Thon Maker declares for the 2016 NBA Draft; must be ruled eligible.

[gift]

Hopefully he is declared eligible. It seems unfair that the nba gets to decide, it sounds like a conflict of interest. Also I have no respect for people like Chad Ford. All the criticism Thon Maker is getting sounds a lot like a smear campaign to me. I hope we draft him and I hope the nba doesn't collude and not draft him, I'm worried they will.

The nba doesn't want to set a precedent though. How many other possible loopholes are out there? We don't want to incentivize people to try them and have to go through this mess with multiple players every year. It's not good for them either to have this uncertainty.

I'm not sure Thon Maker can really get into college at this point. That might be the real reason he is doing this.

[Forza Juventus]

Hopefully he is declared eligible. It seems unfair that the nba gets to decide, it sounds like a conflict of interest. Also I have no respect for people like Chad Ford. All the criticism Thon Maker is getting sounds a lot like a smear campaign to me. I hope we draft him and I hope the nba doesn't collude and not draft him, I'm worried they will.

The nba doesn't want to set a precedent though. How many other possible loopholes are out there? We don't want to incentivize people to try them and have to go through this mess with multiple players every year. It's not good for them either to have this uncertainty.

I'm not sure Thon Maker can really get into college at this point. That might be the real reason he is doing this.

The owners made their livings off loopholes. And there are plenty of loopholes in the cba that the owners take advantage of.

[bdm860]

I've got to say, the dynamic of his desicison is quite interesting. I am eager to see what NBA determines

Does the NBA have any real ground for declaring him ineligible? I can see Maker pulling out of the draft late though like Porzingis did if he understands he won't be drafted very high.

Yes, they do.  He was in high school this year.  His argument is that he graduated last June and was taking classes to improve his grades and be eligible for college, but it's definitely a grey area in terms of the NBA rules, which require you to be finished with high school for a full NBA season.

Given the fact it is a gray area, I would imagine NBA will rule him ineligible, since they would like to stretch out the requirement going into the next CBA.

I wonder what kind of precedent this would set if any.  Would this open up other loop holes?  Has there been major loop holes this whole time?

I'm under the impression it's fairly easy for the average person to get a GED, of course I understand that a lot of big time athletes are below average in school, there's still a large amount of intelligent ones too.

Could you get your GED your Junior year, play out your Senior year anyway, and then declare for the NBA draft?  "But I actually graduated last year!"

Or think of all those private schools that are basically basketball factories, Oak Hill, Mt. Zion, etc., who don't play under the same rules as the public schools.  Is anything stopping them from letting a kid "graduate" after 3 years, but letting him play out his "Senior" year as college prep?

While not everyone could do this, as you have to be 19 in the draft calendar year AND 1 year removed from high school, what about those with late birthdays.  Like Ben Simmons turned 19 last summer, Jaylen Brown turned 19 last fall, was there a loop hole they could have exploited?

[gift]

Hopefully he is declared eligible. It seems unfair that the nba gets to decide, it sounds like a conflict of interest. Also I have no respect for people like Chad Ford. All the criticism Thon Maker is getting sounds a lot like a smear campaign to me. I hope we draft him and I hope the nba doesn't collude and not draft him, I'm worried they will.

The nba doesn't want to set a precedent though. How many other possible loopholes are out there? We don't want to incentivize people to try them and have to go through this mess with multiple players every year. It's not good for them either to have this uncertainty.

I'm not sure Thon Maker can really get into college at this point. That might be the real reason he is doing this.

The owners made their livings off loopholes. And there are plenty of loopholes in the cba that the owners take advantage of.

While true, that doesn't change anything I just said.

[Forza Juventus]

Hopefully he is declared eligible. It seems unfair that the nba gets to decide, it sounds like a conflict of interest. Also I have no respect for people like Chad Ford. All the criticism Thon Maker is getting sounds a lot like a smear campaign to me. I hope we draft him and I hope the nba doesn't collude and not draft him, I'm worried they will.

The nba doesn't want to set a precedent though. How many other possible loopholes are out there? We don't want to incentivize people to try them and have to go through this mess with multiple players every year. It's not good for them either to have this uncertainty.

I'm not sure Thon Maker can really get into college at this point. That might be the real reason he is doing this.

The owners made their livings off loopholes. And there are plenty of loopholes in the cba that the owners take advantage of.

While true, that doesn't change anything I just said.

I think he can just go to college if he is ruled ineligible. And I don't care if the nba doesn't want to set a precedent. I do want to set a precedent.

[Eddie20]

Hopefully he is declared eligible. It seems unfair that the nba gets to decide, it sounds like a conflict of interest. Also I have no respect for people like Chad Ford. All the criticism Thon Maker is getting sounds a lot like a smear campaign to me. I hope we draft him and I hope the nba doesn't collude and not draft him, I'm worried they will.

What would be the motivation behind Woj, Ford, and Givony to "smear" him? That statement is baseless.

[Forza Juventus]

Hopefully he is declared eligible. It seems unfair that the nba gets to decide, it sounds like a conflict of interest. Also I have no respect for people like Chad Ford. All the criticism Thon Maker is getting sounds a lot like a smear campaign to me. I hope we draft him and I hope the nba doesn't collude and not draft him, I'm worried they will.

What would be the motivation behind Woj, Ford, and Givony to "smear" him? That statement is baseless.

Their sources have an incentive to rate him negatively

[Dino Pitino]

Hopefully he is declared eligible. It seems unfair that the nba gets to decide, it sounds like a conflict of interest. Also I have no respect for people like Chad Ford. All the criticism Thon Maker is getting sounds a lot like a smear campaign to me. I hope we draft him and I hope the nba doesn't collude and not draft him, I'm worried they will.

Some of the criticism sure is bizarre, like, how "explosive" do scouts expect a 7'1" player to need to be in the NBA with that kind of handle and range? His "feel for the game" seems...well, what the hell does that even mean? When a 7'1" player can cross defenders over, dribble behind his back, execute as quick a spin as I've ever seen anyone that tall make, and thread the needle with passes...where is the lack of "feel"? He certainly does not exhibit low BBIQ, not in that interview, and not in the video I've seen, and I've now watched most of the Maker footage there is online, including the stuff that's supposed to be embarrassing for him. I still see an amazing prospect. Garnett's dunks were more ferocious in high school and no one can match his intensity, but aside from that...if I didn't know any better...I'd still say Maker is the better prospect at that age. I don't know any better, clearly. But I wonder if these scouts do, either. Maybe they're sometimes as susceptible to bias and blinding groupthink as the mixtape fanboys? It's as if they're using a preexisting glossary of general criticisms for raw African players despite some of them not really applying at all to Maker. They might be seeing way more of him in person, but maybe they're not really seeing him?

[LarBrd33]

Hopefully he is declared eligible. It seems unfair that the nba gets to decide, it sounds like a conflict of interest. Also I have no respect for people like Chad Ford. All the criticism Thon Maker is getting sounds a lot like a smear campaign to me. I hope we draft him and I hope the nba doesn't collude and not draft him, I'm worried they will.

Some of the criticism sure is bizarre, like, how "explosive" do scouts expect a 7'1" player to need to be in the NBA with that kind of handle and range? His "feel for the game" seems...well, what the hell does that even mean? When a 7'1" player can cross defenders over, dribble behind his back, execute as quick a spin as I've ever seen anyone that tall make, and thread the needle with passes...where is the lack of "feel"? He certainly does not exhibit low BBIQ, not in that interview, and not in the video I've seen, and I've now watched most of the Maker footage there is online, including the stuff that's supposed to be embarrassing for him. I still see an amazing prospect. Garnett's dunks were more ferocious in high school and no one can match his intensity, but aside from that...if I didn't know any better...I'd still say Maker is the better prospect at that age. I don't know any better, clearly. But I wonder if these scouts do, either. Maybe they're sometimes as susceptible to bias and blinding groupthink as the mixtape fanboys? It's as if they're using a preexisting glossary of general criticisms for raw African players despite some of them not really applying at all to Maker. They might be seeing way more of him in person, but maybe they're not really seeing him?

Dino, come on.  It sounds like he's not very good.  You've never heard of "feel for the game" impacting a player?  Gerald Green was a good example of a highly athletic sharp shooter who didn't have a good feel for the game.  It took him years until he could be a reliable rotation player. 

[Dino Pitino]

Hopefully he is declared eligible. It seems unfair that the nba gets to decide, it sounds like a conflict of interest. Also I have no respect for people like Chad Ford. All the criticism Thon Maker is getting sounds a lot like a smear campaign to me. I hope we draft him and I hope the nba doesn't collude and not draft him, I'm worried they will.

What would be the motivation behind Woj, Ford, and Givony to "smear" him? That statement is baseless.

Their sources have an incentive to rate him negatively

Great point. TP.

[LarBrd33]

Hopefully he is declared eligible. It seems unfair that the nba gets to decide, it sounds like a conflict of interest. Also I have no respect for people like Chad Ford. All the criticism Thon Maker is getting sounds a lot like a smear campaign to me. I hope we draft him and I hope the nba doesn't collude and not draft him, I'm worried they will.

What would be the motivation behind Woj, Ford, and Givony to "smear" him? That statement is baseless.

Their sources have an incentive to rate him negatively

?  What's the incentive?

[Forza Juventus]

Hopefully he is declared eligible. It seems unfair that the nba gets to decide, it sounds like a conflict of interest. Also I have no respect for people like Chad Ford. All the criticism Thon Maker is getting sounds a lot like a smear campaign to me. I hope we draft him and I hope the nba doesn't collude and not draft him, I'm worried they will.

What would be the motivation behind Woj, Ford, and Givony to "smear" him? That statement is baseless.

Their sources have an incentive to rate him negatively

?  What's the incentive?

The nba doesn't even want players to leave college after one year, let alone out of high school.

[Eddie20]

Hopefully he is declared eligible. It seems unfair that the nba gets to decide, it sounds like a conflict of interest. Also I have no respect for people like Chad Ford. All the criticism Thon Maker is getting sounds a lot like a smear campaign to me. I hope we draft him and I hope the nba doesn't collude and not draft him, I'm worried they will.

What would be the motivation behind Woj, Ford, and Givony to "smear" him? That statement is baseless.

Their sources have an incentive to rate him negatively

But what's the incentive? If you're saying that you think everyone is causing misdirection by providing criticism, then wouldn't that apply to every prospect ever? The fact is, Maker at one time was ranked around a top 3 pick by DX. However, since he had multiple poor showings, that dropped to him a late first round pick in 2017 draft for the last couple of years. The news that he is trying to declare has not changed criticism. Your argument would have a much stronger case if he were ranked really high/had glowing reports and then quickly plummeted with negativity once the news of his eligibility broke.

[SHAQATTACK]

More I read better I like him.

[Evantime34]

Hopefully he is declared eligible. It seems unfair that the nba gets to decide, it sounds like a conflict of interest. Also I have no respect for people like Chad Ford. All the criticism Thon Maker is getting sounds a lot like a smear campaign to me. I hope we draft him and I hope the nba doesn't collude and not draft him, I'm worried they will.

Some of the criticism sure is bizarre, like, how "explosive" do scouts expect a 7'1" player to need to be in the NBA with that kind of handle and range? His "feel for the game" seems...well, what the hell does that even mean? When a 7'1" player can cross defenders over, dribble behind his back, execute as quick a spin as I've ever seen anyone that tall make, and thread the needle with passes...where is the lack of "feel"? He certainly does not exhibit low BBIQ, not in that interview, and not in the video I've seen, and I've now watched most of the Maker footage there is online, including the stuff that's supposed to be embarrassing for him. I still see an amazing prospect. Garnett's dunks were more ferocious in high school and no one can match his intensity, but aside from that...if I didn't know any better...I'd still say Maker is the better prospect at that age. I don't know any better, clearly. But I wonder if these scouts do, either. Maybe they're sometimes as susceptible to bias and blinding groupthink as the mixtape fanboys? It's as if they're using a preexisting glossary of general criticisms for raw African players despite some of them not really applying at all to Maker. They might be seeing way more of him in person, but maybe they're not really seeing him?

More often than not "feel for the game" simply indicates does this player know where he is supposed to be on the floor. Do they know what to do when they don't have the ball? Do they understand the defense and where their teammates are?

A player with bad feel for the game dribbles into traffic, or into a double team. A player with a bad feel for the game is out of position off the ball on offense and on defense. Running plays in the NBA takes a intense attention to detail because if one player sets a screen six inches from where it should be that might gum up the spacing on the play. If a screen comes a half second too early the play won't work. Players who truly understand the game understand where they need to be for their team to succeed even if not specifically instructed to do so on a play.

James Young has a bad feel for the game, his inability to understand spacing causes the majority of his jumpers to be contested. On defense his lack of spacing leaves him out of position on help defense and his help defense being poor prevents him from being able to close out properly. Guys like Marcus Smart have a good feel for the game, even if he doesn't knock down shots, his feel for the game is one of the driving factors behind offenses performing well when he is on the court despite him struggling to score.

Young and Maker have some things in common, both are rough pieces of stone that have the chance of being molded into a top notch player. Athleticism, length and shooting touch make these guys intruiging upside prospects but both will take everything to go just right for them to succeed.

I'm not sure what incentive scouts have to purposely downgrade Maker, that's not to say that they are correct when saying he has a bad feel for the game.