Ray McCallum has decided to enter the draft

[classof2014]

LOL. He used my quote

You know you've struck a nerve with some folks when they go "on the attack" on a basketball message board. Ran across this when perusing Detroit's board and their fans reaction to "Ray's Decision". And the Commissioner said yesterday....

by Commissioner » Sun Apr 28, 2013 12:00 pm

Meanwhile, over at Hillbilly forum (aka the Valpo Fan Zone) they've got several guys jabbering away with cheap personal shots at Ray. I found this the most interesting:
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I hope he goes. I hated watching him play and I think Kendrick Perry will be the best player in the HL by far next season, even if Junior is back. He showed up to play every game unlike Junior and nobody could really slow him down.

I think Junior is a classless player, on a classless team, and with a classless coach. I would HATE if he was the face of the HL next year.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yeah, who wants as the face of your league a kid who's an Honor Roll student, who doesn't have so much as a parking ticket marring his record, who chose your mid-major conference over offers in every BCS league, American born and raised, who never lips off in the press, and plays at an all-American level? You'd have to be an idiot to want that.

Oh, and Kendrick Perry? Love him. Great player. I agree he is the Horizon pre-season POY for 2013-14. Of course, there was that 9 point, 3 of 9 shooting, 4 turnover performance against Detroit this year - but he was still fast, I guess, so in that sense, no one really slowed him down.

What a bunch of pompous hayseeds (still love that description from fan at the YSU board) and graceless losers.

Maybe the commish ought to check out the game tape from the HL Finals held at Valpo in March 2012, to see what sort of sportsmanship that his guy exhibited.  Or maybe look at the stats of the Valpo-Detroit games this year. Not that overwhelming from how I see it. Too bad Detroit had to go and lose in the tournament semi's this past season. Darn the luck. And I'ze resent dem "hillbilly" and "hayseed" comments, darn it, I'm from the cosmopolitan metro Chicago area. Sorry, gotta go shuck some corn now and feed the chickens....  

He got scared cause he knows it's true about Junior. I see him going undrafted and losing to Ryan Broekhoff over in Europe next season.

[a3uge]

Do people from Purdue get called hillbillies too?

[classof2014]

There is NO WAY that an nba team is gonna take Junior. If a shut-down defender in college can turn him into a moving traffic cone, he has no chance in the nba. EB shut him down completely when he was on the court, and when every nba team has EBs X 10 = Waterboy.

He's probably gonna wind up playing in Europe and unless he shows vast improvements that's where he'll stay.

[classof2014]

Do people from Purdue get called hillbillies too?

IDK, but if Valpo people are hillbillies then I wonder what somebody would be from the WORST city in America is???

[valpotx]

It's a tough choice between Detroit and Cleveland for worst larger city in America, but I give the edge to Detroit.  So many people from Detroit have moved to DFW, and spoken to me about how much cleaner and safer the area is versus Decrap 

[wh]

He is the 57th best prospect according to this article: http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/04/28/detroit-point-guard-ray-mccallum-entering-the-nba-draft/

Regardless of what some of these experts say, I still don't see it.  It has absolutely nothing to do with my dislike of Ray, but everything to do with any games I have seen him play.  He just doesn't stand out as an NBA-caliber guy.  I have seen many people over the years that were ranked in the 30s-40s as far as NBA prospect lists, that did not get drafted.  I see Ray as being one of these people.  I will be extremely ticked off if my Mavs were to take him in any round, again, not based on my strong dislike, but on what I have seen from several games.

Wow, you just raised something I never thought of - only my concern would be my beloved Bulls drafting him.  Then again, the Bulls have the best point guard in the NBA sitting on the bench in street clothes long after he should have returned from a knee injury.  Apparently, they have point guards to spare.   

[a3uge]

There's just not as many spots open for true point guards on a roster as there are for forwards. Last year there were 6 PG drafted. There's plenty of PG talent this year with players who can shoot much better than McCallum.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

so...no Highlights readers on this board?

[wh]

IDK, but if Valpo people are hillbillies then I wonder what somebody would be from the WORST city in America is???

I would bet good money that 9 of their 10 message board fans don't live in Detroit, but rather in the adjacent white-flight suburban area.  My daughter worked at the Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit for 2 years.  At the end of the day, she and her co-workers called security, who drove them to their cars in the parking garage and waited until they started their cars and flashed their lights before leaving them there.  Part of her new employee orientation was instruction about how to drive on a flat tire until she got to a lighted "safe zones" before waiting for assistance.  By the way, she lived in 2 different suburban communities while she was there - both were standard bedroom communities that could easily have passed for hayseed Valpo.  Needless to say, I slept a lot easier when she was transferred to Chicago, and took up residence in Lincoln Park where people actually go outside at night and life is fun. 

[FWalum]

I don't see Junior as one of the top 60 players available for the draft.  Remember this would also include any foreign players we are not familiar with, as now seems to be the norm in recent drafts.  Isaiah Canaan and Vander Blue are better PGs in my mind and in many of the mock drafts their positions vary greatly.  Those two appear in most of the mocks that I have seen, but in the ones where they appear between the 45-55 slots Junior does not appear. That still leaves him with about a 20% chance of getting drafted.  Who knows, maybe Senior has some influence among the NBA GMs.

[vuweathernerd]

so...no Highlights readers on this board?

used to. 15 years ago... either way, i appreciated the joke.

[valpotx]

IDK, but if Valpo people are hillbillies then I wonder what somebody would be from the WORST city in America is???

I would bet good money that 9 of their 10 message board fans don't live in Detroit, but rather in the adjacent white-flight suburban area.  My daughter worked at the Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit for 2 years.  At the end of the day, she and her co-workers called security, who drove them to their cars in the parking garage and waited until they started their cars and flashed their lights before leaving them there.  Part of her new employee orientation was instruction about how to drive on a flat tire until she got to a lighted "safe zones" before waiting for assistance.  By the way, she lived in 2 different suburban communities while she was there - both were standard bedroom communities that could easily have passed for hayseed Valpo.  Needless to say, I slept a lot easier when she was transferred to Chicago, and took up residence in Lincoln Park where people actually go outside at night and life is fun. 

Holy crap.  I make fun of Detroit, but didn't know it was THAT bad

[LaPorteAveApostle]

used to. 15 years ago... either way, i appreciated the joke.

thanks, man.  i guess i didn't/shouldn't mean current subscribers.

[vu72]

This  guy think he could be a celtic:

http://www.rantsports.com/nba/2013/04/18/boston-celtics-draft-prospects-ray-mccallum/

[vuweathernerd]

used to. 15 years ago... either way, i appreciated the joke.

thanks, man.  i guess i didn't/shouldn't mean current subscribers.

is it even still published? not having kids, i don't go to pediatrician's offices very much... haha.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

http://www.highlightskids.com/

you're all welcome.

[VULB#62]

This  guy think he could be a celtic:

http://www.rantsports.com/nba/2013/04/18/boston-celtics-draft-prospects-ray-mccallum/

New Englander here....  If the Celts draft him I'm moving to Wisconsin.  Come to think of it, I'm moving there anyway.............  but it'll make the move easier.

[vuweathernerd]

http://www.highlightskids.com/

you're all welcome.

[agibson]

I see nbdaraft.net updated their mock draft.

Removing a number of college players who decided to return to school, and adding folks like Ray Jr.

http://www.nbadraft.net/2013mock_draft

They've got him 58th.  So, in the conversation... but marginal.

They have 8 PG's ahead of him (and 2 PG/SG's).  One PG behind him.

[wh]

Could McCallum be a 1st round draft choice?  One mock draft thinks so:

http://aol.sportingnews.com/nba/story/2013-04-30/nba-draft-2013-mock-draft-magic-bobcats-cavs-nerlens-noel-cody-zeller-trey-burke

Moving into the 1st round would be a real game changer in both salary and security.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Moving into the 1st round would be a real game changer in both salary and security.

Not going to happen, but it would be if it were (as they say "it only takes one team").

First-rounders: 2 years guaranteed.  Second-rounders:  nothing comes guaranteed.

An interesting case study is last year's draft.  Vanderbilt teammates Festus Ezeli (All-Time-Name-Team nominnee) and Jeffery Taylor were the last pick of the first (#30 to Golden State) and first pick of the second (#31 to Charlotte) rounds, respectively.

Ezeli's contract:  4 years, $4.12 million (last two years are team option).
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/e/ezelife01.html
Taylor's contract:  3 years, $2.28 million (appears all three years guaranteed).
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/t/tayloje03.html
Even if worst-case scenario were to occur and Ezeli to wash out, he still made $2.09 million in 2 years, or just a bit under what Taylor will make in 3, even though they were teammates just a pick apart.

EDIT:  perhaps only the first 2 years of Taylor's contract are guaranteed
http://www.basketball-reference.com/contracts/CHA.html

[LaPorteAveApostle]

And just because I am interested in things, here's the difference between #1 (Anthony Davis) and #60 (Mr. Irrelevant):

#1 Anthony Davis (New Orleans):  4 years (2 guaranteed, 2 team option) $10.52 guaranteed, $22.2 million total.

#60 Robert Sacre (Los Angeles): 1 year, minimum salary, $474K.

Don't get me wrong, I would love a half-million, but it's definitely not what some are getting!

[LaPorteAveApostle]

OK, sorry now you've gotten me going.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/aliciajessop/2012/06/28/the-structure-of-nba-rookie-contracts/
A really helpful article about the salary scale, and I didn't know that most agents don't take a commission for rookie deals!

http://www.82games.com/nbadraftpicks.htm
This guy calculates the value of each pick, 1-60, from 1989 to 2008.  Long story short, chances of pick being a:
1 overall:  70% star, 25% solid, 5% role
...
30 overall:  5% star, 10% solid, 25% role, 25% deep bench, 15% bust, 20% DNP
31 overall:                5% solid, 25% role, 25% deep bench, 30% bust, 15% DNP
...
60 overall:                                                                    50% bust, 50% DNP

so, wow.  other than Ginobili and Michael Redd, I can't think of too many 2nd round stars, period.

http://www.82games.com/barzilai1.htm
finally, this very deep paper (from an MIT basketball player and PhD) features this graph on the value of pics, which, SCIENCE!


bottom line, why come out if there's no chance of 1st round?  well, he found the one site that had him pegged there, I guess.

[bbtds]

Second Round to Sacramento Kings--36th overall pick.

[wh]

Not a bad outcome for Mr. McCallum.  RLH used to always say that if you're good enough, the NBA will find you.  Seemingly, playing for a Mid Major didn't hurt him in the slightest.