NBA Draft stiffs Bruins
Did anybody else have a chance to catch the NBA Draft on Thursday?
What? No?
Well, I don’t blame you. I watched the first 45 minutes and couldn’t take it any longer. My assignment, which I unwillingly chose to accept, was to watch the draft and see what implications it had for former UCLA players.
When I stopped watching at 5:15 p.m., the only connection I could come up with was that Emeka Okafor is headed to the Charlotte Bobcats to play with Jason Kapono, who used to play for UCLA and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Pretty cool, huh?
When I revisited the intelligent draft day commentary on ESPN.com several hours after the draft’s conclusion, I was absolutely shocked that no UCLA player was selected in the first round. No Trevor Ariza? No T.J. Cummings? But they played so well last year for the Bruins.
OK. So maybe I wasn’t shocked.
Ariza ended up being drafted by the New York Knicks with the 43rd selection. Cummings went un-drafted. And there you have it.
So now what do you say? What can you say?
Trevor Ariza is a fool. I guess that’s a decent place to start. By deciding to leave UCLA and enter the NBA Draft, Ariza probably made one of the most stupid decisions anyone could make.
Because he was drafted in the second round he isn’t guaranteed a contract. Though the Knicks seem to like him – despite the fact he never even worked out for the team – nothing is for sure.
I didn’t understand it when he made the decision to leave school. And I don’t understand it now.
Ariza could have gained so much by returning to UCLA for his sophomore season. He’s certainly an incredible player – there’s no denying that.
But he has a long way to go before he can make a real impact in the NBA.
At Ariza’s press conference it was clear that coach Ben Howland, Ariza’s mother and almost everyone else had encouraged Ariza to stay in Westwood. Howland said college players typically make their greatest strides as basketball players from their freshman to their sophomore seasons. Now Ariza won’t have that luxury.
College really is a luxury. You might not be making millions of dollars or rolling around in Cadillac Escalades, but it’s still a pretty darn good time in one’s life. There are just so few things to worry about. My friend’s dad always asks him how school is going with the question, “How’s your four-year vacation?” The vacation must be even better if you’re an athlete. For Ariza, the vacation is over.
There seems to be a general consensus that his draft stock would have risen markedly – maybe even to lottery status – had he stayed another season in Westwood. He would have started, most likely led the team in scoring, and benefited mightily from the tremendous freshmen class Howland is bringing in.
But now he may or may not be in New York next season, spending a lot of his time on the bench. Well, good luck.
And good luck to T.J. Cummings, who went about things the right way by staying in school. I actually kind of feel sorry for the guy, as I do for most seniors who are passed over in favor of young kids who have been determined to have a greater “upside.”
So now the draft is over, and teams will get to start looking at their talent – or lack thereof – and making decisions for the coming NBA season, which will be boring as usual until the playoffs come around.
The saddest part of such young kids’ being drafted into the NBA – those “what-if” questions that always linger. What if Kobe had gone to Duke? What if Kwame Brown had gone to college rather than ruining his life?
College basketball, for whatever reason, is inherently better than NBA basketball. Players care more, games are more exciting, and there is no better sporting event than the NCAA Tournament.
That’s why the NBA Draft depresses me. I see so many young kids going straight to the pros when they definitely could do something special in the college ranks. Ask Carmelo Anthony, because Dwight Howard doesn’t know what he’s missing.
So what have we learned here today?
Well, UCLA didn’t really shake things up in this year’s draft. Its only player drafted is a fool for leaving school. (Hey. That rhymes.) And I challenge anyone to watch all four and a half hours of draft coverage next year. It’s not exactly compelling television.
E-mail Regan at dregan@media.ucla.edu.
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