Right now, former Syracuse Orange forward C.J. Fair is focused on winning a share of the $2,000,000 prize that Boeheim's Army will collect if they win The Basketball Tournament this summer. After that, however, Fair's money-making plans get a little more unclear.
Fair has spent the last two years in the D-League where he's making no more than $25,000/year (plus free housing). Does he want to give it a go for a third? He's going to at least try to get one more NBA camp tryout before making that decision.
"If a team is interested, I'll take that chance," Fair said. "If I have to go over the water this year and make some money and try again next year, those are my options. I have to make a decision, probably around August."
As Donna Ditota points out, this is quite the crossroads for a player like Fair. He can hack it in the D-League another year and be close to the NBA and opportunity. Or he can go overseas and probably make more money as a professional, though the chances he'll get a look from an NBA team dwindle significantly.
It's the situation that Jim Boeheim often alludes to when he shows concern for guys leaving early. If all the dominoes don't fall for you, you're going to have to make this choice sooner than later.
In the meantime, Fair is hoping his stint with Portland in the recent Summer League didn't go unnoticed.
"My focus was to bring a lot of energy, play good defense and hit the open shot. I think I did that, really. When I got my first opportunity with decent minutes I showed the type of player I could be. I got a lot of good feedback from them. We'll see how these next couple of weeks go. ... That's the type of player they say they're looking for, especially being a rotation player in the NBA. They kept stressing to me I'm an NBA player."
Fair also said that he's fine dealing with the low wages in the interim to take a chance on making it to the big show. Ultimately, it's not what drives him.
"I never came from money," Fair said. "So I can go another year without money. It's not like I'm used to having a certain amount where I have to have it. The amount I did make last year was awesome to me, and it was good to manage it. It wasn't a lot for competitive basketball money, but it was a lot to me."
If Boeheim's Army makes a run to the finals and C.J. puts on a clinic, you never know who's paying attention.