DraftExpress wrote:This move is interesting for a number of reasons, but has appeared to draw the ire of the college basketball community, who cannot understand why he would chose Europe over the NCAA or the possibility of playing in the NBA.
The reasoning is pretty simple. It comes down to money.
Calathes’ 3-year, 2.1 million Euro contract gives him an incredible amount of financial security, while still providing the opportunity to continue to get better on the most competitive team in the world outside the NBA. In addition, his very comfortable buyout situation means that he can return to the States as early as next year if he pleases.
Much of the criticism Calathes is receiving stems from the fact that he is considered by many to be a potential late-first round NBA draft pick. If there is anything we’ve learned from covering the draft over the past six years, it’s that it is virtually impossible to project who will ultimately get drafted in the late first round and who will slip to the second. Calathes could very well have gone in the 30’s and ended up with a non-guaranteed contract, only to get cut in training, as many second rounders often are.
If anything, Calathes may have improved his draft stock with this move. There are a number of teams in the late first round—such as New Orleans, Minnesota, Oklahoma City and Chicago who either have multiple picks or may not be interested in adding another guaranteed contract/roster spot to their team at this point. The fact that Calathes will play for one of the most decorated coaches in the world in Zeljko Obradovic on someone else’s coin and come back a much better player in one year has to look attractive. With Sarunas Jasikevicius reportedly on the way out of Panathinaikos, a decent amount of playing time will be opened up for him.
This is interesting for a couple of reasons. First off, the section I have bolded. If there is one thing that the average NBA/college fan doesn't understand about the draft, it is the unpredictability of the second half of the first round. It literally never goes as people expect it to. This is something that anybody analyzing the draft should keep in mind, whether you are a beat reporter talking up the possibilities for the team you cover or a message board fanatic with an opinion about whether or not a player should declare.
Secondly, it would be interesting to see the Wolves pick up Calathes. He could look like a complete steal with a couple of years under his belt in Europe.I mean, "lucky pick"...my bad Devilz.
