Magic first round pick 11th overall wont play for the team

It's never been a rule that if you get drafted you must play. You just won't get paid. Either that, or the team will try to ship you out (See Steve Francis). Though Vasquez was entitled to a guaranteed contract, he had not yet signed with Orlando. I don't see what the big deal is. Why draft someone who you're not 100% sure wants to be on your team (Maybe Toronto's curious picks in recent years are actually due to realizing very few players sincerely want to be there).

If you're gonna get upset with Fran, you've gotta hate guys like Francis, Elway, baby Manning, etc.

Besides, Orlando deserves every bit of misfortune that comes their way.

 

It's probably all Nick Anderson's fault.

 

Wasn't there a Spanish guard (Rudy Fernandez maybe) who also wussed out of joining the NBA (but at least before the draft took place)?

 

Ya, but you still have to actually "enter" your name in the draft IIRC.

 

At 22 (the last year of draft eligibility) a foreign born does not have to enter his name.

At 23 and above, all foriegner become free agents - they cannot be drafted. I am not even sure if he could withdraw his name but he could make it clear that he would not come over immediately.

I hear the new CBA will be different but as at last draft time - Fran could not have removed his name technically because this is his last year of draft eligibility.

I hope I made myself clear enough.

 

I don't think this is true. Remember, the guy Orlando drafted this year (later sent to Cleveland) pulled his name out of the draft last year and he was 18 years old. Also, I Rudy Fernandez pulled his name out this year's draft and he's only 19.

 

While it does suck for Orlando, I still feel they are good enough for the playoffs in the East. They were good enough last year; they just decided to quit early.

WIll they make it next year? I want to say yes, but it's not necessarilly them that I'm thinking about; you've got teams like Milwaukee, Cleveland, and New Jersey moving up, so now it's even more difficult for ORL to try and get there. Dwight Howard might breakout this season and Steve might actually play smart(er than last year). If that's the case, no reason the team shouldn't win 40-45 games.

I find it interesting how the Knicks are all of a sudden "playoff caliber". Still don't know how, unless Larry Brown has anymore magic dust left in his pocket.

I'll say it: Orlando will finish the 2005-2006 season with an equal or better record than the Knicks.

 

Karma was what I was thinking, too.

I feel bad for Orlando. Hopefully things will even out for them in the next few years. Stevie deserves a better team around him.

 

Nothing in Fegwu's post contradicts that. The players you mention were younger than 22 years of age. As a foreign player they are allowed to enter and withdraw their name at will. When they turn 22 (before the draft), they are automatically in the draft whether they want to be or not and cannot withdraw. Fran V. was 22, automatically in the draft, and could not withdraw.

Sucks for the Magic, but that's the deal. Hell, Americans have decided to play in Europe instead of playing in the NBA after being drafted (hello, Danny Ferry).

 

What can the NBA do though? They have no authority over his basketball league.

 

Wow, if he doesn't play this year, that is going to suck major ones for the Magic and thier fans.

 

what's the reverse of "SPLASH"???
OH LORD THIS HAS TO HURT!

 

Why did they draft a 4 when they already have Howard? What freaking morons, they could have had Gerald Green or Antoine Wright.

 

pwned!

Sucks for the Magic, but I can't hold it against Fran. He didn't handle it as professionally as he could have, but if outright told teams before the draft that he wasn't ready to come, his draft stock would plummet and he'd lose out on the security of a guaranteed contract.

 

Somebody tell this kid that Weisbrod is gone...

 

Splat

 

Is this true? I'm not trying to call you out, but this system seems a little odd.

If what Fegwu says is true, a player can only enter/withdraw his name before he is 22. At 22, they have no choice whether they want to get drafted or not, they have absolutely no say? It's like a military draft or something. And after they reach 22, they cannot be drafted at all?

That is a very interesting system, if true, the NBA/Euro-League should start looking to change the rules.

 

I'm pretty sure it does work like how Fegwu explained it. But the only counter-argument would be that Vasquez should have let it be known that he wasn't going to come over this year. That would only be fair to the NBA teams so that they know where they would be willing to draft him based on when he could come over.

 

Sure it's like a military draft, except the players aren't obligated to play in the NBA. After 22 for foreign players (college players aren't automatic until their senior year), they become free agents, just like seniors in college who go undrafted. An example of this is Sarunas Jasikevicius. Similarly, this is how Dallas signed Antoine Rigadeau (eew), and the Spurs recently signed a 30 year old foreign center.