It’s funny how after Melo people were worried about how Cuse was gonna be relevant in the league and we didn’t really have anyone that stuck or stuck around in the league much post Melo for awhile. Then the guys you expected would stick around like Dontae Greene, Flynn, Waiters, MCW, Fab Melo, Lydon, Richardson, Ennis etc…did well for awhile but kind of flamed out.
Then the guys who we didn’t think were as ready as those guys like Grant and Oshae are now stars in the league. Guess you never really know. Good for these guys.
Here's a synopsis of all of their careers thus far.
Donte Greene - 4.5 years in NBA, $5.1M + overseas earnings
Jonny Flynn - 3 years in NBA, $9.5M + overseas earnings
Dion Waiters - 8+ years in NBA, $57.5M
Michael Carter Williams - 8 years in NBA, $22.5M
Fab Melo - 2 years in NBA, $2.5M + overseas earnings
Tyler Lydon - 2 years in NBA, $3.5M + overseas earnings
Malachi Richardson - 3 years in NBA, $4.5M + overseas earnings
Tyler Ennis - 4 years in NBA, $6.5M + overseas earnings
Jerami Grant - 7 years in NBA, $60.9M (plus $20.9M guaranteed for '22-23) = $81.8M
Oshae Brissett - 2 years in NBA, $1.3M (plus $1.8M team option for '22-23) = $3.1M
These 10 guys have made (or are in line to make) a collective $196.5 million overt he last 18 years. That's a lot of money.
I will differ in that I don't think Grant & Brissett are "stars" in the league. Grant's a nice player but never made an all-star team and is putting up numbers on a terrible team. He's a quality player that would be a 3rd-4th option on a playoff/championship contender. Much like he was at SU.
Brissett's in line for a pay day next year if he stays healthy - I'd guess a mid-level exception (around $6-10M) would be the right size bump. If you were to tell me he would be the one from the Brissett-Battle duo that would make it in the league, I wouldn't have been shocked but I would have been surprised. I know Battle had limitations but I thought he had a more than decent shot at a similar level NBA career.