Heron declares for NBA draft, hires agent

[jared52 4,354]

Good for him but I’ll be shocked if he’s drafted in the NBA. Not sure that he can prove himself anymore though so probably the best decision. 

[thewhiz7 273]

 

  My first reaction was shock. He is not going to get drafted. However, I do not think him staying next year or the year after that will improve his position in getting into the NBA. He is good enough for overseas play. If he is not cut out to be a college student then he should go make some money playing somewhere. 

[AU64 10,122]

9 minutes ago, jared52 said:

Good for him but I’ll be shocked if he’s drafted in the NBA. Not sure that he can prove himself anymore though so probably the best decision. 

I don't know but maybe what he could prove if here another season  is that he is an NBA quality shooter. 

His percentages were pedestrian at best this year.   Generally good from FT but considering how many of his two point shots were from close in a 44%  rate is not great and only 33% from Three.   Lots of work to prove he can play offense in the NBA.JMO

PS...I was under the impression that he was a good student....never saw anything to indicate otherwise..... until now?  

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,652]

He would’ve been better just leaving as a freshie if it was stay a couple years and make the league. Mainly because he would’ve actually made the league ASAP.

[boomstick 1,315]

Not at all surprised by this decision. Since he arrived, it's been talked about that his (and his parents') plan was no more than 2 years at Auburn. Supposedly, he's just gone about his business differently since he arrived than most of the other guys.

Just speculating, but I think he knows there is still a lot of work to do to get to where he wants to be. In order to get there, he may feel like he needs 100% attention to his game and to be surrounded by similar guys. The G League, an overseas team, or perhaps an NBA roster would give him that platform to truly focus on just his game and improving himself to achieve that goal.

[keesler 5,924]

1 hour ago, abw0004 said:

Absolute best of luck to this man.  War Eagle!

Ona side bar, we need to get used to this if we have intentions of becoming a full time blue blood, like we are coming to expect with Pearl at the helm.  Only helps with recruiting the top guys if we actually show success in getting guys to the draft.  

Heron likely won't get drafted.  I'm not sure that his departure helps AU recruiting or points to Pearl putting AU in the blue blood echelon. 

[GwillMac6 20,664]

I mean this is not suprising at all. We were lucky he stayed for his sophmore year. Basketball has so many guys each year now who declare for the draft who have no business doing so but that is just the culture and landscape of college basketball now. No one hardly wants to stay 4 or even 3 years for the most part. You are not part of the "cool kids" If you stay 4 years. Players these days think the longer you stay the lower your draft stock will be. Heron will not be one of the most shocking players to declare for the draft this cycle when it is all said and done. It sucks and hurts us but this happens every year. People in here probaly never noticed because we had nowhere remotely close to the caliber of player who had any business declaring for the draft lol. Also he has more of a case for declaring than holland. YES I AM PETTY and yes I am still so mad and upset about that! haha. WAR EAGLE MUSTAPHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THanks for everything you gave to the program!! Thanks for being the most reliable player for the last 2 years and leading us to a title!!! Even if it is not the NBA you will make a lot of money over seas. WAR EAGLE!!!!!!!!!!

[ClaytonAU 4,606]

5 hours ago, tigerbrotha12 said:

Reasoning? 

Because this “odd move” comment gets thrown around every time somebody in football or basketball declares for the draft early. Mustapha was our most talented player on our team last year, those are Bruce’s words not mine. He was our most likely candidate to leave this year and he did. Not odd.

[GwillMac6 20,664]

2 hours ago, ArgoEagle said:

He is an outstanding college player (at times), but is not ready for the NBA. Believe he will wind up regretting this decision.

No way. Even if guys do not pan out in the NBA there is a lot of good money and a long career to be had overseas. He will make 6 figures and play for 10-15 years overseas. He will be fine. We will look back fondly on his career here. This is not the NFL draft where guys making the wrong decision costs them a lot of money since there is no football league besides the NFL where you can make good money.

[AU64 10,122]

3 minutes ago, GwillMac6 said:

I mean this is not suprising at all. We were lucky he stayed for his sophmore year. Basketball has so many guys each year now who declare for the draft who have no business doing so but that is just the culture and landscape of college basketball now. No one hardly wants to stay 4 or even 3 years for the most part. You are not part of the "cool kids" If you stay 4 years. Players these days think the longer you stay the lower your draft stock will be. Heron will not be one of the most shocking players to declare for the draft this cycle when it is all said and done. It sucks and hurts us but this happens every year. People in here probaly never noticed because we had nowhere remotely close to the caliber of player who had any business declaring for the draft lol. Also he has more of a case for declaring than holland. YES I AM PETTY and yes I am still so mad and upset about that! haha. WAR EAGLE MUSTAPHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THanks for everything you gave to the program!! Thanks for being the most reliable player for the last 2 years and leading us to a title!!! Even if it is not the NBA you will make a lot of money over seas. WAR EAGLE!!!!!!!!!!

Not singling out Heron but too many young basketball players are not interested in winning championships.....just going pro.  

Not sure what the recruiting message should be now......like in football ...coaches and fans talk about winning championships but we see so many players bail out mid career that the "championship" message must not mean much any more.     Teams trying to win the NCAA basketball championship had only slightly better odds than winning the lottery if you consider the teams that got to the sweet 16 and beyond. 

[GwillMac6 20,664]

29 minutes ago, AU64 said:

Not singling out Heron but too many young basketball players are not interested in winning championships.....just going pro.  

Not sure what the recruiting message should be now......like in football ...coaches and fans talk about winning championships but we see so many players bail out mid career that the "championship" message must not mean much any more.     Teams trying to win the NCAA basketball championship had only slightly better odds than winning the lottery if you consider the teams that got to the sweet 16 and beyond. 

SO do football players. If they were allowed to leave earlier than 3 years out of high school I assure you a good bit would not stay till their junior year anymore. This is not just strictly a basketball thing. The NFL just has different rules in place than the NBA. Wait you are suprised guys want to make a lot of money professionally more than winning championships in college? I am not. THat is how most people would be regardless of the field and circumstances. 

[AU64 10,122]

1 minute ago, GwillMac6 said:

SO do football players. If they were allowed to leave earlier than 3 years out of high school I assure you a good bit would not stay till their junior year anymore. This is not just strictly a basketball league. The NFL just has different rules in place than the NBA. Wait you are suprised guys want to make a lot of money than winning championships? I am not. THat is how most people would be regardless of the field and circumstances. 

I generally agree ....but also think that times have changed that it is harder to hold coaches accountable for W-L when players are coming and going chasing the money....or for other reasons.....discipline or not playing enough.     But of course, about every  school has the same issues of premature departures.  

Heron was probably the best prospect we signed in a couple decades and is now leaving without achieving stardom at AU or even establishing a place among the top players in AU history.  Gonna be hard to replace him of course.....especially since next year could have been something really special for him.  

[aujeff11 6,243]

30 minutes ago, AU64 said:

I generally agree ....but also think that times have changed that it is harder to hold coaches accountable for W-L when players are coming and going chasing the money....or for other reasons.....discipline or not playing enough.     But of course, about every  school has the same issues of premature departures.  

Heron was probably the best prospect we signed in a couple decades and is now leaving without achieving stardom at AU or even establishing a place among the top players in AU history.  Gonna be hard to replace him of course.....especially since next year could have been something really special for him.  

Heron was never the star on paper, but he was a great team player. 

[augolf1716 21,101]

Crap................. wish him the best

[AU64 10,122]

1 hour ago, aujeff11 said:

Heron was never the star on paper, but he was a great team player. 

Absolutely which is why we will miss him but in my view he was not the impact player you would expect from a 5* recruit.......think he could have been if he hung around but he's obviously eager to be on his way and making a paycheck. 

[Roos 122]

I wish him nothing but the best for success in the NBA, however I think he is a year away from being able to handle that show. 

 

but again I wish him nothing but the best!!!!!!!!!!!!

[WDE_OxPx_2010 5,290]

If you read his statement, he's really not expecting to get drafted. This is a career move, nothing else.

[RunInRed 16,381]

 

[AuburnNTexas 7,134]

I totally understand putting his name in for the combine to see if he can show out well enough to be drafted and getting input from NBA on his chances. The agent seems like a mistake at this time as it locks him into leaving with no other option then the pro's in some form.  I think he would have been better off doing the combine then getting an honest answer from the NBA people as to if he would even be asked to a try out. Now he has three options NBA if they want him at this time, G-league to improve his game, or overseas to improve his game. If he didn't sign with an Agent he would have one more Option returning to college improve his game and also get a degree in case Basketball doesn't work or in case he gets hurt in G-League or Overseas. 

I understand his wanting to go pro and for his sake I hope he has a great combine and prove all the naysayers myself included that we are wrong and that he made the right decision. If he does go Pro in G-league or Overseas I hope his Agent can get him a guarantee to pay for his college education if the pro's don't work out so he will have his degree to fall back on.

[TexasTiger 12,828]

1 hour ago, AU64 said:

Absolutely which is why we will miss him but in my view he was not the impact player you would expect from a 5* recruit.......think he could have been if he hung around but he's obviously eager to be on his way and making a paycheck. 

I think that star rating fueled his  nba expectations before he ever stepped foot on campus. Oh, well.

[CAS15 108]

So now we have three scholarships open unless stretch reclassifies. Any idea on who Bruce is gonna go after?

[auburntiger1987 759]

4 hours ago, ClaytonAU said:

Because this “odd move” comment gets thrown around every time somebody in football or basketball declares for the draft early. Mustapha was our most talented player on our team last year, those are Bruce’s words not mine. He was our most likely candidate to leave this year and he did. Not odd.

 Can’t help but disagree. It’s completely odd to me a player with basically zero chance to get drafted to leave college early. He’s also was not the the most likely candidate that belongs to d.p and Wiley. I love MU and wish him well but this is a mistake 

[aujeff11 6,243]

47 minutes ago, CAS15 said:

So now we have three scholarships open unless stretch reclassifies. Any idea on who Bruce is gonna go after?

A possibility..

[The Plainsman 948]

Happy for Heron.   Wish him all the best,.  Time for a new leader to really lead this team to the next never.  

[Auburnfan91 1,407]

8 hours ago, Tiger said:

Marquis Daniels, our best basketball alum in decades (most successful NBA career in modern era), played 4 years and went undrafted. Staying longer doesn't guarantee he improves his draft stock.

I don't think it's fair to point to Marquis Daniels going undrafted because he stayed 4 years. That 2003 NBA draft had LeBron, Carmelo Anthony, DeWayne Wade, Chris Bosh, David West, Josh Howard, Matt Bonner, Kyle Korver, etc....

I think being in one of the most high profile drafts at the time was a major factor in him not getting drafted. I get your point and normally would agree but like I said Marquis Daniels situation is not a good example.