafted at all. Ford appears to be an outlier in his projection. I'd assumed that a dose of that reality from the NBA projection committee would be enough to convince him to come back, but it doesn't appear to be the case.

NBA Draft.net
NBA mock draft siteNBADraft.netsees Richardson as a first-round talent if he decides to declare for the Draft and Gbinije as a second-round pick.

The site has Richardson heading to the Charlotte Hornets with the 24th overall pick with Gbinije heading to the Boston Celtics at pick No.35.

 

[cusetown1]

NBA Draft.net
NBA mock draft siteNBADraft.netsees Richardson as a first-round talent if he decides to declare for the Draft and Gbinije as a second-round pick.

The site has Richardson heading to the Charlotte Hornets with the 24th overall pick with Gbinije heading to the Boston Celtics at pick No.35.

Even at 24 screams d league. I mean think about it the best case scenario mock draft right now has him going mid 20's in a "weak draft". Which seems to be a common theme in many years with these drafts .