The Declaration Of Sim Bhullar
May 16th, 2014
(originally published elsewhere) In a post written last month, one armed unashamedly with the benefit of four years of hindsight, I looked back at the decision of one time Oklahoma guard Tommy Mason-Griffin to leave school, declare for the NBA draft and turn professional after only one collegiate season, a poor season that had been mired by underwhelming play and much tumult within the program. In the four seasons hence, Mason-Griffin has missed more than two full campaigns due to injury, yet he has been under contract and thus been paid for his time nonetheless, something which would not have happened had he stayed in college and given his services away for free. The idea of the piece was in part to repudiate the conventional line of thinking, whereby a player’s decision to leave school early and/or declare for the NBA draft is to be evaluated entirely upon their likelehood of being drafted. Mason-Griffin served as a useful barometer for that – he never made the NBA, never came close, and surely never will, yet his decision can be justified on account of what it meant for his earning potential, one the injuries have crippled. Another player who can serve as an example of this is now upon us in the goliath form of New Mexico State centre, Sim Bhullar. Bhullar has declared for the draft after a sophomore season in which he averaged 10.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.4 blocks in 26.3 minutes per game. It is widely and entirely correctly held that, despite his size and relative productivity, he is not ready for the NBA. Yet he has declared anyway, as, once again, there is professional basketball life outside of the NBA from which he can earn. And he will earn, because of his remarkable qualities. Bhullar, famously, […]
Really Overdue 2010 D-League Draft Review
November 15th, 2010
Unequivocally, the NBA Draft is my favourite night of the year. In a few short hours, the entire landscape of the best league of the world’s best sport can be changed beyond all recognition. Infusions of talent, mind-boggling trades, wonderful quotables and brave shirt-and-tie combinations are guaranteed; one short evening of drama gives us repercussions and discussion points that can last for years. Whereas sport must always ultimately be able the guys in the uniforms, the men in the jackets have their time to shine on that night. And as an aspiring man-in-a-jacket, its lure is magnetic to me. The D-League draft does not have the same lustre, for a few reasons. For one, it’s not got the same talent level; for two, the repercussions are far less substantial for teams with lower fanbases and far greater roster turnover than the big league compatriots. Lesser calibre players on a far smaller stage must inevitably have lesser impact, less coverage, and thus less lure. However, whereas the NBA draft has only 2, the D-League draft has 8 rounds. With 16 teams in the league, that means there are 128 draft picks on offer. 128 players means 128 draft capsules, 128 attempts at analysis, 128 opportunities to hunt for trivia, and a good many opportunities to learn. That was something I wasn’t going to pass up. There follows, therefore, an extended look at the compelling protagonists of the 2010 NBA Developmental League Draft. Little consideration is taken for team need, for draft night is about the players. ROUND ONE 1st: – Reno Bighorns – Nick Fazekas, Nevada Even though he was drafted by the Mavericks with the 34th pick in 2007, and even though he signed to a two year guaranteed deal with the team, Fazekas only ever played 9 minutes with […]
