Houstan joins Diabate, stays in draft
Baffling. Hope he got a kept promise. Wish him all the best in the NBA.
He almost certainly got a promise... and one that OKC will likely keep in the way of drafting him with the 3rd of their first round picks. Thing is they have 5(!!!!) more next year and 3 the year after that. We're at 11 first round picks and you're near the lowest on the pay scale. Add in 2nd round picks and later years they have even more. They're investing almost NOTHING (okay ~$3 mil over 2 yrs) in this pick and banking on not having to overpay in free agecncy. That's what makes this a bad move, imo.
JP got a guarantee from GS with their ONLY 1st rounder in 2019 with 1 following in 2020 (Wiggins). Also, JP has swag.
Wish him well and will be happy if he's another JP. Go blue!
They really are investing low end, proportionally, even if they pick him at the end of first. All teams are required to have a minimum team salary—so the money doesn’t really matter.
If a team has lots of picks, putting one on Houstan is as good as odds as a bunch of other players in the draft.
Michigan fans undervalue their own players from a draft standpoint while overvaluing every player in the draft/ignoring how those players are flawed while simultaneously yearning for those players to come back and play for Michigan.
The NBA has drafted with more value on assessment of potential over realized talent since at least the Kwame Brown draft.
Houstan has a prototype shooting form and prototype size for today’s NBA—and he has shown he can play serviceable defense. He’s going to develop into a 38-42% NBA 3pt shooter by year 3.
I'm not surprised, but I am shocked. He obviously didn't take MY advice. Good luck to both Caleb and Moussa. Onward.
Bring on Emoni!
He’s already going to Louisville. Not that I would want him anyways
Actually saw a tweet by Ant Wright this morning about how quiet it has gotten re: Emoni and L'ville.
Ant speculated that maybe Emoni ends up at EMU or U of D. --- I just cannot see that with the ego and pride I perceive in the Bates' camp.
Maybe Dwayne Stevens (sp?) takes a flyer at WMU?? Not like he would have much to lose as a first year HC and Izzo and crew recruited EB HARD as a youngster.
I can understand Diabate. Houstan is making a mistake. I can't recall a player with such an underwhelming season make a decision like this.
I have to agree. He was a good spot up shooter, when unguarded, and when at home. The only regret in losing these two is that they both might have improved a lot (though Moussa looked the one more likely to), on the other hand we haven't lost contributors on the level of Trey, Nik or Franz to name just 3 of many who left early in recent years
He shot 47.7% from 3 at home. That's more than just good.
He was an okay starter. That's good production for a freshman. It's unlikely for another freshman or a transfer to match it.
The counter is that his road shooting was worse than merely bad.
Go check Eli Brooks’ freshman and sophomore percentages—and his game by game stats. Then look at what he did in year 8 here at Michigan playing the likes of Aaron Craft and Johnny Ballpuncher.
I don't think you can easily replace a sophomore Houstan (assuming he has that sophomore jump), but you can definitely get a freshman/transfer to replace his freshman production. He was a average player (good for a freshman, bad for a top 10 projected lottery pick), but I think a transfer could match his 35% from 3.
For a 5 star, I don’t want an bang average starter, I want a guy who can contribute and do big things from the start. Houstan never impressed me. No athleticism, decent shot when open, terrible with a hand in face. Defense improved from bad to average. At least we aren’t losing a ton of production. Just seems like we wasted a year on these two guys when they barely made a difference.
The problem with Houstan is he had 7 games where he hit almost half of all of 3's. He was 28-43 in those games. He shot 32-126 in the other 27. Another way is break the season down in seven sections of 5, 4, 5, 4, 7, 4, and 5 games. Sections 2, 4, and 6, Houstan was a viable scorer. In 1, 3, 5, and 7 including the tournament he essentially was not there and a liability on offense. Then again the draft is like selling a home. You only need to convince one idiot.
I do agree with this. The home shooting meme is a bit overplayed at this point. Houstan was more streaky than anything. The road percentages are drastically reduced by a 3 game 1/16 stretch from @UCF to @Illinois.
Jamal Crawford shocked the world after 17 games at Michigan and his 33% shooting from three. He seemed to play a few games in the NBA. Houstan must have a promise to be drafted.
Crawford's talent was very apparent to observers of his game. Houstan is a project.
not to mention the program was a sh*tshow at the time.
Crawford's situation was entirely different than Houstan. Crawford was a legit talent (as is Houstan) but never really got a chance to play much due to an NCAA issue.
His 17 game stats were better than Houstan's full year stats and was more predictably a NBA player than Houstan is now.
Crawford was a freak athlete who we could all see had crazy potential. Houstan is just an average shooter. He has none of the qualities Crawford had.
His season is irrelevant if he's still got a team to take him in the first (or maybe even second) round. That's what you play your whole life for: a chance. He's clearly getting one so good for him.
I could understand saying the team drafting him is a making a mistake, but the dude leaving with a first round offer is definitely not making one.
A guy is not making a mistake when he's going to be drafted in NBA. People look at this through a fans perspective and not the players. Easy to do but the kid is going to the NBA. Not a bad start to a young professionals resume.
If he gets drafted, whether first or second round, then it's probably worth it for him. Personally, I'm bummed he won't be here next year, but maybe it'll work out for everyone involved. Lot's of people thought Poole leaving was a mistake and it seemed to work out for him.
For his NBA future it literally does not matter at all how underwhelming his season was. Clearly there was some mental aspect to the huge shooting disparity between home and road games. But having a bad season just doesn't mean he can't have a good NBA career. His shooting technique is brilliant an he has the body to be an NBA small forward.
Idk why people are surprised that college performance does not equate to NBA potential.
Every year there are PotY candidates who have no NBA future at all and there are underwhelming college players drafted in the first round.
If he doesn’t get drafted he’ll end up in the g league but I can’t imagine that being more desirable than college ball. One would think the NIL would make the g league obsolete
He's Canadian, so he can't cash in on NIL.
I've heard that a ton, same with Diabate but I never understood why. Sure, there's issues getting a w-2 with a student visa but nobody in michigan is interested in advertising in canada or even filming a commercial remotely from their countries of official residence??
He’s very likely to get drafted. Jordan Poole spent some good time in the G-League…seemed to work out nicely for him.
There’s a very big difference from being an undrafted free agent who winds up in the G-League, which is what the poster was talking about, than being a 1st rounder who spends some developmental minutes down there, which is what Jordan Poole did.
I do think Houstan is getting drafted in the 1st, and yes, will spend some time in the G League in his first two years. But that’s different than what was being talked about — going undrafted and hitting the G League would be bad for Houstan’s development relative to college.
this has......
...written all over it. But I guess we'll all find out. Wish him luck.
Good luck to both, but still a surprising situation
May his days be merry and bright. And may all his Christmases be white.
Oof.
Not sure if that "Oof" is for him or Michigan.
Still, good luck, Mr. Houstan.
Strike while the iron is hot. I wish them both well. Definitely contributed to keeping the streak alive.
So, right now our starters for next year most likely are Llewellyn, Bufkin, Jett, Williams and Dickinson. Jace, Barnes and Tschetter who all played next to none and two more true freshmen in Tarris and Dug as backups. Hopefully the portal is fruitful for Juwan because this isn’t an ideal year four situation, roster wise. Basically Williams and Hunter with any Michigan experience.
Think Jacob Grandison from Illinois would be a good get. At 6-6 he can be a swing man and has some trey game.
This is going to be a hot take, but I’m not super bummed out. They both had room to grow, but this is what happens when you recruit like Juwan has been. Guys leave.
I actually think Williams might be a better fit next to Dickinson. He can space the floor more and if he stops the concentration lapses on D, could be a plus on that end.
This pushes Juwan to put Twill on the floor as a starter and that's an exciting prospect. Houstan ate too many minutes even when he was clearly a drain at times
Yes guys leave, but it would be nice to see them leave after making an impact. These two are not leaving with any impact made except for diminishing the roster size. All the hype on these two and I just didn’t see it when they laced them up and played. Hence the preseason ranking, and then the season of barely making the tourney.
Makes no sense to me at all, but that's why nobody pays for my opinion
How much would you like to be paid?
Not many NBA teams makes decisions based on one game.
How about a whole season then?? They were less than good all season
darn it... was hoping Houstan would have stayed one more year...
my guess is both will be drafted, but probably late first, early second... sucks because I think if they stayed one more year, they could have made it into the lottery.
Its a shame as we won't see what they could have been in a second year
How come MSU players seemingly always stay 1-2 years more than they should while UM players seemingly always leave 1-2 years before they should?