Seems to me that A.J.'s got a handful of options in front of him. I take it as given that most of us, from a selfish standpoint as Vanderbilt fans, would prefer that he stick around for another year to help the Dores make next season one for the books. There may be some dissenting views on that as well, but that's beside the point. With all the rumors swirling about A.J. possibly entering the NBA Draft, I'm curious what y'all in VSL Nation, putting your own fanhood aside to the extent possible, think is in A.J.'s own best interests.
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Full video, in case anybody's looking for it: http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/down-by-the-river/243779/
Going to the NBA is absolutely not an option this year. He is projected as late second round to undrafted by ESPN and not even listed as one of the top 100 prospects. I think it is pretty unlikely he will get drafted if he declares for the NBA draft and signs with an agent.
From AJ's perspective, i see three outcomes.
1.) work hard and try and dominate the SEC next year (without Cousins, Chism, Patterson, Vornado, and possibly Thompkins). AJ will definitely have a good chance to dominate lesser players (from both an experience and talent perspective) next year. This, to me, makes the most sense to enhance his draft status.
2.) Leave and play professionally in Australia. I think this is almost equally as beneficial to AJ as #1, because in the end, this is where AJ is going to end up playing if he decides to play professionally--he is just not going to be a successful NBA player. Plus, he could get a head start on playing there next year.
3.) Quit basketball and do something else. I think this is actually possible, although not too likely. It always seems to me that his heart is not completely in the game, and i dont think he loves the sport as much as we all want him to.
For my money i think odds of #1 are 60%, #2 are 35% and #3 are 5%.
something that has NOT been discussed, but, to me, is much more likely than AJ declaring for the NBA draft is Taylor declaring for the NBA draft. He will be a first rounder if he comes out now, although he would really benefit from 1 more year in the college game.
So you'd vote for option 4?
I would tell AJ to either try and come back and do great at Vanderbilt for a year or go to Aussie to play professionally. I dont think getting to the NBA is a realistic probability, so both scenarios put him in the same place. I guess he would face better competition in Australia and get more used to the style of play, so perhaps that is his best option.
As sad as I am to say it, AJ should probably go now to Australia or Europe if he ever wants to make a living at basketball. His game hasn't improved one iota in three years under CKS & Co.
I actually think this bodes very poorly for our recruiting going forward because none of our players seem to improve all that much under CKS. Dolla learned to shoot but the rest of his game improved little. JJ learned to shoot faster last year, but that's about it.
JT needs a jump shot BEFORE he goes to the NBA because he simply will not be able to play there without one. Perhaps that means spending more time in Nashville or perhaps that means going with AJ to greener pastures abroad, places with enough coaching skill to develop his talents and get him to the NBA. (He also needs another year or two to develop some bulk because NBA players would break him as he is now.)
I asked my RA (one of AJ's best friends) and he said he definitely thinks AJ is staying and will ask him again (he didn't know for sure, they usually talk about music not basketball)
Option 4: Focus solely on your wizardry and maintaining awesome frosted tips at Twilight camp.
I just don't see where the talk about him declaring for the NBA draft is coming from. Anyone that has watched him, knows that he is nowhere in the vicinity of ready for the NBA. Even the simplest of his mechanics for a big guy leave a lot to be desired. He either needs to stay and work very hard to develop the basics of a back to the basket game, or he needs to develop a 10-12 ft jump shot so that he can play facing up like he wants and tries to do.
If he does not want to develop a back to the basket game and work extremely hard on that, than I would say he needs to go to Australia to play. IMO though he isn't ready for overseas pro ball either.
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