lstern wrote:I have no idea why drafting a guy out of high school is frowned upon. Yes, it's less of a sure thing, that's why somebody is paid a lot of money to try and predict that. If he's talented, he'll thrive.
Case in point:
Kevin Garnett
Jermaine O'Neal
Tracy McGrady
Kobe Bryant
LeBron James
Shawn Kemp
Moses Malone
Amare Stoudemire
Al Harrington
Rashard Lewis
Tyson Chandler
Josh Smith
Shaun Livingston
Andrew Bynum
Monta Ellis
JR Smith
Dwight Howard
Daryl Dawkins
Travis Outlaw
Al Jefferson
Travis Outlaw
Martell Webster
Andray Blatche
Louuu Williams
Amir Johnson
our very own CJ Miles
- - - - -
Darius Miles
Kwame Brown
Sebastian Telefair
Eddy Curry
Jonathan Bender
DeShawn Stevenson
Desagana Diop
Ndudi Ebi
Robert Swift
It's an imperfect science, but those guys on the top list are players, heck most of the guys below are too - only, they were picked too early.
You’ve left out a lot of busts on your list. I’ve listed them below. Also what’s to say that guys like Al Harrington, Martel Webster, or JR Smith would have been better NBA players had they gone to college for a few years? One could argue that they never reached their full potential because they didn’t develop or transition well in their first few years in the NBA instead of leading a college team in a less competitive environment. College helps you develop good skills and how to be a professional. A lot of high school players are not disciplined and are too raw.
Then you look at guys like Tracy McGrady and Jermaine O’Neal that had their bodies break down in their early 30’s. That’s what happens when you take an 18 year old kid playing 25-30 high school games and then have them play 82 games the next year. College would have allowed for their bodies to not have taken that kind of beating early on which would have prolonged their NBA careers.
Additional Busts:
Korleone Young
James Lang
Leon Smith
Travis Outlaw
Taj McDavid
Ousmane Cisse
Dorell Wright
Ricky Sanchez
Amir Johnson
Jackie Butler