THT Going into the Draft

[Peter]

I've seen THT drop into the mid-50s by some projections. But a site called Basketball Insiders has him 23rd in today's update. On the latest Parrish list, he climbed from 36 to 35.

I really think he will be late 2nd round when its all said and done. He's a total project at this point and will need a season or two in the G-league. I could see a draft and stash like the Celtics did with Nader to develop him as a future trade asset.

 

[srjclone]

to those looking at Mocks, I will add this little nugget. Almost all of the journalists creating these mocks had voiced their concerns with THT, but understood that he was more of a potential-driven selection. I think we are seeing this take shape in the most recent mocks as we get closer because THT has not been that visible to the media. He did not play in the 5-on-5 in the combine (for the best, imo) and that allowed others to be at the forefront of the writers minds. Since then he has only done interviews with the media after workout sessions with individual teams, and those are more just asking about how his work out went (very on-script). So, with that being said there just hasn't been that much buzz around him and I think that has caused the slow drop about 10 spots, which really isn't that insane in that mid-20s to mid-30s range as all/most of the players are similar in projection as THT. Positive there is THTs age and intangibles. I am not as certain he will be chosen in the 1st round, but I don't think the mocks are a projection on how he has fared since the combine, I think it is more of a recency bias pushing a lot of names up while he has just stayed afloat.

 

[Beyerball]

Ncaa passed new rule that of a player doesn’t get drafted they can return to college but their was pending nba approval.. why would nba need to approve a kid coming back to school if he’s not drafted? Not saying THT would return but it seems like ncaa could just enforce their tjtmselves..

 

[snowcraig2.0]

THT in my mind fit the mold of someone who could have came back and been Jarett Culver 2.0. With work on his body, and work on his decision making he could have played his way into the lottery. This is one of those cases where coming back to ISU for a season could have made him more money overall.

Wiggington on the other hand just doesn't have that much room to improve, other than if he would magically want to dedicate himself to being a defensive stopper. Otherwise he pretty much is who he is.

 

[BigJCy]

THT in my mind fit the mold of someone who could have came back and been Jarett Culver 2.0. With work on his body, and work on his decision making he could have played his way into the lottery. This is one of those cases where coming back to ISU for a season could have made him more money overall.
.

Agree I think an off-season in working in a college level workout program would have done him a lot of good. Get the body fat down and work on the explosiveness would have really helped him.

But who knows maybe he will still hopefully go 1st round but I don't think it's going to happen.

 

[jbindm]

Ncaa passed new rule that of a player doesn’t get drafted they can return to college but their was pending nba approval.. why would nba need to approve a kid coming back to school if he’s not drafted? Not saying THT would return but it seems like ncaa could just enforce their tjtmselves..

As I understand it they're waiting on the NBA to make a rule change that would prevent an undrafted player who returns to school from playing in the NBA until the end of the following college basketball season.

 

[VeloClone]

I'm 95% certain Wigginton knew there was a very good chance that he would not be drafted, but he decided to leave early despite that.

Everybody talks about people (agents) telling these guys that they will be a first rounders. I don't think that's the case near as much as you think. The whole idea of letting the players declare, then be evaluated, and given information from NBA scouts as to their draft possibilities, is to give them an honest assessment.

When, or if, Wigginton went through this process, there's no way he got told that there's a better than 50% chance you get drafted, and more likely the opposite. But he had still decided he wanted to turn pro. Some kids just don't want to be in college, and that's fine.

Link?

 

[jsb]

Ncaa passed new rule that of a player doesn’t get drafted they can return to college but their was pending nba approval.. why would nba need to approve a kid coming back to school if he’s not drafted? Not saying THT would return but it seems like ncaa could just enforce their tjtmselves..

He couldn’t come back here. No space for him.

 

[madguy30]

Also play more games in the g-league. Play with more polished talent as well.

Can't they get called up at pretty much any time if there's an injury or if they show some really good stuff in the G-league, and then make some good money in a week, even if it's just a week? That's awfully tempting.

 

[madguy30]

So in other words he would rather go play in front of 500 fans at Wells Fargo Arena than play in front of 15,000 and win Big 12 championships? Seems like a sound decision on his part to me.

Where do I sign up to get paid money for 500 people to watch me play basketball?

No doubt in my mind it would be something they'd never forget.

Little highlight from my high school days.



Fingertips!

 

[Acylum]

Can't they get called up at pretty much any time if there's an injury or if they show some really good stuff in the G-league, and then make some good money in a week, even if it's just a week? That's awfully tempting.

I think the minimum contract length is 10 days. Which I believe means he'd earn the equivalent of the league minimum (at least) for that period. This could all be completely incorrect.

 

[NoCreativity]

I’ve been a Cyclone fan for 50 years and a season ticket holder for 13. We’ve all seen some of the best basketball players in college play in Hilton. I’m certainly no expert on what it takes to make the NBA but in my opinion THT was just another real good player but not freakish in any manner. He barely shot at a 40% clip, 30% from 3, and really not a very good free throw shooter. In my opinion his shot selection at times was simply awful.

Is he athletic? Very much so. Seems like a good guy but didn’t project himself as a total team player. I’m probably wrong but I feel there were stretches in games where he was more about himself than Iowa State. I’m sorry to see him go, no doubt....but I don’t think he will me missed as much as we tend to think he will be. Coach Prohm to me looks like he builds squads around “team” concept. Much like Coach Campbell. THT was a heck of a player but there’s hundreds of those guys out there. In order to succeed at next level I think you need the other attributes to separate yourself from others. I don’t see that in him. Very sincerely, I hope I’m wrong.

Bottom line is give me a George Niang any day.

Agreed, this is why I've been so hard on the kid. I guess part of it is I just don't follow the NBA closely anymore or appreciate the way they draft on just potential. I guess I'm old school, and at the end of the day I actually appreciate guys that are good at basketball, not just because they have long arms or good measurables.

To me THT isnt half the player that Niang or Monte was. Those guys could ball, could lead a team, were unselfish, they knew when it was their time to take over a game and when it was time to get other players involved. They had extremely high basketball IQ, were great ambassadors for the sport and University, never got into trouble with the law.

I guess for me it just boils down to I dont understand how guys like that were barely drafted and had to fight their way onto an NBA team, but a guy like THT just comes along and is suppose to be a 1st round pick after 1 year . Makes no sense at all.

 

[LLCoolCY]

Agreed, this is why I've been so hard on the kid. I guess part of it is I just don't follow the NBA closely anymore or appreciate the way they draft on just potential. I guess I'm old school, and at the end of the day I actually appreciate guys that are good at basketball, not just because they have long arms or good measurables.

To me THT isnt half the player that Niang or Monte was. Those guys could ball, could lead a team, were unselfish, they knew when it was their time to take over a game and when it was time to get other players involved. They had extremely high basketball IQ, were great ambassadors for the sport and University, never got into trouble with the law.

I guess for me it just boils down to I dont understand how guys like that were barely drafted and had to fight their way onto an NBA team, but a guy like THT just comes along and is suppose to be a 1st round pick after 1 year . Makes no sense at all.

Everyone needs to relax and move on from the decision that THT made to go pro. I will be watching for Talen to be picked in the first and be following and cheering for him to succeed where ever he ends up.

Niang, Mitrou-Long, and Morris are all great abassaitors to ISU and have earned their roles and I understand some fans following their careers more closely.

I don't agree with knocking Talen or Lindell for leaving early though, it wasn't an option for those three nor was leaving before the used up their eligibility. It is likely that if any of those (add Nader, Burton, or Jameel) would have had that shot to be drafted early into their careers they would have made the same choice. It is the right one too, a major point of college is to get a premier job in your chosen profession and you take that opportunity when it is presented to you, even if you get that dream job offer before you earn a degree.

 

[brokenloginagain]

Agreed, this is why I've been so hard on the kid. I guess part of it is I just don't follow the NBA closely anymore or appreciate the way they draft on just potential. I guess I'm old school, and at the end of the day I actually appreciate guys that are good at basketball, not just because they have long arms or good measurables.

To me THT isnt half the player that Niang or Monte was. Those guys could ball, could lead a team, were unselfish, they knew when it was their time to take over a game and when it was time to get other players involved. They had extremely high basketball IQ, were great ambassadors for the sport and University, never got into trouble with the law.

I guess for me it just boils down to I dont understand how guys like that were barely drafted and had to fight their way onto an NBA team, but a guy like THT just comes along and is suppose to be a 1st round pick after 1 year . Makes no sense at all.

i don't think you're old school. I think you just misspelled "clueless."

Every single player on an NBA roster is extremely "good at basketball."

 

[srjclone]

I think THT either goes to
OKC Thunder at #21
San Antonio at #29
or Chicago at #38

 

[NorthCyd]

Ncaa passed new rule that of a player doesn’t get drafted they can return to college but their was pending nba approval.. why would nba need to approve a kid coming back to school if he’s not drafted? Not saying THT would return but it seems like ncaa could just enforce their tjtmselves..

I asked the same question and the answer is once you declare for the draft and don't get drafted you become an undrafted free agent and can never go in the draft again. So he could go back to school but there wouldn't be much incentive too. That's the way I understand it anyways.

 

[srjclone]

Culver was much better than him as a freshman. It'd honestly be a big improvement for him to be as good as Culver was his first year, let alone his second. Honestly I can't see him being in a better situation than he is right now.

Yeah, i understand this thought, but no he wasn't. He was more consistent, there is no question about that. But THT actually had very similar (better, in some respects) stats to Culver his frosh year.

 

[Cyched]

i don't think you're old school. I think you just misspelled "clueless."

Every single player on an NBA roster is extremely "good at basketball."

He’s not an ISU fan

 

[Cydkar]

Agreed, this is why I've been so hard on the kid. I guess part of it is I just don't follow the NBA closely anymore or appreciate the way they draft on just potential. I guess I'm old school, and at the end of the day I actually appreciate guys that are good at basketball, not just because they have long arms or good measurables.

To me THT isnt half the player that Niang or Monte was. Those guys could ball, could lead a team, were unselfish, they knew when it was their time to take over a game and when it was time to get other players involved. They had extremely high basketball IQ, were great ambassadors for the sport and University, never got into trouble with the law.

I guess for me it just boils down to I dont understand how guys like that were barely drafted and had to fight their way onto an NBA team, but a guy like THT just comes along and is suppose to be a 1st round pick after 1 year . Makes no sense at all.

He's an investent. It's not hard to understand. Just like investing there's risk/reward and not an instant payoff. If he gets drafted fairly early the team is assuming he will have a ceiling that's higher than a Monte or Georges or any other 2nd rounder. Some teams can tolerate risk more than others for various reasons. They are all looking for different things once the can't-miss guys are gone. He may fit what a team is looking for like a glove.

If he's a bust it won't be because he left ISU a year earlier than fans wanted him too.

 

[SEIOWA CLONE]

Players from the G league, or what they are calling it now, can sign only 2, ten day contracts back to back. So they can stay on the roster for a total of 20 days. After that time, the team has to add them to the roster the rest of the year or release them. You can go up for 10 days, back down and then back up. I am not sure how often they are allowed to go back and forth.

THT is still very young, and the NBA really like drafting players that can grow and improve, that is why his stock is high. Not what he can do now, in the league, but the type of player he may be in 3 years.
A four year player has most likely shown everyone his entire game set, and the chances of him improving even more is just less. Not impossible, but less likely.