Pull The Cord, Wesley. Before We Start Thinking Things We Shouldn't.
by Sean Keeley on Apr 7, 2010 7:29 PM EDT
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PrintWes Johnson is going pro.
Right?
I mean, that's a stupid question. Of course he is. It's a non issue.
If Donte Greene went pro after one year, Wes Johnson is certainly going pro.
Obviously...yes?
I mean, no one in his position would pass up guaranteed millions to come back simply because he wants to win a championship. We just don't live in that age anymore.
So please, Wes, do us all a favor and pull the cord already. Put us out of our misery. It's not misery, it's just...we're already starting to get weird ideas in our heads. Dumb ideas.
Like we start to read your Facebook status "SHUTING IT DOWN TILL I AM CUTTING DOWN THE NETS!" and make assumptions that you mean you are coming back. (Which was from before the Butler game, so...disregard)
Or we start analyzing your tweets about the fact that you're still attending classes.
Or we read too much into comments made by Jim Boeheim over your status and impending decision.
So please, Wes, save us from ourselves. Announce that you are going pro. We're only going to get weirder about this the longer you wait. We won't hate you, I promise. We're with you that it's the best move for YOU to leave. Just...you know...let us know. Thanks.
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He would be absolutely retarded if he did not leave.
All signs indicate that there will be a lockout in ’11. Even if there is not a lockout, the CBA is going to change which means players salaries are going to change negatively because hardly any teams in the League are making money right now.
If he is lucky enough to pan out to be a big contract, successful NBA player: the worst case is that he could miss out on 2 years of paychecks totaling 20mil+.
This is not a donte greene situation. He’s a guaranteed top 10 pick, with a strong chance of a top 5 selection. That’s serious money, and anyone that knocks him for leaving has obviously never stepped foot outside of Onondaga county.
I'm officially jumping in the pool.
I have complete faith that Wes Johnson is coming back for another year. And once again I really don’t care what people say about age, Wes Johnson will have a good payday when he is done playing. Also to address the idea that he loses a lot of money.
NBA Draft Slotting from 2008:
3rd Pick: 6.6 Million the first 2 years.
If he drops out of the Top 5 then it’s that amount of money over 3 years. The money aspect is being overblown.
You are looking at it the wrong way
You have X amount of years of a basketball career.
In general, each year of college means you have 1 year less of a pro career.
It’s not the rookie contract you miss out on, its the big money contract that you will get one less year of. If you go in ’11 instead of ’10 you will be getting paid based on the new CBA, which will undoubtedly pay rookies less. And that is assuming that there is not a strike in ’11.
Not quite
A 35 game season is not the same on the body as an 82+ season. The latter is what adds a lot of wear and tear to your body. Boehiem spoke about it
Fair point.
I would still think that basketball is a year round occupation for these types of players. regardless of if they are in the league or in college.
But still, the CBA '11 issue is obviously the most relevant thing in this equation
Just look at all of m thearginal NBA prospects declaring this year, more are surely on the way.
Brendoh is right
The money is very significant. NBA players get rich on their second and third contract and by staying he is pushing at another year down the road.
Ask Sam Young how much money there is for players that wait.
i'm with you
no life preserver, might as well tie a manhole cover (they’re really heavy) to my feet. wes is coming back because he loves the love we all give him and he wants to hang out with scoop and donna ditota for another year.
BK: This guy is on fire, he is really smokin'.
KenKo: Oh yeah, Bill? What's he smokin'?
That facebook status
is from March 20. Just sayin’.
Good catch.
Not relevant to the discussion.
Sean, you may want to do an update about the Facebook status. It was the day after Vermont.
He's gone
But if Nick Calathes can make millions in Greece, Wesley Johnson could wait a year and see if a year overseas would pay more and wait until after a lock out.
He would insane to pass up the NBA, no matter how much a loss might smart in the NCAA's
Millions in cash more than make up for that. No where else in the world will he have a chance to make that sort of money no matter what in his first contract if he doesn’t go this year.
No matter how much I would hope that he would come back next season (in my heart of hearts) I gotta say go Pro, Wes, go Pro.
Nix and Chan, the new Cheech and Chong of the Bills, hopefully they will be as successful in business as they were, and not so much the drug fueled comedy act....
Facebook inaccurate
The Wesley Johnson page is just a fanpage…the Wes Johnson page is his actual page. Not sure who runs the Wesley Johnson one, but it is definitly not him.
Nope. No. NO.
I won’t even imagine about imagining about Wes staying. He’s not and until the Draft declaration deadline passes I refuse to believe there is even the remote possibility he is coming back.
Everyone thinks Wes is gone
But I would not put it past wes to come back to school, as crazy as it sound money does not drive all people, wes is a kid who looks liek he legitimately likes being in school playing with his teammates. Now he very well may go but i would not be surprised if he decided not to
Greene and Flynn both seemed the same way.
Greene didn’t seem to like Boeheim as much, but the same couldn’t be said for Flynn. I get what you’re saying, but don’t look at guys having fun with each other start to dream. Those dreams rarely come true.
I was on campus, it was a given Greene was gone. No one thought he wanted to stay on the hill. Flynn people were not sure about. We knew he enjoyed basketball but not sure (and I did not think) he differentiated between NCAA and NBA, it just was ball to him. And the NBA gave him money to do it, so he left.
Wes is a different story from what I can gather he loves COLLEGE ball & might want to play out all his eligibility. Plus he is close with Flynn who doesn’t seem to like playing for a bad team when could have been winning a championship (as stated in that article that I believe was in NY Times, or could have been Post Standard) and waiting that yr to play for a bad team. This might rub off on Wes, also this time. No one seems to know on campus if he is going, unlike Greene & Flynn to a small extent once projections starting coming out.
Saying all this I think he is gone!
Thanks Wes for the memories!!
LET’S GO ORNAGE!!
Someone who is on campus and knows that Wes is going
This guy —→
Syracuse '12
by blackknight76 on Apr 8, 2010 10:11 AM EDT up reply actions
I dont think that being on campus...
…gives you a clearer perspective on whether a player will stay or go. Please show me a quote of Flynn saying he regrets his decision. The pain of losing disappears when he checks his bank statements after the game.
I was on campus for Greene too.
And there was a time when there was some uncertainty. My point was the he certainly loved playing with all the guys. Flynn also clearly had a rapport with the team, much more so than Greene. The issue at hand isn’t whether or not they love basketball because clearly all three do. The issue is whether they love playing with/ hanging out with the other Cuse guys enough to stay. That wasn’t the case with Greene, it seemed like it might be the case with Flynn, but it wasn’t. I don’t think it will be the case with Wes either.
JFlynn on Twitter
Coach Boeheim hinting at @W_Johnson coming back for 1 more year. Coach got his days mixed up, april fools was 5 days ago lol 12:09 PM Apr 6th via UberTwitter
C’mon, now.
Maybe he'll pull a Matt Lienart.
Sure he’s a bit older, but maybe that makes him a bit wiser.
1. Take out an insurance policy to guarantee at least $2m is coming you way
2. Enjoy a year of responsibility free BMOCing
3. Get Millions in 2011 anyway.
I mean, really if you think about it, it shouldn’t be a contest – you go back to school. If fat Lienart can pull this off….
There is only 1, single, uno, primo, time when you have the opportunity to be a BMOC and all that means. As great as the millions sound in the NBA, it’s still a job – it’s not playing ball on Campus. I mean what’s the rush to guard Lebron and Durant? To carry Rasheed Wallace’s bags while you are wearing a dress through JFK Airport?
Sure it’s the dream, it’s the challenge you want, play against the best, etc. – but if you have the opportunity to enjoy a year of your life, basically worry free AND improve your future earning potential,why not?
Whatever changes in the CBA and NBA overall – it’s not like he’s going to make significantly less as a top 3-5 pick next year then he would this year as a top 5-10 pick.
I agree Wes would be a crazy not to go pro
But the one thought that continues to creep in my mind is that, we all know Wes is a classy guy. Among the best all-time at SU in that deparment and definitely head and shoulders above, say, Greene and Flynn. Would he, perhaps, be so classy, to recognize what JB (and SU) have done for him and repay him by staying for 1 more year?
Lets face it, Wes might’ve gotten a crack at the NBA if he had stayed at ISU or tranferred elsewhere, but its JB who made him the player that he is today. Also, it was JB who started building Wes Johnson hype to media from the day he annonced he was transferring to SU (again, unlike Greene/Flynn who were McDs AAs).
I know its practically insane to think about, but maybe Wes is just that kind of guy who isn’t driven by money. I’d like to think so, but that almost definitely will not be enough to keep him at SU for one more year.
One other question that I haven’t heard a definitive answer to: Is Wes graduating in the spring? I would think that after sitting out a year he’d be a senior academically and have enough credits. Anybody know for sure?
"I'm going through a rough patch in my life right now. Syracuse is 0 and 3" - Adam Sandler
Wes is the only 1st team All American not declared for the draft
Wes, what are you thinking?!?!?!
Get an agent, enroll in the draft, get paid the millions you deserve!!!
Go Orange(men)!
Not really much of an issue here
What does he have to gain by staying? Little that I can think of.
Maybe it is worth staying another year to drop in the draft to end up with a better team. Seriously… if he gets drafted by the Clippers, he might as well just have one of us club him in the knee. Conversely, being an 8th man on a solid NBA team could make him just as much money overall. We’ve all shaken our heads at turds that were overpaid in their second contract after being bench players. As a less-than-casual NBA fan, guys I have never heard of seem to do quite well.
The only other thing I can think of is a desire to be the #1 pick. Who else out there is capable of that for 2011? Wes has shown he is good, but has he shown that he can dominate and be a team leader during the game? Are the other guys announcing going to drive him down in the draft?
What does he have to gain by leaving? Much.
If you can be a top 5 pick, I think you just have to go. Being #1 is not better than being #5. In football, the signing bonus difference is massive. In basketball, not nearly as much. He can still come back to games a la Donte. Move on when there is no more upside to be reached.
I think Hakim stayed and ended up being drafted lower than where he was projected the year before. The NBA is run by morons.
Does he HAVE TO leave? No.
How many of us former-students actually enjoy our lives more now that we are out of school? It’s great not to have classes. It’s great to get paid. But it is not college.
Then again, few of us are in the NBA. He is too old and too mature and too highly considered to not move on. JB will do the right thing and tell him to go. And he will do the right thing for himself and his family. And we will all do the right thing by wishing him well. Unlike Donte, he spent two years on campus and left it all on the court.
Edits
Are the other guys announcing THIS YEAR going to drive him down. That would matter.
Also… being a #1 next year is not better than being a #5 this year.
Sorry.
I think Wes is still widely considered to be the 4th or 5th best guy out there.
WTF (Wall, Turner, Favors) is the term I see thrown around for the first 3 as locks for stardom with Wes right behind. It’s hard to know where he’d land next year necessarily anyway. With so many one and dones, he could theoretically drop even if he has a better season.
I think he should go. I’ll take him back, but it’s just not the right decision for him.
Actually
its like the last season of Seinfeld… hes getting 25 million for the scoop and wes show, so the nba can wait.
If Wesley Johnson is still attending classes, it might have something to do with the fact that unlike Johnny, Donte, Melo, etc, finishing his classes this semester will probably earn him a degree.
I would agree with you on that
Just cause you’re leaving early doesnt mean you dont want a degree
Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician - The Syracuse blog that cares.
Do you know his degree progress?
Is he on track to graduate this year? Or would staying allow him to earn one?
He has been in school for four years all told I believe.
I’m sure he is close and probably almost done. The only reason he wouldn’t be is if some credits didn’t transfer from Iowa State.
I asked scoop today if Wes was going to declare already
today in class and he said that he doesn’t know. It seemed like it was 50-50 for him.
So it seems like even Wes doesn’t know what he’s going to do yet.
Nothing like getting our hopes up
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