Whither Rodney Stuckey?
One player whom won't be seen this March Madness is super-sophomore Rodney Stuckey out of Eastern Washington. Stuckey entered the season as the oxymoronic much lauded best kept secret in college hoops. The 6'5 combo guard burst on the scene last season and then had a solid season in his second year. Comparisons with Dwyane Wade aren't uncommon but the downside of that is that people compare him to Wade because of his lack of an outside shot. 
Could Stuckey be the next Wade? Who knows. And NBA scouts aren't going to have a lot of time to figure it out. Wade helped his draft stock with a great tournament performance and then wowed even more people in the pre-draft workouts. Stuckey isn't in the tourney and a new NBA rule has now outlawed workouts before the NBA pre-draft camp. The rule change didn't make much splash in the news and has been widely ignored but for the likes of Rodney Stuckey and other people who want to help themselves in workouts, its a major blow.
Last season, the Celtics started working out players the day before the lottery, two weeks before the pre-draft camp. While that might not seem like a lot of lost time, for Rodney Stuckey, it makes his odds of moving up the draft even harder. This year, Stuckey only has 23 days to workout for teams. As he could go anywhere from the early-20's to the mid-to-late lottery, he'll likely have twenty-three days to work out with twenty-or-so teams all over the country. It's a rigorous schedule that would wear down many players. Stuckey could go the Gerald Green route and only workout for teams that are in the range in which he wants to be drafted. That is a major risk as even a super-prospect like Gerald Green fell because of it. When the first teams passed on Gerald, he fell into the laps of teams who hadn't seen him workout. The problem, of course, was that those teams fell in love with a prospect that they had worked out and passed on Gerald. While that worked out for the Celtics, it isn't exactly a risk Stuckey might want to take. Still, it puts Stuckey in an odd position; say a team without a draft pick might be interested in trading for a pick in order to select Stuckey? Does he add them to his already chock-full workout schedule and perhaps wear himself down even further for later workouts? (And working out for a team twice might be out of the question)
The NBA made the rule change for their own self-interest, i.e, they were tired of nobody showing up to their pre-draft camp. The NBA wanted big name players to show up but why? Judging players in the pre-draft camp is like drafting off of summer league play. The games are ragged and performing in those games doesn't necessarily translate to actual NBA games. Also, the big names have nothing to prove. The pre-draft camp was a major boost for second rounders. As they had a chance to show their skills. With more top talent (and guys who are locks to be draft) some border-line talents will likely be pushed out. Also, the NBA is once again putting their own personal pet project over the welfare of the game. If most teams would rather scout the best prospect on their own, why not let them? Does the NBA see the pre-draft camp as an attendance draw or as something that they could put on TV? With our without bluechip prospects, who besides die-hard fans will watch it either way?
The ulterior motive might just be to dissuade underclassman who are on the bubble from coming out. Giving them less time to prove themselves would make staying in college a bit more enticing. That being said, how much would it help? Craig Smith and Paul Millsap could have played 8 years in college, teams still would have shied away from them, despite their talents, because of their heights. Leon Powe's stock dropped after he blew outs his knees. People said he should stay in to show he could be healthy for a season, as if his already injured knees would just go away or be overlooked by scouts. Why risk getting hurt again playing for free?
The NBA draft is a crap shoot and this rule is just making it more muddied than before. While the top of the draft should be OK, I wouldn't be surprised if we started to see a lot of talented players fall into the second round or even go undrafted.
Could Stuckey be the next Wade? Who knows. And NBA scouts aren't going to have a lot of time to figure it out. Wade helped his draft stock with a great tournament performance and then wowed even more people in the pre-draft workouts. Stuckey isn't in the tourney and a new NBA rule has now outlawed workouts before the NBA pre-draft camp. The rule change didn't make much splash in the news and has been widely ignored but for the likes of Rodney Stuckey and other people who want to help themselves in workouts, its a major blow.
Last season, the Celtics started working out players the day before the lottery, two weeks before the pre-draft camp. While that might not seem like a lot of lost time, for Rodney Stuckey, it makes his odds of moving up the draft even harder. This year, Stuckey only has 23 days to workout for teams. As he could go anywhere from the early-20's to the mid-to-late lottery, he'll likely have twenty-three days to work out with twenty-or-so teams all over the country. It's a rigorous schedule that would wear down many players. Stuckey could go the Gerald Green route and only workout for teams that are in the range in which he wants to be drafted. That is a major risk as even a super-prospect like Gerald Green fell because of it. When the first teams passed on Gerald, he fell into the laps of teams who hadn't seen him workout. The problem, of course, was that those teams fell in love with a prospect that they had worked out and passed on Gerald. While that worked out for the Celtics, it isn't exactly a risk Stuckey might want to take. Still, it puts Stuckey in an odd position; say a team without a draft pick might be interested in trading for a pick in order to select Stuckey? Does he add them to his already chock-full workout schedule and perhaps wear himself down even further for later workouts? (And working out for a team twice might be out of the question)
The NBA made the rule change for their own self-interest, i.e, they were tired of nobody showing up to their pre-draft camp. The NBA wanted big name players to show up but why? Judging players in the pre-draft camp is like drafting off of summer league play. The games are ragged and performing in those games doesn't necessarily translate to actual NBA games. Also, the big names have nothing to prove. The pre-draft camp was a major boost for second rounders. As they had a chance to show their skills. With more top talent (and guys who are locks to be draft) some border-line talents will likely be pushed out. Also, the NBA is once again putting their own personal pet project over the welfare of the game. If most teams would rather scout the best prospect on their own, why not let them? Does the NBA see the pre-draft camp as an attendance draw or as something that they could put on TV? With our without bluechip prospects, who besides die-hard fans will watch it either way?
The ulterior motive might just be to dissuade underclassman who are on the bubble from coming out. Giving them less time to prove themselves would make staying in college a bit more enticing. That being said, how much would it help? Craig Smith and Paul Millsap could have played 8 years in college, teams still would have shied away from them, despite their talents, because of their heights. Leon Powe's stock dropped after he blew outs his knees. People said he should stay in to show he could be healthy for a season, as if his already injured knees would just go away or be overlooked by scouts. Why risk getting hurt again playing for free?
The NBA draft is a crap shoot and this rule is just making it more muddied than before. While the top of the draft should be OK, I wouldn't be surprised if we started to see a lot of talented players fall into the second round or even go undrafted.
