Dribble Handoff: Bronny James, Alex Karaban highlight questionable 2024 NBA Draft decisions

2024 NBA Draft the opt-out deadline passed last week, bringing college basketball programs closer to finalizing what their rosters will look like for the 2024-25 season. Not everyone received good news, as there were a handful of programs that held out hope for star players to return. I saw them leave forever.

For example: Dayton lost Atlantic Big 10 Player of the Year DaRon Holmes II, Memphis lost leading scorer David Jones and Kansas guard Johnny Furphy solidified his decision to turn pro. On the other hand, some top talents, such as Alabama’s Mark Sears, Arizona’s Caleb Love and UConn’s Alex Karaban, have opted to withdraw from the draft and return for another season of college basketball.

What happens in a stay or go decision differs for each player. All some people need is the guarantee of a bilateral contract at the next level to make the leap. Others want to make sure they are selected in the first round and receive a guaranteed contract.

For Last week’s dribbling handoff, we highlight the players who made the best decisions to stay or leave on time. This week, we’ll take a look at the players who made the worst — or not even that: the most questionable, in some cases — decisions about where they’ll play next season.

As noted previously, years ago I stopped worrying about college athletes’ stay-or-go decisions. Everyone is running their own race. What is important to one person may not matter to another. If I didn’t understand it when I was younger, I understand it now. So I’m not interested in judging anyone.

That being said, I can be confused for some decisions.

Armstrong’s decision confused me.

The Villanova guard announced last month, well before the 2024 NBA Draft withdrawal deadline, that he would remain in the 2024 NBA Draft. Again, what do I care? But Armstrong is a 6-foot-1 guard who likely won’t be drafted later this month after being just the fourth-leading scorer on a Villanova team that finished tied for sixth in the Big East and missed the NCAA Tournament. Why is someone like that so eager to pursue not-so-great professional opportunities when an alternative plan could have been to simply enter the transfer portal and let the bidding among coaches working in college basketball begin, where a player like Armstrong should have much more value than he has outside of college basketball because of the money tied to NIL opportunities that are used as recruiting tools?

Does Armstrong just hate school?

If yes, fine.

But the truth is, he could have spent next season playing on bigger stages and for more money than he is now that he has forgone his final two years of college eligibility. Hopefully this works for him. But it’s always reasonable to ask why someone who is unlikely to be drafted or even given a notable contract after going undrafted would abandon a sport where lesser players are making big money. -Gary Parrish

Count me in the crowd that believes Christie would have moved up 10 to 15 spots in 2025 than he did this year. In a weak draft, I understand why Minnesota’s lone donor is looking to capitalize on his potential – with the guarantee that he will hear his name called between the 20th and 40th.

Christie averaged 11.3 points on a 19-win Minnesota team, which would have increased significantly if he chose to return. If he had accessed a portal to a different destination, Christie would likely have received more than $750,000 in NIL earnings. And if he had come back, there’s a realistic scenario in which he could have emerged as a top-40 player in college next season and catapulted that into the top 20 in the 2025 draft.

I don’t think his decision is egregious — far from it — but I do think he is the increasingly rare case of a player opting early and leaving real earning potential on the table by chasing a chance at a first-round draft pick. -Matt Norlander

Alex Karaban, UConn

I’m going to go off topic here and be the only one in our group to pick a player who actually went back to college instead of staying in the NBA Draft. In a soft 2024 draft class, Karaban looked like a true first-round prospect and had a strong pre-draft process that included a solid showing at the combine. Coming off a second consecutive national championship, turning pro instead of staying in school seemed (by far, to be clear) the better of the two options, just considering where his stock is right now and the current class landscape.

It’s obviously difficult to blame a player for deciding to stay in school and continue his education and impossible to criticize that decision specifically with Karaban – he loves UConn, he’s pursuing his education and his stock will likely remain at or above that level in the next cycle – but, If put in his shoes, I would have a hard time passing up the prospect of being a potential first-rounder and starting the clock on his professional career.

With Dan Hurley potentially considering leaving UConn to become Lakers coachadds another wrinkle of uncertainty about the upcoming season that only further complicates what was already a difficult stay-or-go decision. -Kyle Boone

You can’t blame Bronny for capitalizing on his father’s influence, because that influence will likely get him drafted. While LeBron’s power is enough to get Bronny into the league, it probably won’t be enough to keep him there. Bronny will be forced to evolve from an ordinary college guard to a legitimate guard NBA player before LeBron, 39, retired.

Otherwise, once LeBron pulls the plug, Bronny’s charity spot on the roster will disappear and Bronny’s career prospects will look bleak. The alternative path would have been to stay in college for three more seasons and develop more organically, without all the criticism that would come with his premature entry into the NBA.

It will be a special moment to see Bronny and LeBron taking the court together. But the price for that memory is that Bronny will be deprived of the most logical development path for a player of his caliber. In the long run, arguing that staying in the NBA Draft is actually best for Bronny’s development is a tough sell. -David Cobb

David Jones, Memphis

The NBA Draft Combine’s reviews of Jones’ performance were not good. Additionally, Jones projects as a UDFA or late second-round pick. Jones would have benefited more if he returned to school. He also would have benefited Penny Hardaway and Memphis tremendously if he decided to return. After rebounding at DePaul and St. John’s, Jones had his best season with the Tigers, averaging 21.8 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists.

If Jones decided to return to school, he would have been an All-American candidate and Memphis would have been the same. more loaded. Jones will likely have to go the G League route in his first season as a pro, and the climb to the NBA will be steep. -Cameron Salerno