OT: Moe Wagner to go Pro
- Thread starter MadRU
- Start date
Per NBA GM's "Moe may have played himself late into the 1st round". ESPN has him ranked #48 in the draft.
Why bother? Spend another year refining your skills and he could be a lottery pick next year and make a lot more money.
I see Wagner as a poor man's Nowitzki.......tons of potential but I think he can use another year refining his skills
Why bother? Spend another year refining your skills and he could be a lottery pick next year and make a lot more money.
I see Wagner as a poor man's Nowitzki.......tons of potential but I think he can use another year refining his skills
what skill would get better? He’s already a 40% shooter on 3s and top 50 in DR%. His shooting, dribbling, and passing are all at a very high level. Unless you think he’d become a great shot blocker by coming back there was nothing left to improve.
I agree. I think it’s come full circle and some of these kids are staying a year too long (e.g, Myles Bridges, who might have been a lottery pick last year).
A case could even be made for Sanders. He’s about the same player he was two years ago and there are only so many years you can play pro basketball and get paid.
No way possible that kid plays himself into a lottery pick. He’s more solid than spectacular and there’s nothing wrong with that at all.
in my slightly educated opinion, kids need to significantly improve when they stay in college to up their draft stock because being a year older hurts them a little. NBA drafts for potential. So if a kid is a borderline 1st round pick one season and comes back and gets a little better they will probably still be a borderline 1st round pick the next season despite being a better player. You gotta make a big leap forward to up your draft stock. Wagner wasn't going to do that. He's getting close to maxing out his game in college because he doesn't have really long arms and isn't super quick he will always be limited defensively. His offensive game was about as polished as it can get.
His strength and conditioning can get better for one thing to battle against guys his size at the NBA Level. He needed to dominate more at the college level (which he did not do until later in the season).
I along with many Michigan fans who I spoke to at the BIG 10 Tourney all feel 1 extra year could have done Wagner a bunch of good to elevate his stock position for next year and be a potential lottery pick in lieu of a slightly possible late 1st round pick or 2nd round pick whereby the latter contract is not guaranteed.
Where we disagree is that I think Wagner can still improve / elevate his game and it appears you don't.
I agree he could get a little better by staying another season. My point is that wouldn’t help his draft status. That’s not how the NBA draft works. Staying in school doesn’t help much unless you make massive improvements. Wagner already has the offensive skills polished and there is nothing he can do to make massive gains on defense. Does he need some more muscle? Sure. But NBA teams know he can gain that more easily in the NBA than he can in college.
As a Michigan fan I selfishly wish he would have stayed for another year. Logically it was not in his best interest. There was literally no way he could ever be a lottery pick. He'd have to have upped his scoring to about 20+ PPG, upped his rebounding to about 12+ per game, and all of a sudden become a shotblocker. That sort of stuff wasn't going to happen. From sophomore to junior he upped his scoring and rebounding a little. His pace of improvement wasn't going to accelerate over another year.
And then there's the risk. Somebody like Miles Bridges probably cost himself something like over $100M longterm (when you combine the missed income at age 19 + later free agency + compound interest over time on the percentage he'd likely save) by coming back to school for another year.
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NBA scouts can assess a kids ability to get better. I’d think a better place for a player who is already ready for the NBA to improve would be in the actual NBA. Wagner won’t improve going against Teske and Robinson in practice every day and being guarded by Eugene Omoruyi in games.
