But we made a catchy “Jabari Safari” slogan for him and everything! Sam Smith reports
…the growing view among NBA executives seems to be Jabari Parker will not leave Duke this year. Chicagoan Jahlil Okafor, a Parker friend and big man, is going to Duke next season. Parker is a bright young man with a strong family and the feeling is he understands both the importance of education and feels he owes Duke and the chance to have a great Duke team, which more than likely is the next two seasons. Plus, Parker has seen what staying in school has done for other greats compared with the tough starts for even stars like Kobe Bryant.
This is always the risk you take when you set on down the path of tanking… your prime targets aren’t always guaranteed to come out of school.
These are emotional young men who can create serious attachments to their schools. You never know who’ll get enamored with the college life. Plus, if he has a chance to spend another year in school and be the consensus number one pick, he could make that money back.
Say, for example, he goes fifth this year. His salary would be $3 million. If goes first in the NEXT draft, he’ll make $4.7 million. He’ll make up the difference in what he gave up over the course of his rookie deal, so there’s really not a huge financial risk. If his family isn’t desperate for his money, then he can make a clearer decision about how he wants his career to play out.
This is a deep draft, but this would be one HUGE piece out of the mix. This would mean one team would miss out on a big-time player they thought they could get.
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