Eric Mika declares for NBA draft

[BroncoBot]

Another thing to consider, both Mika and his wife served missions in Italy.

The prospect of earning hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to move back to the place they both love may be much more appealing than staying at BYU.

Why? You can always go to italy even if you finish at BYU and don't get drafted. I doubt this had anything to do with his motivation to declare for draft.

[BroncoBot]

But, isn't there a ton of risk in assuming that next year will see a big improvement for BYU basketball? Probably less risk in going for the NBA now...if it doesn't work out, getting paid decent money to play basketball and live in Europe with your wife, especially near their mission area, isn't a bad consolation!

BYU - never won a conference championship tournament under Rose.
BYU - never won a WCC conference regular season
BYU - hasn't made the tournament in several years
BYU - losing games to RPI 200+ teams
BYU - getting blown out at home in NIT game.
BYU - BLOWING 17 point lead at halftime to the 11 seed (Ole Miss) in last NCAA tournament appearance (first round).

BYU's lost their swagger. They went from being the overconfident new kid on the WCC block to 3rd place whipping boy that other teams have learned to beat to boost RPI.
There isn't much reason to stick around at BYU if I'm Mika.

[hawkwing]

Another thing to consider, both Mika and his wife served missions in Italy.

The prospect of earning hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to move back to the place they both love may be much more appealing than staying at BYU.

Why? You can always go to italy even if you finish at BYU and don't get drafted. I doubt this had anything to do with his motivation to declare for draft.

You come back and get a career ending injury? You have a max of 8 or so years to play, why give up 2 more years and hundreds of thousands of dollars if you're pretty sure that you're not going to build yourself into a millionaire level player?

[frdbtr]

Mika is soft because of his defense. Not offense. He really isn't that physical of an offensive player either. He shy's away from contact instead of initiates it. The reason he goes to the line so much is because he is usually the biggest guy on the floor and little guys are hammering him trying to stop his inside game. Mika is a great scorer but to make it in the NBA you have to play defense. Exhibit A...Jimmer.

[BlueK]

But, isn't there a ton of risk in assuming that next year will see a big improvement for BYU basketball? Probably less risk in going for the NBA now...if it doesn't work out, getting paid decent money to play basketball and live in Europe with your wife, especially near their mission area, isn't a bad consolation!

BYU - hasn't made the tournament in several years

Just to be clear, 2015 = "several" years. That's a little over the top.

But since Mika supposedly mentioned Europe, it sounds like he's talking it over with his new wife and the money there sounds pretty good to take now for a newly married young couple. Can't really blame him for that.

[BroncoBot]

Another thing to consider, both Mika and his wife served missions in Italy.

The prospect of earning hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to move back to the place they both love may be much more appealing than staying at BYU.

Why? You can always go to italy even if you finish at BYU and don't get drafted. I doubt this had anything to do with his motivation to declare for draft.

You come back and get a career ending injury? You have a max of 8 or so years to play, why give up 2 more years and hundreds of thousands of dollars if you're pretty sure that you're not going to build yourself into a millionaire level player?

touche.

[BroncoBot]

But, isn't there a ton of risk in assuming that next year will see a big improvement for BYU basketball? Probably less risk in going for the NBA now...if it doesn't work out, getting paid decent money to play basketball and live in Europe with your wife, especially near their mission area, isn't a bad consolation!

BYU - hasn't made the tournament in several years

Just to be clear, 2015 = "several" years. That's a little over the top.

But since Mika supposedly mentioned Europe, it sounds like he's talking it over with his new wife and the money there sounds pretty good to take now for a newly married young couple. Can't really blame him for that.

Forgive me. I had forgetting about that debacle of a game. Talk about a collapse. Excuse me while I update my list of why BYU is not a hot recruiting locale.

[TheDean]

Let me preface this by saying that I hope Mika returns.

That being said, if I were in this situation and I were given assurances by 3 or 4 teams that they would take me in the 2nd round I would take that and enter the draft. Yes, it means the money/contract isn't guaranteed, but Mika will be the same age now as college seniors entering the draft. Any improvements in his game will continue to be offset by his age.

He may never have higher stock than he does now.

I disagree I think that if Mika returns and has a better season next year his stock will be much higher. If Mika does go in the second round it will be late in the 2nd round. Most likely he won't go until the 3rd round as there a lot of players his size that have better stock. They may not be better players but they do have higher stock because of who they played for. If Mika keeps his conditioning good the risk of injuries will be minimal. If his was playing football as well like Corbin then the injury argument would have more merit. PGs have the highest risk of injury due to their driving into the lane. I don't see injury being an issue if Mika returns.

[SpiffCoug]

Let me preface this by saying that I hope Mika returns.

That being said, if I were in this situation and I were given assurances by 3 or 4 teams that they would take me in the 2nd round I would take that and enter the draft. Yes, it means the money/contract isn't guaranteed, but Mika will be the same age now as college seniors entering the draft. Any improvements in his game will continue to be offset by his age.

He may never have higher stock than he does now.

I disagree I think that if Mika returns and has a better season next year his stock will be much higher. If Mika does go in the second round it will be late in the 2nd round. Most likely he won't go until the 3rd round as there a lot of players his size that have better stock. They may not be better players but they do have higher stock because of who they played for. If Mika keeps his conditioning good the risk of injuries will be minimal. If his was playing football as well like Corbin then the injury argument would have more merit. PGs have the highest risk of injury due to their driving into the lane. I don't see injury being an issue if Mika returns.

Considering there are only two rounds to the NBA draft, the odds of him going in the 3rd are very slim.

[hawkwing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sAKBHw ... e=youtu.be