JamesOn not off his rocker
The news last week that JamesOn Curry would leave Oklahoma State and remain in the NBA Draft despite working out for exactly zero teams shocked many.
Contrary to popular belief, though, this isn’t the worst idea ever.
Fantastic?
Tragic?
No on both counts.
Curry will be undrafted. Of that, there seems little doubt. He wasn’t invited to the draft camp, so why would teams that refused to invite him to camp suddenly be willing to invest money in him?
But he could still make it in pro basketball, maybe even in the NBA.
Such is the promise of the NBA’s developmental league. The NBA began the D-League in 2001. Then known as the National Basketball Development League, it aimed to give a chance to those fringe NBA players. Perhaps they found college wasn’t for them. Perhaps they needed income and basketball was their only means. Perhaps they were at risk of falling through the cracks.
Know what?
It has actually worked.
The D-League has its share of success stories. Rafer Alston. Matt Carroll. Smush Parker. Bobby Simmons. Even Hornet guard Devin Brown. All played in the D-League before making it to The League.
But if Curry is looking for a role model, he should look no further than Kelenna Azubuike. The kid was a high school star at Tulsa Victory Christian. Some even talked of him jumping from high school to the NBA. Instead, he went to Kentucky, struggled for two years then blossomed in his third.
He declared for the 2005 NBA Draft.
There was moaning and groaning, grumbling and gritching.
“If the draft were open only to players 6-feet-5 and under,” one internet columnist mused, “Azubuike might be drafted in the first round. Might be. Not sure.”
The kid went undrafted, then spent two years in the D-League with the Fort Worth Flyers. That’s a lot of long bus trips, a lot of lonely hours, a lot of anxious days.
But then in January earlier this year, Golden State found itself in a pinch. Injury-riddled, the Warriors signed Azubuike. A couple weeks after his arrival, he scored 28 points in 48 minutes against the Los Angeles Clippers.
He finished the season averaging 7.1 points a game and giving the Warriors every reason to re-sign him.
Curry could take the same path, but he has to be ready for the journey. It could be difficult. It could be long. But if Curry is willing to stick it out, to stay on course, the payoff could be big.
Is his decision the worst idea or the best idea?
Much of that has to do with Curry.
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