As the draft gets closer I haven't seen 1 mock draft of him going in the 2 rounds. I guess even the G league would be okay but if he was getting drafted you would think at least 1 insider would be predicting it. Oh well best of luck to a Pitt man on Thursday.
Champ
- Thread starter Usuallyunusual-partdeux
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I thought we just had 2 different posters in the last day post where they saw him going per mock draft or online article. One to the Knicks and a second to Charlotte.
Lamar Patterson started the season with the NZ Breakers, ended up getting dropped and picked up by an Aussie team. Watched a few of his games. He wasn't terribly active nor athletic anymore. Ended up not playing much.
Lamar never was a very athletic player, which is what kept him from being drafted and from playing a long time in the NBA. He had great fundamentals and skills, just not the athleticism to match. With his skills If he had either been 6’9 or as athletic as a Gilbert Brown he would have made a lot of money in the NBA.
You're right I mostly read the football board but I searched Mock drafts from the last week or two and didn't see him on there.
Right. I'm, not saying they are the same player but Champ, like Lamar, isn't a great fit for the NBA. Unlike Lamar, he does have more athleticism so I think he has the chance if he can improve his outside shooting. But I see similar careers in the end.
Going undrafted might be a blessing for Justin. You can pick your spot and work with a team with potentially more to offer and/or position yourself better for a lucrative overseas deal. Coming off a great season in the ACC, his marketability overseas is probably at its peak short of a sustained run in the league, so heading overseas to a good league and cashing a big check would be my preference to grinding it out in the G League.
I really think that would be good for him not only because it is fairly close to home but he may very well be able to make an impact with that team. All he needs is a chance.
He’ll get a chance, but he needs more than that. He needs to show that he’s good enough to make an NBA roster. That’s very much an open question for any player that is borderline to even be drafted.
Most detailed write ups I’ve seen pegged him as a 2nd round flyer that you sign as a 2-way guy. So really not a bad situation for a player like him, though ideally he’d get to pick his spot for that.
But, that’s assuming he doesn’t just want to hear his name called.
With a couple of exceptions I’m seeing him rated in the mid 60s or above and outside the draft pool. He’s definitely on the bubble. Maybe some team’s scout likes him and will take a shot late in the 2nd.
Yeah Vecenie ranked him 47 and mocked him 56th. Mentioned he doesn’t fit the NBA right now so doesn’t have a role but he’s interesting to sign on a two-way and see if he develops some kind of usable skill.
Hollinger ranked him 52 and I think didn’t include him in his mock. Also mentioned he doesn’t really fit in the NBA but is interesting long term.
I think in general he’s ranked okay as a prospect but based on the type of prospect he is, he doesn’t have a ton of clear options.
Champagnie not going to get drafted but its better for him to get paid to develop in the G-league than for free.
On a 2-way, maybe. Think you get like $85K base and it can go up to almost $500K if you spend the maximum amount of time allowable at the NBA level.
If it’s just G-League it might be comparable to NIL and who knows what his minutes will be.
The kid bet on himself. I can't be mad at him. I hope he is able to feel good about his decision a few years down the road.
"Champagnie wasn't alone in ACC stars who weren't selected, as the conference's leading scorer in Hurt from Duke was also unselected, as well as Louisville's leading scorer Carlik Jones and Virginia's leading scorer Sam Hauser."
He never had a prayer of being drafted this year. Should have come back to Pitt for 1 more season, work on his areas needing improvement and then declare.
Situation was a bummer all the way around. Pitt's only star leaves early for G league. Oh well.
That’s easy for us as fans to say, especially now, but personally I don’t see the upside for him as a player in coming back. Injuries have always been an issue for him and he’s coming off a year where he played at an ACC POY level. Could he have done it again? Sure, but how much higher is the ceiling for him and even if he performs to the same level, would it really change much?
The NBA is by far the most difficult pro league to get into as so many factors come into play for a minimal, minimal amount of spots. Getting his pro career started, getting paid likely far more than an NIL deal would afford, and protecting himself are the smart plays. Selfishly we all wanted him back, but even with not getting picked I still say he made the right call
If there was room for a lot of improvement, he would have been back to raise his stock. He must have felt that he maxed out what he was capable of at this level. So, good for him for realizing it and making a difficult decision. I hope he can carve out a long professional career, most likely overseas.
There’s always room for improvement, but at what risk vs what reward? He was arguably the best player in the ACC this past season and went undrafted so, to me, coming back and risking an injury on top of just being another year older just didn’t make sense through the lens of the player. I don’t think this is a reflection on Justin’s talent but rather the league-wide fad of taking projectable skills vs. proven ability. As I said, going undrafted could be a blessing as he could pick his spot and, hopefully, work with an org that has a plan for him
I agree with you re: risk vs. reward.
He was one of the best players in the ACC last year until he wasn't. Not that he was ever bad, just not at the POY level in February. Also not really his fault given teams were able to key in on him as we didn't have many other weapons. Would have been interesting to see what he could do on a more well-rounded team (like we appear to have this year, at least on paper).
Last year it was $450K no matter if you played 1 or 50 NBA games but that was partly due to the pandemic. Even if he just makes 85K, not sure how that isnt worth leaving for. He gets to be a full-time basketball player and make more than 99% of college grads entering the workforce. As a fan, I wished all these guys would stay but its really kinda stupid.
NIL could change this in the future but a guy like Champagnie at Pitt couldn't possibly get sponsorship deals worth anything close to a G-league salary.
NIL is the Wild West right now, but I think it will eventually regulate. I struggle to see how a kid, even one as talented as Justin even comes close to earning similar income in this town to what they will make going pro. This isn’t Tuscaloosa, Gainesville, etc. NIL deals for Pitt athletes, save for a big time QB, will be comparably low to those of the kids that play in rabid college towns.
Yep. Even for Pickett, I have trouble believing he sees that much money. Maybe I'm way off. But it seems like a second string Steelers cornerback would be more attractive to advertisers here than a starting Pitt QB.
I doubt Pickett pulls in anything substantial. If you’ve got a sure-fire 1st rounder or a big time local kid like Jurkovec, then I could potentially see them in the 6 figure range but that’s about it.
I cant see ANY Pitt player making more than 5K, maybe 10K UNLESS they were a generational star like a Fitzgerald. Even Aaron Donald, being a DT, I doubt he would have made much.
I'm sure that he was more aware than anyone when he made his well-informed decision that he was iffy to be drafted at all. He simply decided to start his professional career sooner rather than later. If he can;t get into the NBA, he will make money overseas. If he'd stayed at Pitt, he'd be in the same boat next year. I wish he had stayed and that playing college basketball meant more to these players than just a necessary stepping stone to the next level, but that's not the way it is. I'm sure Champ will find out what those who have walked that path before him know well, pro basketball, especially oversaeas, for a guy who is trying to use it to get into the NBA ala Wanamaker, is a hard ass grind and not a lot of fun. I'm sure he will have his moments this fall/winter when he wishes he was wearing the script and hanging with his buddies at Pitt again.
I think he meant if Jurkovec was playing here. I’d think if he was the starting QB in his hometown he’d get more than at BC.I don't think The Jurk stands to make a whole lot of NIL money.
I don’t think I agree that it’d be 6 figures unless he was really lighting it up but maybe it could be before he even stepped on campus. That #1 kid who committed to Ohio State is considering not playing his senior season because they think he could pull in a ton. A five star committing to his hometown team could lead to some dough. How much it keeps flowing would probably depend on how he plays (or doesn’t).
It will be interesting to see how these guys who haven;t taken a college snap yet but are making 7 figures in endorsements deal with the added pressure from the expectaitons that come with making a lot of money. Thta's a lot for an 18 year old kid to deal with.
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