Consider this an excerpt from a book of rebuttals.This is for anyone who over the next several days will criticize Julian Wright’s decision, which Monday afternoon he said is to forego two years of eligibility and enter this June’s NBA Draft, where he will likely be a lottery selection and begin life in the real world. [Wright][1], KU’s very own highlight waiting to happen over the past two seasons, was in a very favorable position at the season’s end. Whether he stayed for his junior season and graduated next May, or threw his name into the potential lottery hat, he couldn’t go wrong. If he stayed, he was a model of what college athletics are supposed to be. If he went, he was simply striking while his stock was as high as it could possibly go.But we all know that some people around here can be irrational come times and decisions like these. Shoot, Wright is just the third KU player since 1998 to leave early for the NBA Draft, and is the first sophomore in KU history to enter his name. For a powerhouse program with the television and national media exposure KU has, plus the winning tradition, that’s incredible.But before you can snap back, I’ve got you covered…somewhat. Here’s a few arguments against why some might see Julian Wright bolting a mistake.**_He doesn’t have a defined position yet in the NBA. He’s not big enough to play the 4, but can’t shoot well enough to play the 3._**You know who else this was said about a few years back? [Shawn Marion][2] of the Phoenix Suns, who [coming out of UNLV in 1999][3] had the same scarlet letter applied to his reputation, and now is a three-time NBA all-star on the league’s best team and is in the prime of his career.Leaving UNLV, Marion was a 6-foot-7, 210-pound project who couldn’t shoot worth a lick, but man, did he have a guard’s athletic ability and was a ferocious rebounder (Sound familiar?). He averaged a modest 10.2 points per game as a rookie, took down 6.5 boards a night and shot an atrocious 18.2 percent from three-point range. Now, at 228 pounds in his eighth NBA season, his shot still looks as awkward as anything you’ll see on an NBA floor, but he shoots 34.3 percent from deep and he has averaged a double-double for four straight seasons. Plus, don’t forget, he’s now a household name to much of the country.Wright was second among this season’s regular rotation in field goal percentage, connecting on 54.9 percent of his shots thanks in large part to his ability to stay close to the rim and play above it. His outside game is lacking, as he was just 3-of-13 from deep, and he needs to become better than the 61.3 percent free throw shooter he currently is. He would benefit from being in a wide-open offensive NBA system such as the one Marion is a part of.But there’s no need to freak out in thinking that just because Wright is going to the NBA, he’s going to up and magically stop developing. That tends to be a popular perception, but you know, there’s coaches and trainers there, too. Some might have forgotten that. The NBA is not just an extension of the And One mixtapes.Wright’s actually probably a better prospect coming out of KU than Marion was coming out of Vegas. He’s bigger (6-foot-8, 225 pounds) and played in a much more competitive, winning program in college where he was subjected to plenty more high-pressure, big-game gut-check moments than Marion was.The chances of his career emulating Marion’s by the book are unlikely, but it’s one example of why not to panic. Wright hasn’t even come close to hitting his ceiling. Thought if he were put in a system much like the one Phoenix runs on, he’d flourish without a question.By the way, Marion was picked ninth that year. Don’t expect Wright to go much lower than that, if lower at all.**_He needs to learn to calm down and be more consistent._**Julian Wright will never be more calmed down than he is now. He’ll always have that tendency to run around like a chicken sans head, but that’s just his nature. He’s an excited person. That just doesn’t change. And for as many moments like [these][4] as he’ll have down the road, there’ll be four times as many of [these][5]. Consistency is a throwaway term as far as NBA players are concerned. How many guys in the league not named [Bryant][6], [Iverson][7], [James][8] or [Wade][9] (Maybe there’s three or four more) are consistent night-in and night-out? Everyone has some down games over the course of an 82-game regular season. Right now, he’s consistent enough.**_One more year would really help Julian Wright, and it might even improve his draft stock._**As far as Wright’s skill set is concerned, the only things another year would truly improve could be his outside shot and his free throw touch. And hey, not sure if you knew this or not, but on top of still having coaches in the NBA, they even have practice facilities and – gasp – _baskets in the gym!_ Again, just because you go to the NBA, it doesn’t mean development suddenly ceases to exist.The fact is Julian Wright is big, athletic, can run the floor like a guard, can find teammates on the break, can rebound, can block shots and can score around the basket. That’s more than enough to make him effective in an NBA game right now.At the moment, Wright is a top-ten pick, and there’s really not much debate on that. By coming back next season, Wright would probably, at best, improve his spot in the draft by two or three slots, max. Why risk it?**_He should come back to take KU to the Final Four._**Now Julian Wright is a great kid, don’t get me wrong. He’s very active on campus, loves Lawrence, and respects the tradition of Kansas basketball.But you know who put this situation best? Former Jayhawk [Keith Langford][10], who once said that had he hit two more free throws in the 2003 National Championship game loss to Syracuse, he might have bolted for the NBA following that season. He once compared the prospects of an up-and-coming college hoopster to a law student, asking the question: If you’re in your first year of law school and some law firm comes and offers you a job as a lawyer, meaning you don’t have to complete law school, wouldn’t you take it?Going to the Final Four would be nice for Wright and Co., but is it truly worth the risk when the reward is right in front of your face for the taking? That’s more of a wish for the fans than the players. Blue chip guys like Wright, who was a McDonald’s All-American in 2005, need to look out for themselves and their families first and foremost. That’s what he’s doing right here.**_He didn’t play well at all in San Jose. How could he leave on a sour note?_**Well, you can’t negate facts. In two games in San Jose – against SIU and UCLA – Wright was just 7-of-14 from the floor, scored 15 points, had nine rebounds and averaged just 28.5 minutes per contest (Not bad, considering he averaged 27.6 per for the season). Moving away from what’s on paper, Wright was far from his usual self in the sense that he didn’t effect either game like he normally had a tendency to do in a KU uniform, whether it be by making the highlight reel or making momentum-changing plays.But what keeps San Jose from being much of an issue is that Wright played well in front of NBA scouts throughout the year. So well that one weekend could hardly ruin his draft stock, given how potential-driven the NBA Draft is anyway. For example, given Florida’s winning of its second straight NCAA crown, it’d be hard for scouts to forget about Wright’s 21-point, 10-rebound showing in a [November overtime win over the then-No. 1 Gators][11]. He also dropped a 33-point bomb [at Missouri on Feb. 10][12].In those games, Wright was in what he likes to call ‘Beast Mode.’ Scouts are well aware of that inner-monster. They’ve seen plenty of it.**_But he said he was coming back for his junior year…_**So what? Things change. He’s too young of a kid and has far too big of a future to be held accountable for anything such as that when the question was fired at him repeatedly by the local media. Think back to when you were 19 years old (Wright turns 20 on May 20th), how many things you said you planned on doing were never followed through on? Off the top of my head, personally, I have a few. Nothing wrong with that, because you were a kid. Just like Wright is.As far as the graduation issue goes, Wright can always come back and take care of that down the road or take online courses. The University of Kansas is going nowhere. It’s not going to break apart from the continental United States like Los Angeles will at some point. Life’s too short to not take what you can get when you can get it, and Julian Wright has millions of dollars on the table for the taking. Grab it, young man. Grab it.**Instead, there might a bigger issue at hand…**This is proof of what can happen when a team is loaded with McDonald’s talent. There’s nothing wrong with it, because at a school like Kansas, you need to have that type of talent to stay competitive. But instead, it looks like the growing trend of players not fulfilling four-year scholarships might have finally reached Lawrence. As Wright is only the fifth player in KU history to leave school early for the NBA.Don’t be surprised if this continues to grow. Brandon Rush could announce the same thing in coming weeks, and a year from now it could be Mario Chalmers and Darrell Arthur. The KU faithful should just be happy it took this long for the epidemic to reach Allen Fieldhouse.**And now for the fallout from Wright’s decision…****_-Both [nbadraft.net][13] and [draftexpress.com][14] have already updated their mock drafts_** with the actual NBA Draft still more than two months away.The first site has Wright as the ninth overall selection (Sidenote: Marion was the ninth pick as well), and should the lottery fall in place of how teams are slotted in the standings right now, that pick would send him to the Sacramento Kings. In a similar format, draftexpress.com projects Wright going eighth overall to the Seattle Sonics.Also making an appearance on both mock drafts is Brandon Rush, who has yet to announce his future plans. On nbadraft.net, he’s the No. 2 pick in the second round, going to the Boston Celtics. That pick is essentially another first round pick, and based on their predictions, he’d be paired in a Celtic rookie class with Texas’ Kevin Durant. Not a bad trio of wings if you combine those two with former Jayhawk Paul Pierce. On draftexpress.com, he’s picked to go No. 21 overall to the Washington Wizards.**_-This news on Wright makes next year’s starting lineup look potentially_** very interesting. If Rush leaves, KU would almost have to go with a starting lineup including Sherron Collins, Russell Robinson and Mario Chalmers, meaning having three starters who are 6-foot-1 or shorter. They’d be coupled with Darrell Arthur and either Darnell Jackson or Sasha Kaun. The bench would be relatively thin compared to this season, consisting of either Jackson and Kaun, freshman Cole Aldrich and a race for the eighth-man spot between Rodrick Stewart, Brady Morningstar and freshman Tyrel Reed. In other words, if Rush also leaves, don’t expect as much versatility on next year’s roster as this year’s showed. After all, that would essentially be a team with only one potential small forward (Stewart) in its nine-man rotation.Discuss amongst yourselves.**_KUSports.com editor Ryan Greene can be reached at rgreene@ljworld.com, or by phone at (785) 832-6357._** [1]: http://kuathletics.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/wright_julian00.html [2]: http://www.nba.com/playerfile/shawn_marion/index.html [3]: http://www.nbadraft.net/1999.htm [4]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3fWwtB9GJ4 [5]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLbu7G2a98A [6]: http://www.nba.com/playerfile/kobe_bryant/index.html [7]: http://www.nba.com/playerfile/allen_iverson/index.html [8]: http://www.nba.com/playerfile/lebron_james/index.html [9]: http://www.nba.com/playerfile/dwyane_wade/index.html [10]: http://kuathletics.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/langford_keith00.html [11]: http://www2.kusports.com/news/2006/nov/26/later_gators/?mens_basketball [12]: http://www2.kusports.com/news/2007/feb/11/border_warrior/?mens_basketball [13]: http://www.nbadraft.net/ [14]: http://draftexpress.com/
