If this team had Bouknight

[Kolumbo]

If Whaley and Polley both came back for a 5th year, this team would be awesome!!

 

[dogpause]

The thought of this team with Bouk never crossed my mind until this reading this thread. Wow, that would be awesome. Not that many other teams couldn't dream of something similar, but it does remind us of our ascending trajectory, and how close we're getting.

 

[Improviser]

It should be a discussion of him staying because the millions would certainly still be there but probably more so, and he might not be as likely to have not played the last 4 games and have a season average of 8 minutes and 3 points a game. Whatever the NBA “development” he’s currently undergoing , he’d be better off in college this year. He can’t be happy with this.

Bouk was a first round lock and rather than coming back another year with the risk of injury, he took the money and ran. Like most others, he was drafted based on potential.

Grayson Allen would have been better off entering a year before he did because of his slippage the next year, resulting in a less favorable drafting position.

 

[jdb50]

Bouk made his decision and it was time to move on. He would have had a monster year if he stayed. The development of Andre, playing time for Hawk, Adama getting featured and better overall team play with more passing and less standing and watching is going to pay off in the end.

 

[Umami Zen]

Bouk has turned the page..Not coming back.Case closed

 

[Chief00]

Someone who speaks in 3rd person might refer to him as James Boutnight for his entire 2 year career

Chief was wise not to invest precious time in this case.

There are many good college players who could make money going pro somewhere but collecting DNP’s isn’t a long term winning career strategy for a young player as Chief feared.

The issues that Chief feared, that our beloved casual fans either couldn’t identify or ignored have made the argument for Chief.

 

[willie99]

At least he'd be playing, but with a whole lot less money in his pocket

 

[Kolumbo]

 

[mauconnfan]

if my aunt had balls she’d be my uncle.

Or she’d win a lot on Jeopardy

 

[Chief00]

At least he'd be playing, but with a whole lot less money in his pocket

Long term vs. short term investor. A good long term investor makes more money in the long run.
Over the years, Chief usually supports prepared guys leaving early. However, there were unique circumstances in this case. You need to be prepared both on and off the court to achieve long term success.

 

[Chief00]

Chief checked the last 5 Hornets games and they are all DNP’s for James. Chief takes no satisfaction regarding being right about this matter. I just hope next time we have a guy in this type of situation, people who are experienced in this type of situation are sought out to guide things. Nothing that’s happened has been a surprised to Chief and so much could have been avoided.

 

[Ewekon]

im not so sure that we would be a more successful team this year with james. his game here led to the sometime tendency for the rest to stand around and watch, and rhythm was highly dependent on whether he was hot or cold. now, we have 5 known starters, and 4 known backups, with all sort of knowing what they're supposed to do. a team.

IDK. Cole has accepted a leadership PG role after a year.... theoretically with James. Sanogo was a boy. Man has clearly arrived. Gaff virtually never plays. Hawk can ease in and practice against JB.

We are at least 2 losses fewer IMHO.

And yes he certainly had to take the big guaranteed $. Most critical eyes had him needing to develop into an NBA 2. No where near strong enough upon League debut.

 

[uconnfan68]

In other scenarios, if I had the mega ball plus 5 of the other 5 numbers, I'd be filthy rich today

Ftfy

 

[Ratso]

lose first round again, because everyones ball watching like bouk is with lamelo

this is better all around team

 

[Chief00]

And yes he certainly had to take the big guaranteed $. Most critical eyes had him needing to develop into an NBA 2. No where near strong enough upon League debut.

No, he certainly did not have to do that if he wanted a better long term future and make more money. What many don’t understand is that the window is one of fleeting opportunity. If you have lottery type talent, the best path to money in The League is to be ready when you go pro. You then get the playing time and put up the numbers to support the second contract where the big money is made.

If you go out before you are ready, and are unable to take advantage of that window - the road becomes very challenging and tough - to be able to showcase your skills. You get that G League brand and that’s hard to lose and doesn’t pay well. It becomes very difficult to get NBA level playing time.

Chief feels for guys In that position and how difficult it is to climb out of that hole. As the star at UConn you can be building a National Winning Brand while maturing both on and off the court.

Chief recognizes Bouknight’s inexperience handlers meant well and generally thought they were recommending what was best for him. But, it wasn’t.

 

[polycom]

It should be a discussion of him staying because the millions would certainly still be there but probably more so, and he might not be as likely to have not played the last 4 games and have a season average of 8 minutes and 3 points a game. Whatever the NBA “development” he’s currently undergoing , he’d be better off in college this year. He can’t be happy with this.

So you don’t know what it’s like to get paid millions/year.

 

[giddyup]

Chief checked the last 5 Hornets games and they are all DNP’s for James. Chief takes no satisfaction regarding being right about this matter. I just hope next time we have a guy in this type of situation, people who are experienced in this type of situation are sought out to guide things. Nothing that’s happened has been a surprised to Chief and so much could have been avoided.

It was fairly obvious to those objectively watching Bouk play especially down the stretch that he needed more time and cycles. But, he took the short money and things are as they are.

 

[Chief00]

So you don’t know what it’s like to get paid millions/year.

I am so glad you’re not investing my money.

 

[UConn Esq]

Having another potential 20 ppg nba lottery pick player should make anyone better.

 

[Watchdog]

Chief was wise not to invest precious time in this case.

There are many good college players who could make money going pro somewhere but collecting DNP’s isn’t a long term winning career strategy for a young player as Chief feared.

The issues that Chief feared, that our beloved casual fans either couldn’t identify or ignored have made the argument for Chief.

It has to be a tough decision for the player regarding when to leave and we can only hope their "advisors" have the player's best interests in mind when they offer their advice.

It may take his whole first contract to determine if he made the right decision and gets to show enough ability to get the major money which, as you point out, is the second contract.