CSU's Jason Smith declares for NBA draft

[TaTonka_31]

Looks like Miles NCAA tournament goals just got a little more difficult. *Smith will explore his NBA draft potential without an Agent. *This will allow him to withdraw his name and stay in school if he decides before June 18th.

Is he a first rounder? *I would think he would be.

[WYOBISONMAN]

When that kid gets a sniff of that big NBA money, he will leave CSU so fast it will make Mile's head spin.....

[BBJunkie]

I have heard he is a late first round pick at best, most likely a second rounder. There is a significant different in the NBA with guaranteed contracts between the 1st and 2nd round, so if he is a solid 2nd rounder, he may decide to stay and try to improve his position.

Either way, good luck to him.

[Rams2007]

He has openly stated that he will not go through with the draft unless it looks like he's a definitie first rounder. First rounder's get a guaranteed contract, second rounders don't.

I personally think he has a shot at the first round, but unless his stock goes way through the roof when he works out for teams and goes to the camps, it's by knows means a definite. I therefore think he'll ultimately choose to withdraw. It's a win-win for him. Even if it doesn't look like he's a first rounder and therefore returns, he will have upped his exposure and got in some valuable experience working out against other top big men at the camps.

[Rams2007]

But there's no guaranteed money or contract unless you're a first rounder. That makes it a huge risk unless you know for sure that you will, in fact, go in the first round. Right now, Jason isn't there. Most scouts have him as a borderline first/second rounder.

When that kid gets a sniff of that big NBA money, he will leave CSU so fast it will make Mile's head spin.....

[sambini]

Hopefully the kid will do whats best for him and his family. Sounds like he should go back and play for Coach Miles.

[NorthernBison]

I'm making an assumption that Smith's size makes him certain to get drafted. Right?

Can somebody tell me how he can be certain about whether he is going to be drafted in the first round? How does that work?

It probably isn't possible that Smith wouldn't get drafted. On KFAN they were talking about a player from a team that went a couple games into this year's tournament who declared for last year's draft, didn't hire an agent, and wasn't drafted. That allowed him to retain his NCAA eligibility and he could have signed a free agent contract with any NBA team at any time during or after the college basketball season. He had a very good season and there were some NBA teams sniffing around. Maybe he even signed after his team was knocked out. I never heard. Apparently, that is one loophole that the NCAA and even the NBA would like to close.

[Rams2007]

Most scouts seem to have him as a late first or early second round pick, so it does look like he'd get drafted. On the other hand, there are only 2 rounds in the NBA draft, so if a lot of big men came out this year and/or his stock fell for some reason, it is conceivable he wouldn't get drafted.

Now how can you be CERTAIN you're going to go in the first round? The short answer is that you can't be. You can only work out for teams, go to the camps, and then go by what the scouts are telling you. And you have to hope you're getting good information. So there's a definite risk there. That's why it's not enough for Jason to be a borderline first/second rounder or to be told there's only a decent chance he'll go in the first round. He'd want to hear something much stronger than that, because if he did slip to the second round, there's no guaranteed money or contract like there is for the first round.

Finally, just one clarification. If a player declares and hires an agent, he loses his eligibility. If he declares but doesn't hire an agent, he can go through all of the camps and such, but later (in June) must decide whether to go through with the draft or not. If he stays in, he loses his eligibility, whether a team selects him or not. If he pulls out before that June date, provided he never hired an agent, he can return to college ball.

I'm making an assumption that Smith's size makes him certain to get drafted. Right?

Can somebody tell me how he can be certain about whether he is going to be drafted in the first round? How does that work?

It probably isn't possible that Smith wouldn't get drafted. On KFAN they were talking about a player from a team that went a couple games into this year's tournament who declared for last year's draft, didn't hire an agent, and wasn't drafted. That allowed him to retain his NCAA eligibility and he could have signed a free agent contract with any NBA team at any time during or after the college basketball season. He had a very good season and there were some NBA teams sniffing around. Maybe he even signed after his team was knocked out. I never heard. Apparently, that is one loophole that the NCAA and even the NBA would like to close.

[TaTonka_31]

Correct me if I am wrong RAMS2007, but it seems to me that Smith is a very athletic 7 footer but probably not a back to the basket low post scorer in the NBA. Can he shoot the perimeter shot and rebound well enough to be a good power forward?

It seems like more and more, big men like him need to almost play the three spot to be an impact player which means he would need to be a very good shooter. How does he stack up?

[NorthernBison]

Most scouts seem to have him as a late first or early second round pick, so it does look like he'd get drafted. On the other hand, there are only 2 rounds in the NBA draft, so if a lot of big men came out this year and/or his stock fell for some reason, it is conceivable he wouldn't get drafted.

Now how can you be CERTAIN you're going to go in the first round? The short answer is that you can't be. You can only work out for teams, go to the camps, and then go by what the scouts are telling you. And you have to hope you're getting good information. So there's a definite risk there. That's why it's not enough for Jason to be a borderline first/second rounder or to be told there's only a decent chance he'll go in the first round. He'd want to hear something much stronger than that, because if he did slip to the second round, there's no guaranteed money or contract like there is for the first round.

Finally, just one clarification. If a player declares and hires an agent, he loses his eligibility. If he declares but doesn't hire an agent, he can go through all of the camps and such, but later (in June) must decide whether to go through with the draft or not. If he stays in, he loses his eligibility, whether a team selects him or not. If he pulls out before that June date, provided he never hired an agent, he can return to college ball.

That all makes sense to me and is what I expected. *Your last paragraph is the way I understood the draft and eligibility too. *The program where I heard the discussion was called something like Foxsports zone and it had some pretty high powered analysts on. *They specifically talked about some rule that says that if no agent is hired and no team selects, the player doesn't lose eligibility for NCAA. *It apparently happened last year and the player played college ball this year. *The key difference being that if he withdrew by June, he couldn't sign a free agent contract but if declared and wasn't drafted, every NBA team theoretically had their chance and he had free agent status. *They talked about how the competition committee wants to close this loophole. *I don't know any more than that and I haven't taken the time to research it further. *It probably wouldn't be an issue more than once a decade if even that but apparently this year it opened some eyes.