News broke on Wednesday that Daniel Orton could fall out of the first round of this years NBA draft. Orton was projected to be a top ten draft pick and his stock has slowly dropped with NBA executives and UK fans. He’s still going to be drafted, but for most prospects, getting drafted outside of the first round is a sign that you should play another year of college basketball.
Once Orton decided to enter the draft, UK fans began to question his decision. I have to admit that I was surprised. After hearing he could be drafted anywhere from 10-15, I completely understood why he would want to make the move. So what happened?
Here’s an excerpt from the Yahoo Sports article..
[QUOTE] Orton’s combination of knee issues, poor conditioning and personal turmoil surrounding his predraft process has raised multiple warning signs for NBA teams. A 6-foot-10 freshman, Orton had been considered a prospect for the middle of the first round, but several league executives suggested on Wednesday morning that he could drop into the second.
“It could be like one of those anvils falling in a cartoon,” one Western Conference executive said.
“It’s a perfect storm of stuff happening with him – the knee, the conditioning, the stuff going on around him,” one Eastern Conference personnel director said. “I think he drops right out of the first [round].”
“Unless there’s one team that’s fallen in love with him because of the size, the shot-blocking, he could fall a long way,” a Western Conference general manager said.
Orton canceled several workouts in the past two weeks, leading some to speculate that a team had privately guaranteed to draft him. There’s no evidence that’s true. He finally worked out for Indiana on Tuesday.
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You can read [URL=”http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=As8TlA_RkpAhBBMLuuMsaUu8vLYF?slug=ys-draftbuzzb062210″]the complete article here…[/URL]
In a series of selfish moves, Orton has disrespected his team, the university and the fans. Let’s take a look at how it happened…
[LIST=1]
[*]Leaving school early to begin preparing for the draft
[*]Telling UK fans that “you will not lose your precious scholarship”
[*]Not finishing school after he said he would
[*]saying that UK fans were tough on him and he doesn’t listen to the fans (very condescending attitude)
[*]Communicated to NBA front office executives that he wishes he would have attended Kansas
[/LIST]
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Yep, that will do it.. The last one is enough for me, but once you look at all of them, you can really understand why UK fans would have a hard time pulling for this guy. It’s like you broke up with your significant other and they continue to say negative things about you after you’ve given them the best the country had to offer.
Now Orton finds himself dropping draft positions, the media eagerly waiting to report his fall and UK fans that are not willing to come to his defense. It’s just interesting to see how the fans come to Cousins defense and they’ve been AWOL when it comes to Orton.
Will you be supporting Orton in today’s draft and in next years NBA season?
