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.