| 15 April 2009
Pretty nice, right? He looks like a perfect mix of Kyle Watson and Sidney Deane.
Okay, has your excitement subsided enough for you to continue reading? For the readers that are fans of one of the five worst teams in the NBA, has the blood rushed back to your brain?
John Wall is 6'4" and 184 lbs of pure talent, lightning quickness, and all kinds of athleticism rolled into a super point guard prospect that makes college universities want to use "friends of the program" and NBA GMs to start an online petition (those ALWAYS get something accomplished) to abolish the NBA's age minimum rule. But that online petition might not have to be created (which saves Chris Wallace hours of free time now that he doesn't have to read Internet for Dummies) because John Wall may be the loophole in the Collective Bargaining Agreement that want-to-be high-profile agents are claiming to be ready to attack when a prep star is ready.
John Wall is in his fifth year at Word of God Christian Academy in North Carolina and will technically be eligible for the NBA Draft this summer despite the fact that he'll be coming out of high school.
But you thought preps to pros players had been banned by the league, you wonder? Well, here's the rule care of Slam Online and Tom Ziller at NBA Fanhouse:
The player (A) is or will be at least 19 years of age during the calendar year in which the Draft is held, and (B) with respect to a player who is not an international player (defined below), at least one (1) NBA Season has elapsed since the player's graduation from high school (or, if the player did not graduate from high school, since the graduation of the class with which the player would have graduated had he graduated from high school)
So it sounds like John Wall could definitely challenge the idea that preps to pros isn't allowed because he fills those requirements. He'll be 19 on September 6th. And since he's been held back a year or however his guidance counselor wants to spin it, he'll also technically one year removed from his graduating class because he should have graduated in 2008 after his fourth year. So assuming that he jumps to the NBA, what does this mean for him, his future team, and the league itself?
Well, for the league it seems like this opens up an entirely different can of worms than someone like Brandon Jennings who failed his tests, jumped to Europe for a year, and will come back to the States this summer to test the NBA waters. Could this cause top high school freshman, sophomores, juniors, and maybe even seniors to be held back a year in order to not have to bother with test scores or college altogether? What would stop agents from getting their hooks into young kids more than they already have? How many high school kids who aren't nearly ready for the league would be "advised" to stay back a year in order to jump straight to the pros only to have their draft stock plummet on draft night? How many wouldn't get drafted?
It seems like this is the type of issue that could get David Stern and the rest of the execs to strengthen the language in future Collective Bargaining Agreements so it probably wouldn't necessarily be a long-term occurrence. But at the very least it could make the next few drafts a little deeper and weaken the talent infusion of college freshman. Sure, only two or three top players at the most might test this but take away guys like Derrick Rose, O.J. Mayo, and Michael Beasley from college basketball two years ago and what kind of season would that have been? How watchable would audiences have found it without those freshman stars?
As for John Wall himself, it immediately puts him on the mock draft boards as we figure out where he factors into the NBA Draft hierarchy. He instantly starts nudging Blake Griffin aside for the number one draft pick slot (which if you remember, I think would be a good thing), which gives teams like the Kings, Clippers, and Wizards a much easier justification in drafting for need rather than for potentially the alleged best player available. He would most likely knock Ricky Rubio and Brandon Jennings (assuming they declare) down the point guard draft board because teams are much more likely to take the unknown-riddled upside rather than a more proven commodity (see: Shane Battier, 2001 draft).
As for the player that John would be, he has great size for a point guard these days and as you can tell from the videos, his athleticism and quickness are enough to make you drool. We really have no idea how good of a shooter he is but look what Jason Kidd and Derrick Rose were able to do in their first years. You don't have to be a real good shooter to be successful as a point guard. He would also potentially boost season ticket sales despite the poor economy. In 1998, the Sacramento Kings passed out highlight videos of Jason Williams and Peja Stojakovic to season ticket holders before pre-season hit. The city had very few people who had ever heard of Williams but soon after word got around with these videos, his legend began to grow and there was a minor increase in ticket sales. Since everybody will know the fancy play of John Wall well before that point, who's to say that drafting him wouldn't increase fans likelihood to buy tickets and season ticket packages to see the potential new star?
But could he be a difference maker like we saw with Derrick Rose this season?
I asked Lang Whitaker of SLAM Magazine and he gave me this:
As far as his possible impact in the NBA...It's tough for any rookie to come into the NBA and put up impressive numbers from the get. But Wall could be that kind of player, assuming he ends up on a team that A) lets him play, and B) puts the ball in his hands. There are so many variables involved -- from what kind of system he ends up playing in to what team he ends up with -- but with his speed and size, which should create matchup problems, I think Wall definitely could be an impact player in the NBA next season.
Clearly, we'll never truly know how good he can be as a rookie until he actually gets on the court and starts to play. We didn't know exactly how good Devin Harris was going to be for New Jersey this year until he was saw his comfort and production in Lawrence Frank's system.
But in so many ways, John Wall jumping high school to the NBA opens up possibilities.
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