When there is a possibility, no matter how slight, that Brandon Rush, Julian Wright and Darrell Arthur may bolt for professional basketball, and the team they are leaving will still be doggone good, Kansas fans can’t get too gloomy.
Scouts, agents and other money-changers may convince the aforementioned they’re ready for the NBA. Count me as a dolt who doesn’t think any of the three can cut it right now. Rush and Wright have a dearth of the ball-handling skills that even pro regulars with modest talents possess. Arthur, for all his physical promise, needs at least another year in Bill Self’s Jayhawk nest.
I’ll look even sillier than usual if any of this threesome winds up making a million dollars or so apprenticing on a bench. There has been talk Wright could be a top 15-type draft selection, which would get him a two-year contract worth about $2 million or so. Long-term, he seems to have more overall potential than the erratic Rush. But not quite yet.
Rush has been projected anywhere from a 20 spot in the first round to a high nod in the second round. Guaranteed salaries are tough to get in that climate. Every time another collegian like Brandan Wright of North Carolina joins the Greg Odens, Kevin Durants and the Florida Four in the market, Rush, Wright and Arthur keep dropping.
But, money for the family. That unselfish attitude can override a lot. Roy Williams says he has never had a guy turn pro and come back, here or at North Carolina, and claim the brutal NBA grind is more fun than the college experience. But Roy adds that affection for the good old days is softened considerably by fat paychecks the first and 15th of the month.
But with or without any or all of the wavering wonders, KU could start an all-senior five that wouldn’t look like rag-pickers. The bigs would be 6-foot-11 Sasha Kaun and 6-8 Darnell Jackson, Rodrick Stewart might be a wing guard and Russell Robinson and Jeremy Case wouldn’t be the worst pair of guards on the planet. True, both Case and Stewart remain gonna-be’s-but-ain’ts. Yet ready to step in immediately will be tremendous performers – the do-everything Mario Chalmers and sparkplug Sherron Collins, if his knee is fully healed and he can overcome a disturbing tendency toward feeding frenzy fatness.
Don’t forget Brady Morningstar. He could step in for Stewart and operate well in a three-guard lineup.
I think Jackson is poised for a tremendous breakout year. If Kaun can add some fingers to the knuckles on his sizable hands, develop a softer touch and remember to finish crippies, he could become a prime pro prospect, and help KU a ton.
The new guys. At 6-11 with improved mobility, Cole Aldrich could help right away; Kansan Tyrel Reed at 6-3 can contribute. I’m excited about 6-5 Conner Teahan, the preferred walk-on who at Kansas City Rockhurst was voted the Missouri player of the year. Seems to me Kansas fared darn well with another Missouri prep MVP, a guy named Ryan Robertson, from 1996-99. Williams never gave him the plaudits he deserved.
If Rush, Wright and Arthur are still around, Kansas will easily be a top-10 preseason selection, maybe top-five. If they’re gone, and I doubt all three will be, weep, wail and gnash no teeth for Kansas. It could still be a top 10 by March.
If Rush, Wright and Arthur drift off into the horse latitudes, the guys who will show up for the first practices could make them darn sorry about the fun they’ll miss.
