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Award-winning columnist Tom Archdeacon — an old-school storyteller in a brand-new venue — writes about sports, the city, southwest Ohio and anything else that catches his fancy… or yours.Home > Blogs > Through the Arch > Archives > 2009 > June > 30 > Entry
Did Derrick Brown Cost Himself Millions?
So did Derrick Brown cost himself millions by jumping into the NBA draft last week rather than playing his final season at Xavier and possibly upping his profile, his draft status and his bank account?
That question has been volleyed back and forth the past five days, especially down in Cincinnati — “Brown, Meeks make big mistakes by eschewing final year of eligibility” read a headline in the Cincinnati Enquirer — since the Chaminade Julienne grad was taken in the second round, the 40th pick overall, by the Charlotte Bobcats.
> Photos: Derrick Brown through the years
I can see Brown’s reasons for leaving: He’s already graduated and he sat out a red-shirt year for the Muskies; a new coach is coming in; there’s always the possibility of injury; next year’s draft will be more loaded with talent; and, of course, he had plenty of people telling him he would be a first-round pick.
That said, I still think he should have stayed. I said it before the draft.
Although Xavier’s scheme usually isn’t built to make one guy the star — at least not since David West — I think Brown could have dominated in the Atlantic 10 this coming season, especially if new coach Chris Mack could build a fire, a sense or urgency, in him for every half of every game.
And I think had Brown known last week what he knows now, he would have stayed at Xavier. In fact, his camp said so in the weeks leading up to the draft. To paraphrase: “If Derrick’s going to end up in the second round, he’ll stay in school.”
The flip side is that he’ll be playing alongside better players and be learning from Larry Brown. He certainly should make the Bobcats and that could position himself for his next contract.
As for that aforementioned Enquirer headline, it was above an item in a Sunday column by Richard Skinner, who wrote:
“They (Brown and Kentucky’s Jodie Meeks) certainly couldn’t have done much worse than being picked in the second round. Both do have great opportunities to make the teams that drafted them, but both left guaranteed millions behind by not being picked in the first round where each could have been selected next year.”
So what kind of money are we talking about here?
This isn’t the NFL — the NBA has a rookie salary scale — so the loss isn’t as drastic by not being a first-rounder. But it’s still a sizable difference of cash when you end up in the second round.
Last year, for example, Doug Lewis made $442,114 — the league minimum — from the New Jersey Nets as the 40th pick in the draft.
The 15th overall pick in 2008, Phoenix’s Robin Lopez, was slated for a three-year deal worth $5.24 million. The 25th pick, Portland’s Nicolas Batum, was set for a three-year deal worth $3.36 million.
The first pick in the draft, Derrick Rose signed a contract that gave him a contract worth a guaranteed $10,007,280 for two seasons and a team option at $5,546,160 for a third season.
(On a side note, in the NFL where there is no set scale, the top pick in the 2008 draft, Jake Long, agreed to a five-year, $57.75 million deal with the Miami Dolphins.)
In the NBA, the real money comes with the second and third contracts. Remember almost a decade ago, the second contract of Wright State’s Vitaly Potapenko — who had been a first-round pick — was worth $36 million for six years.
All this said, Brown just needs to remember guys like this: Manu Ginobli, Michael Redd, Carlos Boozer, Gilbert Arenas, Rashard Lewis, Cedric Ceballos, Dennis Rodman, Mark Price, Jerome Kersey and Jeff Hornacek.
They were all second-round picks. They all did have or are having good (some great) NBA careers and they became multi-millionaires doing so.
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Comments
By Miller
July 3, 2009 1:13 AM | Link to this
He would have been drafted in the first round if he went to UD. I couldn’t get him to play hard at xavier. BG knows how to get players to play hard.By hvs1717
July 1, 2009 12:37 PM | Link to this
There are no guarantees for next year. And next year’s draft class is supposed to be much deeper than this so it he may or may not have gone top 20 (this year he was projected as high as 17 after all). So he gets an extra year of salary and gets rid of the rookie salary cap restrictions a year earlier. I think it was a good decision for Brown.By kennethmw
July 1, 2009 12:22 PM | Link to this
I really dont care where he was drafted, It’s just nice to see the CJ class of 2005 get players drafted in both the NFL and the NBA. Congrats CJ!!By MJ
July 1, 2009 12:20 PM | Link to this
Don’t blame it on the sunshine, don’t blame it on the moonlight, don’t blame on the good times, blame it on the boogie!By nicole
July 1, 2009 11:53 AM | Link to this
Thank you for the article! Being an X fan in UD country is very difficult. Dayton doesn’t cover much when it comes to X players keep the articles coming esp during basketball season!!By get real
July 1, 2009 11:53 AM | Link to this
Barring injury Brown would have went top 20 next year, so yes he cost himself a little money. But is the risk worth the reward, I say he made a good choice not wanting to risk a Kenyon Martin type inj.By ironmyke
July 1, 2009 10:58 AM | Link to this
It does look like Brown guessed wrong. Hopefully he will be so successful with Charlotte he will overcome this and make a bunch of money in the future. Time will tell.By Bob
July 1, 2009 8:19 AM | Link to this
In this years NBA draft, there were 12 underclassman picked before the first senior was picked. The NBA picks young players over older players. We are not in the 1980’s anymore.By Hampton
July 1, 2009 7:48 AM | Link to this
Every year it gets tougher to make it into the NBA. The earlier you get in the better. As you said, an injury next year would have cost Derrick millions of dollars. There is no guarantee that Brown would have been drafted next year. Smart move by Derrick.By Dave
July 1, 2009 7:36 AM | Link to this
Playing in the A-10 an extra year will never help a player make more money. You play against weak competition n the A-10. By playing in the NBA, he has an extra year of making money and an extra year of improving his skills. Waiting a year very well could have hurt his stock.By Ohio Sports Net
July 1, 2009 7:28 AM | Link to this
This is a very ridiculous article. Everyone in the sports industry knows that the earlier you get into the NBA, the more money you make. Younger players have more value to an NBA team. Are you really that dumb Arch? Ever heard of Kobe Bryant?By blueandgoldblues
July 1, 2009 5:18 AM | Link to this
Yo Arch! He’s a g reat player,he’s a local and he went to CJ and UD,he makes more money than me,I hope he gives back to the community that helped get him there…so why must you tabloidize this?? Low,very low!By jon
July 1, 2009 2:37 AM | Link to this
Have a hard time feeling bad for a fellow is going to make half a million next year, and possibily tens of millions over his lifetime. I’m just glad he is gone should give the Flyers two easy wins next year!!!By Ken
June 30, 2009 12:01 PM | Link to this
I doubt Brown would have done better next year. You said it already, next years class is stronger than this one. If he had played hard for whole games instead of about 10 minutes a game his stock may have been higher. I doubt that would have changed with another year at X. If he didn’t get it in 4 years what good will a 5th do. The talent is there, hopefully Larry Brown will get it out of him.By nyc
June 30, 2009 11:53 AM | Link to this
another meaningless article from the arch….shoulda..woulda…coulda…