Josh Okogie to hire agent and stay in NBA Draft

orientalnc

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ESPN ranked the players who have declared for the NBA draft. They divided the top 100, in their rankings, into three groups. 46 signed with an agent or indicated they will; 18 are graduating seniors; and 36 can still withdraw from the draft. JO is in the last category. Being a math geek, I computed that 64 of the top 100 will be in the draft for sure. There eleven more in the group with JO who are international players. Some of them could stay in the draft without hurting their eligibility to do whatever they want internationally if they are not drafted. That means upwards of 75 guys in the top 100 will be in the draft pool. Plus there are a lot more (about 150) players who think they belong in the top 60 but, for whatever reason, ESPN disagrees with them. 40 of those players are international players whose position in the rankings might be less rational than USA players.

It seems to me that for guys projected for the 2nd round there is tremendous risk that you could be left out. 2018 is a tough draft class.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23048470/2018-nba-draft-tracking-every-player-testing-declaring
 

slugboy

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ESPN ranked the players who have declared for the NBA draft. They divided the top 100, in their rankings, into three groups. 46 signed with an agent or indicated they will; 18 are graduating seniors; and 36 can still withdraw from the draft. JO is in the last category. Being a math geek, I computed that 64 of the top 100 will be in the draft for sure. There eleven more in the group with JO who are international players. Some of them could stay in the draft without hurting their eligibility to do whatever they want internationally if they are not drafted. That means upwards of 75 guys in the top 100 will be in the draft pool. Plus there are a lot more (about 150) players who think they belong in the top 60 but, for whatever reason, ESPN disagrees with them. 40 of those players are international players whose position in the rankings might be less rational than USA players.

It seems to me that for guys projected for the 2nd round there is tremendous risk that you could be left out. 2018 is a tough draft class.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23048470/2018-nba-draft-tracking-every-player-testing-declaring
Seems fair.
 

LargeFO

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It may just be me but the title of this thread confuses me every time. I celebrate for a moment and then realize it's just the thread that is discussing the possibility of him going/staying.

That's why you don't create an erroneous thread right after the season literally ended.
 

orientalnc

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I wonder how many players who were projected to be 2nd round picks, and returned to college, were later drafted in the 1st round. Can anyone think of such a case?
 

bos

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I wonder how many players who were projected to be 2nd round picks, and returned to college, were later drafted in the 1st round. Can anyone think of such a case?

I don't have the numbers but it does happen frequently.

Justin Jackson from UNC declared in 2016 as a sophomore, but decided to go back to school. He had a great junior season and was drafted 15th overall in 2017 draft.

Also in 2017 Caleb Swanigan and Josh Hart were drafted in the first after withdrawing the year before.
 

brandon_cox

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One of ESPN's five most intruiging/interesting prospects:

Josh Okogie | Georgia Tech | SG/SF | Age: 19.6

One of the youngest players to take the floor in Chicago, Okogie has the physical profile, defensive versatility and motor to thrive in a junk-it-up setting during 5-on-5 play. Tasked with more shot-creating duties than his skill set suggests, he should carry at Georgia Tech, it will be beneficial for teams to see Okogie in what's likely more of a 3-and-D role. He isn't the most gifted ball handler, on-the-move shooter or facilitator, but as long as he keeps it simple and shows his competitive nature, he could end up leaving Chicago in much better standing than when he arrived. While Okogie has everything in place to hear his name called in the first round next season, it's fair to wonder how much he'll improve in a similar role with the Yellow Jackets next season.
 

orientalnc

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One of ESPN's five most intruiging/interesting prospects:

Josh Okogie | Georgia Tech | SG/SF | Age: 19.6

One of the youngest players to take the floor in Chicago, Okogie has the physical profile, defensive versatility and motor to thrive in a junk-it-up setting during 5-on-5 play. Tasked with more shot-creating duties than his skill set suggests, he should carry at Georgia Tech, it will be beneficial for teams to see Okogie in what's likely more of a 3-and-D role. He isn't the most gifted ball handler, on-the-move shooter or facilitator, but as long as he keeps it simple and shows his competitive nature, he could end up leaving Chicago in much better standing than when he arrived. While Okogie has everything in place to hear his name called in the first round next season, it's fair to wonder how much he'll improve in a similar role with the Yellow Jackets next season.
This sounds like a serious put down of the GT coaching staff. Also, it says that while he has what it takes to thrive in a disorganized 5-on-5 scrimmage, he isn't a great ball handler or shooter or passer. And still, they say he could go in the first round next season, except for having to endure Ga Tech for another season. I wonder if these guys saw him play while he was at Tech???
 

tbglover

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This sounds like a serious put down of the GT coaching staff. Also, it says that while he has what it takes to thrive in a disorganized 5-on-5 scrimmage, he isn't a great ball handler or shooter or passer. And still, they say he could go in the first round next season, except for having to endure Ga Tech for another season. I wonder if these guys saw him play while he was at Tech???
It's a legit question that you pose. Of course after seeing how Iman Shumpert blew up and got drafted with the expectation that he'd be a PG it's safe to say that often times these people truly don't watch these guys play.
 

alagold

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This sounds like a serious put down of the GT coaching staff. Also, it says that while he has what it takes to thrive in a disorganized 5-on-5 scrimmage, he isn't a great ball handler or shooter or passer. And still, they say he could go in the first round next season, except for having to endure Ga Tech for another season. I wonder if these guys saw him play while he was at Tech???

They also saw him on the INT'l jr.team last summer and not play much.He needs another yr of college ball.
 

slugboy

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This sounds like a serious put down of the GT coaching staff. Also, it says that while he has what it takes to thrive in a disorganized 5-on-5 scrimmage, he isn't a great ball handler or shooter or passer. And still, they say he could go in the first round next season, except for having to endure Ga Tech for another season. I wonder if these guys saw him play while he was at Tech???
I don't think it's a diss on the coaching staff, unless they're saying that we should have more athletes and use Josh in a different role. But they say he should be in an 3-and-D role, which means they think that Josh shouldn't attack the basket, but should focus on 3 point shooting? And they don't like his shooting?
 

ESPNjacket

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I don't think it's a diss on the coaching staff, unless they're saying that we should have more athletes and use Josh in a different role. But they say he should be in an 3-and-D role, which means they think that Josh shouldn't attack the basket, but should focus on 3 point shooting? And they don't like his shooting?

The author doesn't realize that his role wouldn't be the same next year. With two PGs and a perimeter-oriented team, GT will play a style more like a modern NBA team than the Lammers-centric back door cutting of the last two years.

I don't blame the author. Monitoring all college teams' roster composition is not what he does.
 

lv20gt

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This sounds like a serious put down of the GT coaching staff. Also, it says that while he has what it takes to thrive in a disorganized 5-on-5 scrimmage, he isn't a great ball handler or shooter or passer. And still, they say he could go in the first round next season, except for having to endure Ga Tech for another season. I wonder if these guys saw him play while he was at Tech???

I read it more as the situation he is in at GT forces him into that role rather than bad coaching decisions. Also keep in mind that they are looking at Okogie from a NBA perspective. What is best for his pro development may not be what's best for the team. In general that's the feeling I got from that post. I think the NBA scouts don't view Okogie as a future star where you'd want the ball in his hands the majority of the time. So they look at how well he could be the other prominent role for a wing player in the NBA, and that's a 3 and d. As far as the next year comment goes, I think it makes sense from an NBA perspective. I think that comment is about doubting whether Okogie will either really up his 3 point shouting game, both in volume and %s, or be able to better convert on his drives to the point where they can feel confident that he'll transition into being a great NBA player worth teams putting the ball in his hand a high % of the time.

I expect if Okogie returns he'll be focused on improving his jumper and that it'll be a point for him to shoot more outside shots next year. It wouldn't surprise me to see posts wondering why he is settling for jumpers more next year and not attacking as much for that very reason.
 

Gtbowhunter90

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I read it more as the situation he is in at GT forces him into that role rather than bad coaching decisions. Also keep in mind that they are looking at Okogie from a NBA perspective. What is best for his pro development may not be what's best for the team. In general that's the feeling I got from that post. I think the NBA scouts don't view Okogie as a future star where you'd want the ball in his hands the majority of the time. So they look at how well he could be the other prominent role for a wing player in the NBA, and that's a 3 and d. As far as the next year comment goes, I think it makes sense from an NBA perspective. I think that comment is about doubting whether Okogie will either really up his 3 point shouting game, both in volume and %s, or be able to better convert on his drives to the point where they can feel confident that he'll transition into being a great NBA player worth teams putting the ball in his hand a high % of the time.

I expect if Okogie returns he'll be focused on improving his jumper and that it'll be a point for him to shoot more outside shots next year. It wouldn't surprise me to see posts wondering why he is settling for jumpers more next year and not attacking as much for that very reason.
Which makes total sense, seeing how we probably wont have much of a big inside advantage. We will have AD and Sly down there, but they arent Lammers.. I think we'll be a more run and gun team, which is what Okogie wants to do anyway...

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