by Paul Jordan
I have to admit that all all the five players that are thinking about going pro, I am perplexed about Daniel Orton. Sure, I think the guy has NBA talent, but bolting one season after a major knee injury and after a season where he averaged 13.2 minutes, 3.4 points, and 3.3 rebounds a game? And the icing on the cake is that Orton is the first player that the news is breaking on?
I don’t get it.
Don’t get me wrong, I like Daniel Orton. A lot. And as much as I think that Eric Bledsoe is rushing his decision to go pro, at least Bledsoe did have games where he scored 29 and 25 points on the year and was the stand out star of the game. Daniels two best scoring games were 14 and 10 points back in 2009 and he failed to hit double digits in rebounds all season and had just one rebound combined in his last three tournament games. Not trying to bash or be critical, but looking at the numbers.
I do have to admit that as a fan, I felt relaxed when Orton came into the game for DeMarcus Cousins and I felt that there was very little talent dropoff between the two. I love Daniel’s style and defensive intensity and this guy had most of the highlight blocks of the season, but you don’t live for long on blocks alone in the NBA.
Most NBA mock drafts project Orton in the latter part of the first round, if at all. Yet the family seems to be getting information that Daniel could go from “1-20” and be a top five pick with the right workouts. And if Daniel thinks he is getting that kind of advice, by all means, test the waters. But don’t hire an agent. And that seems to be what is going to happen with Orton. Since you get just one chance to “test the waters’ and then return to college, I would rather see the decision to test the waters come later rather than sooner. There is no harm in waiting to see who else declares for the draft and how jumbled that field gets. What is to say that 3-4 other big men decide to declare between now and then and drops Cousins stake down even more?
Unfortunately, I am not an NBA scout and I don’t talk to NBA GM’s so I really have no idea of what kind of buzz Daniel Orton is truly creating. As a fan, I can see that a second season at Kentucky would allow him to get starters playing time and team with another pro prospect, Enes Kanter, and post double double numbers. True, that NBA lockout is looming, but I don’t think that should be a consideration for a guy like Orton. From what I have read, Orton would be considered a project (5 minutes a night) in the NBA next season. Does Daniel have the potential to evolve into more? Yes. But the threat of the NBA lockout actually makes sense for Orton to stay at UK in this case.
Regardless, the decision is not mine. I do hope that Daniel does make the right decision and is not brash about it and no matter what he decides, I will continue to support him as a at or an ex-Cat. I just hope the advice he is getting is sound and he sees that the BBN really does want him to return.
This will be perhaps the most interesting case to watch the next month or so, and I think I am being a tad bit optimistic, but I give Orton a 49% chance of returning to Kentucky next season.
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