[video=youtube;HPB3xzVDRpE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPB3xzVDRpE[/video] Nate McMillan would eat that kid for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. McMillan to Wall during the first Blazer preseason game of 09-10 season, "Nice pass Wall, don't ever fucking do it again."
I always think...what if Portland had acquired Billups, instead of Denver? Denver wouldn't have been a threat and Portland might well be on the Cleveland/LA/Boston level. It might be argued that we didn't have an "Allen Iverson," but I think that's fairly irrelevant. The deal was a salary dump for Detroit. Iverson is a very mediocre player these days. He hasn't helped them and may have been hurtful with his attitude. Starting Stuckey/Rip with Bynum off the bench all season would have made them just as good. A LaFrentz/draft pick/cash for Billups deal? Maybe Dumars couldn't have sold it to the fanbase but I think it would have been an even more beneficial deal to Detroit. Lose the salary, get some cash and get another first round pick.
I've wondered the same thing. I still think a veteran point guard would have had a great effect on this team, especially on the defensive end. Billups would have done wonders for our defense.
The issue (and reason this is being "investigated", imo) is that Wall can legitimately say that his original "class" graduated in 2007, thus making him eligible. His class graduated in 2007, whether he was with it (he wasn't) or not. There's where the loophole lies. The NBA may rule to put the kibosh on it. They may rule he's eligible. Either way, it's nowhere near cut-and-dried, which is why we're talking about the NBA's need to investigate right now.
I don't understand the investigation.... if he's the right age, why is there a need for an investigation? Who cares how many years he went to high school? Who cares whether he went to college or not? Rudy didn't go to college....
Jonathan Givony (Draftexpress.com owner) says in his blog that Wall has yet to graduate officially and was reassociated to the 2009 class when he transferred to his new school., so this is all a Chad Ford gimmick.
I didn't read that blog, but that's not necessarily a big deal. The language seems to be: All he has to do is NOT graduate from high school this year and he might be set. That's sort of a big gamble, though, since presumably failure to graduate from high school would hurt his chances to get into college. Ed O.
Not having gone to high school in these fair United States, I am ignorant as to what exactly counts as the point of graduation. Is it getting enough credits? Or is having enough credits necessary but not sufficient, and you actually have to perform some arcane ritual as well? I vaguely remember Charles Barkley walking with his high school after he'd been in the league many years because of some loophole (which presumably allowed him to attend Auburn without graduating high school). Even if he DID graduate high school, you'd think he had a case. For example, suppose Brandon Jennings never officially graduated, and went off to Europe (as he has) but liked it so much he stayed for five years (which he won't, but bear with me). Then he comes back, realizes the problem (say, an incomplete), fixes it, and graduates like a week before the draft. Are you telling me the NBA would rule out him being drafted just because he just got his diploma (or whatever it's called)? I don't think so. Or if they tried, lawyers would be lining up at Jennings' door to represent him against the league.
You don't understand though, he was recategorized as this year's class when he transferred to the academy, so his class is now 2009. There should be no John Wall in this year's draft unless he fights it like Maurice Clarett did the NFL.
[video=youtube;LR8NSQllaVQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR8NSQllaVQ"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR8NSQllaVQ[/video]
