40 Acres Sports

He must really not want to return if possibility of 2nd round is good enough.

I’m always weary of a guy like Tyrus Thomas who rockets up draft charts based on two weeks.

Longhorn junior forward [tag]PJ Tucker[/tag] announced at a press conference yesterday that he’d be entering this year’s NBA draft but not hiring an agent. He’ll be able to talk to teams and work out at the league’s pre-draft camp in early June to get a feel of his possible draft position. How high is high enough to stay in? PJ isn’t saying.

This isn’t a huge surprise, as Tucker doesn’t have much to gain by returning for his senior season. His game is already very mature and the main thing he lacks, height, isn’t going to improve with another year in school. Because it’s the first year of the new age limit, the majority of experts see this as a very weak draft and expect next year to be much deeper. Tucker will likely be the same player in a year, so getting into this year’s weak draft may be to his advantage. I expect him to stay in the draft and to go late in the first round.

Rumors also have sophomore guard [tag]Daniel Gibson[/tag] entering the draft. Gibson’s situation is very diffferent. For one thing he definitely needs another year to improve his game and I don’t believe he’s ready for the NBA. He’s certainly got potential, but his game and his pocket could certainly benefit from another season at Texas. The issue with Daniel is that he wants to be the Longhorns’ primary point guard next season and that may not be in the team’s best interest. With his height he’ll likely play the point at the next level, but with blue chipper D.J. Augustin coming in Gibson would most likely be playing a good deal of shooting guard for the Horns.

Both players have until June 18 to decide to return to school and withdraw from the draft.

Probably the right decision for LaMarcus, let’s just hope Tucker & Gibson come back.

According to Dallas radio station 1310 The Ticket, LaMarcus Aldridge has recently met with coach Rick Barnes to discuss entering the NBA draft. And as a result of their conversation, Aldridge has decided to start the process of looking for agents.

Aldridge has previously said that he will stay for his junior year, but we all know the chance of that happening was about as good as when Vince Young said he was going to stay. It definitely is a shame though, since Aldridge really could have used another year in college to gain some strength and a better low-post presence.

I’m not sure I agree that Tucker’s decision is linked to Aldridge’s.

PJ Tucker, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Daniel Gibson all say they’re coming back (for now)…

Sophomore forward LaMarcus Aldridge, sophomore guard Daniel Gibson and junior forward P.J. Tucker said they plan to come back to Texas next season, although Aldridge didn’t want to spend much time discussing it Saturday.

“As far as I know I’m coming back. But I’m not going to get into that right now,” Aldridge said.

Said Tucker, “I think we’re all coming back right now. I talked to LaMarcus and Daniel, and that’s what they told me.”

Said Gibson, “Right now, I feel like I’ll be back.”

Despite his inconsistency, Aldridge is almost surely a top 5 pick if he comes out this year. The NBA draft is all about potential and LaMarcus certainly has plenty of that. He’d likely improve his all-around game with one more year in college (and the weight room) but I can’t imagine turning down all that money and a chance at your dream career.

As for Gibson, his stock has dropped over the course of the last season and is probably an early second round pick right now. He doesn’t have the size to be an NBA shooting guard but his ball handling troubles lost him the point guard job this year. He definitely needs to spend the offseason working on becoming Texas’ point guard next year so that an NBA team will think about making him their point guard in the 2007 draft.

With Tucker, he’s NBA ready now but the NBA probably doesn’t know it. Just like Gibson, he’s too short for the position he’s best suited for. Listed at 6-foot-5 he’s about three inches too short to be an NBA power forward and an inch shorter than Charles Barkley. PJ is a fantastic basketball player but he’s no Barkley, an all-time great. Right now he’s a late second round pick, if his academics are in order than he’s certainly better served with one more year at UT. He’s not going to get any taller, but a Texas degree would give him an excellent fallback plan. Can he possibly improve his perimeter game and his NBA future with another season?

My guess, Aldridge goes and Tucker and Gibson stay.

They’ve got LaMarcus Aldridge going in the top 3 in pretty much every scenario.

Returning for his junior season still an option, though I can’t imagine passing on lottery pick money.

LaMarcus Aldridge is making a case for being one of the top couple of picks.