Should DeJuan Blair Go Pro?




The smart answer: probably not. The real-world answer: hell motherfuckin' yeah...

From a strictly technical standpoint, DeJuan Blair should probably not go pro and enter the upcoming NBA draft. Oh, I hear you... he was Mr. Double-Double during the regular season, and that's awesome, I love it - I also wholeheartedly disagree with Skip Bayliss that it's "the most overrated stat in sports." Then again, I disagree with Skip Bayliss as a human being...

But Blair's performance - or, more properly, underperformance - in this year's NCAA tourney tells me that he should stick around another year and A) continue working on his fundamentals (read: FOUL SHOTS, YOU ROOKIE-YEAR-SHAQ-WANNABE-MOTHERFUCKER-YOU) and B) learning how to be a leader. He would undoubtedly be the man that team looks to next year, and it would only do him good, even if Pitt goes out in the Sweet 16 again next year instead of the Elite Eight.

But I'm an idiot. I'm thinking in terms of what would help him as a basketball player, when I should obviously be thinking in terms of star potential, draft status and - more to the point - cash money.

I don't know anything about DeJuan Blair's family, other than they live in the Schenley School District. I know this, though: they'll be much better off if he goes as a top-ten Round 1 NBA Draft Pick.

But would he? I don't know who's coming out of college this year, but I'd assume the following would at least test the waters:

DeJuan Blair, Sam Young, LeVance Fields, Blair Griffin, Brandon Jennings, Gerald Henderson from Duke, That Kid From UConn Who Was Hurt Most of the Season, maybe Hasheem Thabeet (though he really needs a couple more years in college, having only played ball since 16... shit, I could stand underneath the hoop swatting people all day, too, if I was 7'3"... what's really perplexing is how DeJuan Blair made him look a bitch twice this year... sorry, off on a tangent there), Lawson, Ellington and Hansbrough from Carolina, Stephen Curry (though he might go play overseas), probably a couple kids from 'Nova, Earl Clark and maybe Edgar Sosa from Louisville... shit, Tyreke Evans from Kentucky might even go pro if he thinks the 'Cats are gonna be rollin' in the NIT for the next couple years.

That's going on 15 people right there, and bear in mind I'm not doing any research on this, I'm just thinking in terms of who's a senior and whose stock is up, etc., etc. But if you take into account teams that are looking for specific position players, is DeJuan Blair a top 10 draft pick?

NBADraft.net's mock draft has him going 15th, to the Bulls and just ahead of Lawson, who they have going to Dallas. That's still cash money, but it's not gonna be top 10 money, and especially not in a recession year like this.

I'm sayin', son... wait a year. Step your game up just a little.