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Bonfire1Apr 17, 3:08 PM

Henri Veesar decision….no brainer

I’ve been whining on multiple threads about Henri’s delay and upcoming decision but wtf is going on? This is the easiest no brainer decision I’ve seen so far during this new NIL era. The Florida big man Condon was higher on the draft boards than Henri and he’s back and not even testing the waters. Haugh from Florida is around 15 and he’s thinking of coming back. This 2026 draft class as discussed is so deep and the 2027 one is very weak. Henri gets a huge amount for coming back and goes top 20 instead of possible 2nd round this year. On top of that he gets coached by Joker’s coach. Yes he’s 22 and will be 23 in 2027 draft but that doesn’t matter anymore….there will be older players every draft now in NIL era and teams like the hornets appreciate seasoned college players like Sion James and Ryan Kalk. Yaxel will be 24 before his rookie season starts and will go top 15. His agent and representatives would be laughed at if they let him go pro and he’s a 2nd rounder and gave up 4 million or so for one year at UNC or another school. He needs to stop playing and there’s no need for testing the waters in this deep draft. Pre-Nil I get it….test and see if you can be a first round pick or 2nd round guarantee but doesn’t make sense anymore.
88 Replies
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thebigDZ

Apr 17, 3:16 PM

Well of course Dan Hurley would say that
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GoWhitePhantoms

Apr 17, 3:22 PM

it's not about the first contract and what that pays, it's about the 2nd deal and starting the clock
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BallDontLieNumbersDo

Apr 17, 3:22 PM

He should want to do his due diligence to know where he's going. I get that the existing boards have projections, but those aren't conversations with GMs. I will add that I don't think this is a negotiating tactic from Henri. If it was, he would be considering transferring. He wants to go to the league and is just trying to decide when.
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RaiGuy

Apr 17, 3:24 PM

There's also the chance he already decided, but just hasn't announced.
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Ehaus57

Apr 17, 3:29 PM

it's Carolina...NOTHING is fast or easy...nothing
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RobHarrington

Apr 17, 3:36 PM

He’s 22 yo and some people in his situation may simply be ready to start his professional career. Obviously I hope he returns but I’m not surprised by the timing.
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Bonfire1

Apr 17, 3:38 PM

GoWhitePhantoms said:
it's not about the first contract and what that pays, it's about the 2nd deal and starting the clock
When ppl keep saying that I laugh. Again when you’re getting paid 4 million that one year clock sham isn’t relevant. Go look at how many 2nd round picks last 25 years have gotten a second contract . NBA is too talented and chances are lot higher that Henri will be in Europe a couple years after being drafted than receiving a 2nd NBA contract .
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thebigDZ

Apr 17, 3:45 PM

RobHarrington said:
He’s 22 yo and some people in his situation may simply be ready to start his professional career. Obviously I hope he returns but I’m not surprised by the timing.
Would hope he lets the staff know by like the end of the weekend either way.
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Heel9091DS

Apr 17, 3:47 PM

Henri coming back and improving his draft stock requires a roster that can help him improve his draft stock. We have no starting PG or back up PG. Brown has plenty of reasons to commit to UNC even if Henri declares. Henri, on the other hand, would be wise to keep both options open until he has full information on both options. Henri knows exactly where he stands with the NBA. The only remaining question marks for him are in Chapel Hill, hopefully soon resolved. If Henri wanted a leverage play, he'd have thrown his name into the portal. I totally get what he's doing - making sure his decision is the best decision for Henri Veesaar.
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Rashaan1000

Apr 17, 3:48 PM

I’d personally leave if I was Henri there’s no guarantee he’s gonna even Improve his draft stock and he would be another year older
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Bonfire1

Apr 17, 3:48 PM

RobHarrington said:
He’s 22 yo and some people in his situation may simply be ready to start his professional career. Obviously I hope he returns but I’m not surprised by the timing.
Playing for an amount that high in college is your professional career. Even if he doesn’t like school, the campus, whatever…..you have a job that is paying you 4 million vs an unknown in the draft that can wait a year. No brainer professionally speaking.
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Ekim21

Apr 17, 3:49 PM

Bonfire1 said:
When ppl keep saying that I laugh. Again when you’re getting paid 4 million that one year clock sham isn’t relevant. Go look at how many 2nd round picks last 25 years have gotten a second contract . NBA is too talented and chances are lot higher that Henri will be in Europe a couple years after being drafted than receiving a 2nd NBA contract .
Good to see you're open to discussing the opposite side of this decision! We all want him back but it's pretty easy to see why he'd go pro and why it's not an easy decision.
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GoWhitePhantoms

Apr 17, 3:55 PM

Bonfire1 said:
When ppl keep saying that I laugh. Again when you’re getting paid 4 million that one year clock sham isn’t relevant. Go look at how many 2nd round picks last 25 years have gotten a second contract . NBA is too talented and chances are lot higher that Henri will be in Europe a couple years after being drafted than receiving a 2nd NBA contract .
So now we're downplaying Henri's pro potential all because you want him to come back. Convenient. My guess is Henri believes in himself, as he should
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MeisterBlu

Apr 17, 4:03 PM

Bonfire1 said:
I’ve been whining on multiple threads about Henri’s delay and upcoming decision but wtf is going on? This is the easiest no brainer decision I’ve seen so far during this new NIL era. The Florida big man Condon was higher on the draft boards than Henri and he’s back and not even testing the waters. Haugh from Florida is around 15 and he’s thinking of coming back. This 2026 draft class as discussed is so deep and the 2027 one is very weak. Henri gets a huge amount for coming back and goes top 20 instead of possible 2nd round this year. On top of that he gets coached by Joker’s coach. Yes he’s 22 and will be 23 in 2027 draft but that doesn’t matter anymore….there will be older players every draft now in NIL era and teams like the hornets appreciate seasoned college players like Sion James and Ryan Kalk. Yaxel will be 24 before his rookie season starts and will go top 15. His agent and representatives would be laughed at if they let him go pro and he’s a 2nd rounder and gave up 4 million or so for one year at UNC or another school. He needs to stop playing and there’s no need for testing the waters in this deep draft. Pre-Nil I get it….test and see if you can be a first round pick or 2nd round guarantee but doesn’t make sense anymore.
Thanks for your commentary, Coach Malone.
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luke2021

Apr 17, 4:05 PM

It is really, really easy to make life-changing decisions for other people. If his ultimate goal is the NBA, another year in college does not help that. That's just the reality. Right now, after a stellar season, he's a fringe first rounder. If he comes back this year and puts up the same numbers, his stock drops. If he comes back and hurts himself, his stock drops. Short of coming back for a 4th year and absolutely dominating the sport, BEST case scenario is he enters the draft next year with the same prospects as he does this year; late first/early second.
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swoosh4

Apr 17, 4:05 PM

Who's to say he hasn't decided to come back and is just using the status in order to have some added leverage in negotiations with UNC? Or has decided to come back, is in negotiations and won't announce until he has a satisfactory contract. (I haven't included other scenarios because UNC doesn't seem to be in the market for another 5)
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Heel9091DS

Apr 17, 4:05 PM

Rashaan1000 said:
I’d personally leave if I was Henri there’s no guarantee he’s gonna even Improve his draft stock and he would be another year older
If he goes late 2nd round, he just took a significant pay cut for this coming season. Kobe Sanders at 50 last season signed a deal with the first year at $476,000, although the contract was reported at "2 years at $2.63 million." $2.1 million of that was a 2nd year team option. Henri would stand to make much more in one year here. The further he might fall in the 2nd, the math starts to tilt sharply towards a return.
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SheedHouseTouche

Apr 17, 4:09 PM

I love his game. He’s a unicorn 🦄. A 7ft Stretch 5. I want Henri back in the worst Way but I also want him to do what is best For his future.
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Ramen02112

Apr 17, 4:10 PM

I actually completely agree with this, and not from a position of bias (I always say when players should leave for the pros, too). If his goal is to play in the NBA, he has a better chance of achieving that goal by returning for another season and declaring for next year’s much weaker draft, where he’ll be a guaranteed first rounder and thus be nearly guaranteed to play in the NBA. If he leaves this year and is a second rounder, he might never play in the NBA. I really do believe, as objectively as possible, that if he doesn’t return for another year in college then the people in his ear are giving him bad advice.
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ChicagoCBH

Apr 17, 4:12 PM

I think in terms of finances it makes sense to return but some people are ready to move on and start the next phase of their life. And realize a lifelong dream. I would assume he comes back but we just don't know what someone in that position wants most.
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NYCBlueBlood

Apr 17, 4:17 PM

This thread feels awfully entitled... why exactly should he make his decision and announce it already? To make fans feel better? He didn't put his name in the portal... he's shown far more loyalty to UNC than 95% of players in his position would do. He's not an 18 year-old kid. There is a long history of age being held against you in the draft when you get past the age of 21-ish. It's entirely possible age bias could counter the benefit of being in a weaker draft class next year. If I were him, I'd sure as heck want to know what team roster I was coming back to before I made any final decisions.
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luke2021

Apr 17, 4:18 PM

Ramen02112 said:
I actually completely agree with this, and not from a position of bias (I always say when players should leave for the pros, too). If his goal is to play in the NBA, he has a better chance of achieving that goal by returning for another season and declaring for next year’s much weaker draft, where he’ll be a guaranteed first rounder and thus be nearly guaranteed to play in the NBA. If he leaves this year and is a second rounder, he might never play in the NBA. I really do believe, as objectively as possible, that if he doesn’t return for another year in college then the people in his ear are giving him bad advice.
if he has late 1st / early 2nd round prospects this year, saying "he has a better chance of achieving that (the NBA) goal by returning to college" is so bizarrely incorrect. It completely ignores all of the things that could go wrong and focuses only on the things that may possibly go right. An injury, an influx of new players who might decrease his usage, a new coaching system than the one he flourished in, a season where he maintains his statistics but does not improve on them... all of these are in the "bad case" scenarios. The "good case" scenario is singular: he comes back and has an even better season than the one before. That's the only way a 24 year old Henri Veesar is more attractive than a 23 year old Henri Veesar. Even if you say "well it's projected to be a BAD draft class", that means nothing in april the year prior. 2026 was supposed to be a weak year for guards, and then a ton of freshman guards played insane basketball and now it's a strong guard year.
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Jetson

Apr 17, 4:18 PM

GoWhitePhantoms said:
it's not about the first contract and what that pays, it's about the 2nd deal and starting the clock
I think there are two ways to look at that. How many guys get second contracts vs how many guys don't get a second contract at all or get one that's a minimum or well below league average deal? I don't know the numbers, but I'd be especially interested in the numbers for guys like Veesaar, clearly outside of the lottery and likely a 2nd round pick. In that case, you have to consider the possibility that the only contract is the first contract. Veesaar is almost certainly second round this year, but would have a great chance to go late first next year in a much weaker draft. I'm not saying Veesaar can't/won't get a second contract, but if he doesn't, making sure he's a first round pick, and still getting paid next year in college, is a big financial benefit for him.
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DonaldWilliams43

Apr 17, 4:19 PM

I mean, “just ready to move on” seems like a pretty poor reason to make career decisions unless you are miserable? To me, the choice is likely between enter the draft process and fall back to NCAA market with when teams have already mostly allocated their budget if you don’t get a guarantee vs take the guaranteed 4 mil from UNC now. I think people are deluding themselves to think this is not a purely financial decision or close to it.

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