These college kids leaving early to
maybe be a second round choice blow my mind. Chris Livingston is the absolute anomaly, but that's due to Klutch.
1) I don't think college players realize how many great basketball players there are compared to how many spots there are. There are basically 270 starter / rotation player spots available in the NBA. If prime age NBA talent lasts about 11 years, that means you have ~25 new spots to be a starter / rotation player each year.
2) With international basketball picking up, there is a ton of new talent, but no new teams.
3) Most 2nd round players have 2-way contracts which average about $450K per year. And as mentioned in that article they are gone quickly.
4) Chris Livingston - last pick of the 2024 draft (Klutch Hookup):
- He probably could have made 100K+ this year at UK (I assume)
- The contract he signed for the Bucks is this:
- 2024 - $1.19M
- 2025 - $1.89M
- 2026 - $2.22 (team option)
- 2027 - $2.40M (team option)
- Livingston has played in 15 games and averages a minute per game.
- He also has 9 G-league appearances
5) Kobe Brown - last pick of 2024 first round:
- 2024 - $2.4M
- 2025 - $2.5M
- 2026 - $2.6 (team option)
- 2027 - $4.7M (team option)
- Very similar playing stats to Livingston
Basically, Livingston is giving all these marginal NBA guys hope that they can get in the second round and get paid, when really it's only the top 25 guys each year who are making out with big contracts.