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Some one-and-dones from UNC who should have stayed in school.
Tony Bradley is the third Tar Heel who left college after their freshman year, when staying might have been better for them and the Tar Heels.
I was rooting for the Pacers to win the NBA championship Sunday night, and they might have done it if Tyrese Halliburton had not gone out with an early injury. Bradley, an Indiana reserve, has become another Carolina one-and-done who could have helped himself and his school by coming back for his sophomore year.
In fact, none of the last seven one-and-done freshmen have won an NBA title. Bradley is with his fifth NBA team after being drafted No. 28 by the Lakers in 2017 and then traded to Utah, where he played the most games of his career – 58 – in his third season with the Jazz.
Mitch Kupchak, the long-time general manager of the Lakers and Hornets, always said that being drafted in the latter half of the first round is overrated and generally leads to journeyman status in the NBA. Their rookie salaries may be guaranteed, but it is not enough to make them wealthy for life and that money usually doesn’t last very long due to taxes, buying houses for their families and fancy cars for themselves.
Most of them, Kupchak added, would have helped their college teams and their own draft status by sticking around. Bradley is a perfect example. He was the eighth man for the 2016-17 Tar Heels, averaging 7 points and 5 rebounds in 14.6 minutes per game for the national champions. Family members and agents urged him to turn pro and he was drafted for his potential more than what he showed as a freshman.
Had he stayed, he would have filled the big weakness in the middle for the 2018 Tar Heels, whose leading rebounder was 6-8 junior Luke Maye. Starting center Garrison Brooks was a freshman who averaged 4.5 points and 3.5 rebounds. They beat Duke two out of three, lost to Virginia in the ACC championship game and to Texas A&M in the second round of the NCAA tournament in Charlotte. With Bradley, that team might have gone back-to-back.
And he would have had the opportunity to improve to a lottery pick in the draft, where he would have made a lot more guaranteed money.
The same can be said for Nassir Little in 2019 and Day’Ron Sharpe in 2021, both late first-round picks who have not emerged as NBA stars to date. Little was the 25th pick in the first round and has spent the last four seasons between the NBA and G League. Sharpe, the 29th draft pick, has only started to emerge recently for the Brooklyn Nets after spending much of his first three seasons in the G League.
Clearly, these kids need to get better agents or better advice from true pros like Kupchak.
Featured image via Associated Press/Nate Billings
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
