NBA Draft Demographics, and a Tale of Two Point Guards

To show you how much the NBA draft has changed, 24 of the top 50 prospects (on one draft board) are 19 years old or younger. Only 9 of those who are 20 or older are 22 years old. How many of the players who are 19 or younger are ready to play an 82-game schedule in the NBA? How many of them are ready to live on their own? How many of them will have posses the size of the wait staff at the Ruth's Chris restaurants they will frequent on the road once they sign their big contracts? SportsProf has no problems with the notion that many of the top draft picks are so young, but he wishes the coaches who get them well.

And then there are the point guards, where Jameer Nelson, the NCAA player of the year according to some, is rated as the fourth best point guard, with NYC HS legend Sebastian Telfair being rated fifth. Telfair has signed with an agent, which means he won't be honing his craft under Rick Pitino at Louisville, and rumor has it that he already has a big shoe contract. Who would you take? Telfair, at 18, is four years younger, and for what it's worth he is Stephon Marbury's cousin. Nelson, meanwhile, led his team to a magical season. Telfair has great potential, although some scouts have questioned his shooting ability and his upper body strength.

Telfair is projected as a first-round pick, as is Nelson. Both are around the same height, so neither is Shaun Livingston, the 6'7" PG from Peoria, who is touted as having the best court vision since a 6'9" kid from East Lansing named Earvin Johnson. Livingston will go before Nelson or Telfair (he hasn't signed with an agent, and he has signed with Duke). He may be a better pick than Nelson or Telfair, but if I had to choose between someone who has performed under the bright lights (Nelson) and who has made his team better every step of the way and someone who hasn't done much yet (Telfair, although his NYC HS record, and his team's, are impressive), I'll take the college player. Jameer Nelson has paid his dues in a way Sebastian Telfair has not, and in this crazy NBA world, that should count for something.