Alabama Basketball: NBA Teams Will Soon Regret Passing on JaMychal Green
Last night, 2012 NBA Draft was expected to end Alabama’s drought of not having a player selected in the two rounds. Alabama’s last draftee into the NBA was Richard Hendrix in 2008, who was selected in the second round by the Golden State Warriors.
Almost every mock draft had former Tide forward JaMychal Green being selected sometime in the 2nd round of Thursday night’s draft.
Instead, JaMychal Green’s name was never called as Alabama’s undrafted streak continued. It’s obvious that Green’s character concerns kept him from being selected last night. He is an obvious NBA talent, but his multiple suspensions during his time in Tuscaloosa raised a red flag to NBA GM’s and scouts.
But, sometimes talent outweighs character concerns, and that is the case for JaMychal Green. Green’s talent shined throughout pre-draft workouts, and he was particularly impressive at the Portsmouth Invitational, including a 29-point showing on 14-for-18 shooting on day two of the tournament. He finished as the tournament’s second leading scorer, and shot 64 percent from the field.
A team taking a second-round flier on a guy like JaMychal Green, who some think has first-round talent, would have been a worthwhile gamble in my opinion. Instead, teams late in the second round leaned toward taking long-term International prospects, some of which will probably never set foot on an NBA court.
One of the most egregious selections over Green was the Toronto Raptors’ selection of Tomislav Zubcic, a forward from Croatia. Zubcic was ranked in the 90s on most draft boards, but snuck his way into the draft at the 56th pick.
Apparently being tall and from a foreign country means more to NBA teams nowadays than a major college basketball player, who had a successful four-year career in the SEC. Seven of the last twelve picks in last night’s NBA Draft were International players.
A team like the Raptors, among a few others, needs all the help they can get and instead of taking a guy who could have an immediate impact, they take a guy who they hope can impact the team a few years down the road.
JaMychal Green is going to make an instant impact in this league, regardless of the team he ends up on through free agency. He will catch on with a team, and show what he has in Summer League, and I feel confident in saying he will be on an NBA roster next season if given the chance to show his skill-set.
Green can do it all on offense. He has a good post game, and over his years at Alabama he developed a very reliable outside jump shot. Green showed his ability as a catch and shoot jump shooter in the pick and pop game at the Portsmouth.
Defensively, Green has shown the ability to be a big-time shot blocker, and he has always been lauded for his athleticism. I’m not saying Green will ever be a starter in the NBA, but I believe he can be a very good rotation player off the bench for a number of teams.
During his senior season at Alabama, Green showed the ability to produce against the best of the best, and that includes last night’s No. 1 pick Anthony Davis.
In their one head-to-head meeting of the season in Lexington, Green got the better of the Player of the Year. Green dominated Davis, dropping a monster 22 points and 12 rebounds, while holding Davis to just 2 of 10 shooting from the field.
Green had his troubles with discipline under Anthony Grant, but when he was on the court he was far and away the best player on the court for the Crimson Tide. Green deserved better last night. He deserved to hear his name be called as one of the sixty-players selected.
JaMychal can play in the NBA. Soon teams will regret passing on him. He will be picked up by someone, and he will reward their faith in him by working to prove all those who doubted him wrong.
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