NBA Draft: All that Matters Is Location, Location
I guess I knew this, but I hadn't thought about it in awhile ...
Well, what surprises me here is the precipitous salary dropoff for NBA draftees from No. 1 to No. 30 -- both of whom will be first-rounders.
I'm certain the NFL doesn't fall off this dramatically. I doubt baseball does, either.
While working on a piece on O.J. Mayo, I came across a site named hoopshype.com that predicted the 2008 draft, along with how much each of those guys will be paid yearly in the typical three-year rookie deal.
Here are the projected numbers for the Class of 2008, which likely will be headed up by 6-9 Kansas State forward Michael Beasley:
No. 1: $4.8 million per year.
No. 2: $4.3
No. 3: $3.9.
No. 4: $3.5
No. 5: $3.2 ...
See how it's plummeting? By the time you get to No. 10 it's $2.1 million. At No. 20 it's $1.3 million.
At No. 30, it's $950,000.
So, yeah, you have a coupla-three bad games, you not only suffer the ego blow of dropping in the draft, you can lose serious money. Majorly serious money.
O.J. Mayo is a guy who might have been No. 1 in the draft a year ago, had the NBA not instituted the "gotta go to college one year" rule. Now, he's playing himself down the ladder. As deep as No. 10 in one mock draft I saw online today.
The No. 10 guy, a three-year deal worth $6.3 million. Which is a lot of money until you note that the top pick likely will get a three-year deal for about $14.4 million.
Ought to make a guy want to play hard for all 40 minutes and really work on that free-throw stroke.
Just FYI: People seem to think Love will go around No. 15 ($1.6 million a year) ... and Darren Collison, the UCLA guard out of Etiwanda High School, will go around 20 ($1.3 mill). I mean, enough to live on ... but not Michael Beasley money.
The great thing about the NBA? If you're really good, you make MAJOR money on your second contract. When the club tries to tie you up for four or five years.