Kinda OT - Whither Isaiah Todd
So I was looking through some 2021 mock drafts wanting to see where our old friends Josh Christopher and Isaiah Todd (ok, you got me, I was looking for Hunter) are projected and curiously Isaiah Todd is not being projected to get drafted next year at all on any mock drafts. (Neither is Hunter, yet)
Nba draft net, CBS, Jeff Goodman's big board, nba draft room, tankathon, and a few others show no sign of him.
Anyone know what happened?
January 7th, 2021 at 12:25 PM ^
Didn't Todd sign with a G League team? So he probably wouldn't need to be drafted, is that right?
January 7th, 2021 at 12:26 PM ^
That's what I was thinking. But not sure how that works.
January 7th, 2021 at 12:48 PM ^
He was a major project. Remember, there was a thought he might not even start this year at Michigan. He has a ton of potential, but is far from a finished product.
January 7th, 2021 at 6:54 PM ^
Seems like he made a decent decision then
January 7th, 2021 at 12:26 PM ^
Jalen Green, also in the G league, is on all the boards as a top 5 pick
January 7th, 2021 at 2:23 PM ^
Thanks for the info, I responded without really digging into it. Good to know.
January 7th, 2021 at 12:27 PM ^
Nope. I believe guys who sign with the G League out of HS are still eligible for that next year's draft.
January 7th, 2021 at 12:29 PM ^
That was my question as well. I do not know how the G League to NBA transition works. If I remember, NBA teams can stash draftees in the G League and call them up later. But what happens when a player signs directly with the G League? No NBA teams have their rights. Normally, the NBA brings in fresh players through the draft.
January 7th, 2021 at 12:42 PM ^
You've pretty much got it. A player can be drafted and stashed in the G-League. Or a player can go straight from high school, spend a year in the G League, and then be drafted by an NBA team. Spending a year in G League does not get you free agency.
January 7th, 2021 at 1:01 PM ^
I appreciate the confirmation. I thought that undrafted G League players would have to go through the draft, but Todd's apparent absence from all draft boards cast doubt on my conviction.
January 7th, 2021 at 4:03 PM ^
Todd (and Jalen Green, and the other prospects straight out of hs) will play on G League Ignite, which is a “select” team that is not affiliated with any NBA team.
January 7th, 2021 at 12:33 PM ^
He went to the G league? So he wasn't even good enough for the A, B, C, D, E or F leagues?
January 7th, 2021 at 1:15 PM ^
Ignore the downvoter. I thought it was funny.
January 7th, 2021 at 12:26 PM ^
Quick google search seemed to indicate that his G league team basically just started scrimmages, so basically no one has seen him play in like a year?
January 7th, 2021 at 12:27 PM ^
Saw that too, but Jalen Green is a top 5 pick on all the mocks and he's a G league guy too.
January 7th, 2021 at 12:31 PM ^
Because he is better than Isaiah Todd
January 7th, 2021 at 12:36 PM ^
Yes, and the point is that the mocks are evaluating G League players that haven't yet played in the G League which means they think there are 60ish draft eligible players better than Isaiah Todd. That's the whole point of the post.
January 7th, 2021 at 12:52 PM ^
This is exactly what I'm getting at... hard to believe there are 60 better players out there for NBA teams to take a chance on but i guess we will see.
January 7th, 2021 at 12:44 PM ^
Google says the G-league will play Jan thru March so they must be starting soon, but there is no schedule. Maybe draft prognosticators are waiting to see Todd play before they make projections.
January 7th, 2021 at 12:30 PM ^
I'm 100% happy with exactly who we have on the roster now. No ragrets
January 7th, 2021 at 12:32 PM ^
Not even a letter?
January 7th, 2021 at 12:41 PM ^
I believe the word you're looking for is "regerts".
January 7th, 2021 at 12:51 PM ^
No rugrats
January 7th, 2021 at 5:31 PM ^
No, he know. Know what I'm saying?
January 8th, 2021 at 8:10 AM ^
Oh my. Is that kid rock? lol
January 7th, 2021 at 12:30 PM ^
Him playing no real games is having an effect for sure. He’s also like the 3rd option on his team.
January 7th, 2021 at 12:30 PM ^
No offense, OP, but I'm uncurious about those who chose not to be a part of this year's special squad. They chose poorly.
January 7th, 2021 at 12:35 PM ^
Solid Last Crusade reference and true! The chemistry on this squad is Fun to watch.
January 7th, 2021 at 12:45 PM ^
I think this is so dead on. I don't want to overreact to how well things are going at this very moment in time, but it does look like Juwan has so many of the intangibles that can matter for a high performing team clicking in a very good place.
No idea if say a theoretical Josh Christopher-type would have made a huge bump in our upside (I'd kind of think he would ... a sweet shooting, very athletic and long 2 guard would be a nice addition), but the way the real Josh Christopher showed his true colors at the end with his "gamesmanship" (or whatever someone wants to call it) makes me wonder whether he would have been all that much of an add to this squad after all.
January 7th, 2021 at 12:43 PM ^
And those who did decide to come to U-M chose . . . wisely.
January 8th, 2021 at 8:16 AM ^
That is such an eloquent way of saying 'Fuck Isaiah Todd'. One way gets you upvotes, the other way would get you downvotes. I knew i should not have dropped those extra English classes for Math classes.
January 7th, 2021 at 12:37 PM ^
This time last year, he was late lottery-late first in the mocks I believe. But he fell down the rankings a smidge last year and with not playing competitively in a while, his draft stock is not as good as it was when he committed. We will see what happens as GLeague starts up.
January 7th, 2021 at 12:41 PM ^
I've been wondering the same thing. It's very odd that he's not on any mock drafts as his skill set seemed like it would have NBA teams drooling
January 7th, 2021 at 12:52 PM ^
You're probably not going to see Hunter on those lists anytime soon, see Luka Garza.
January 7th, 2021 at 1:00 PM ^
I heard Tim McCormick say that Dickinson might be a four-year college guy. He said the NBA places a higher value on guys who can run, shoot, and defend the perimeter.
January 7th, 2021 at 2:12 PM ^
If it looks at all like Dickinson is going to be a 4 year player, I'm buying a friggin jersey. ...and I am not a basketball jersey type-of-guy. Four years of Dickinson (5? if this year doesn't count?) with a rotation of one-and-dones? Sign me up.
January 7th, 2021 at 12:52 PM ^
I did see him in one mock a week or so ago at, I believe, pick 41. Can't remember which mock it was so feel free to discredit any thought that this ever happened. The same mock had no one from Michigan and it had Josh Christopher at 20....allegedly.
January 7th, 2021 at 12:53 PM ^
Josh Christopher....sigh. That night still really sucked.
Don't get me wrong, I'm pretty darn happy with how the team looks now, and Hunter Dickinson is playing like an All American. But still, that just s-u-c-k-e-d, sucked.
January 7th, 2021 at 12:54 PM ^
Saw an article about some closed scrimmages between the G-League Ignite (the young team) and some G-League vets. Reportedly, true top level guys like Green and Kuminga have played well and should be high draft picks.
Todd has been a bit out of his depth reportedly. For his height, he's still slim and he's not as polished as some of his fellow young peers. Was to be expected obviously, he was always a 5-star on his athletic potential and size combo rather than his HS skill set. Any team drafting him likely has a lot of development to do, hence the not showing up on boards. Sort of the reverse of Dickinson in that sense.
Going to be an adjustment for sure, especially going against adults on a team that won't feature him due to guys like Green and Kuminga ahead of him. Still, focusing on basketball full time should help and I wish him luck in the future.
January 7th, 2021 at 12:56 PM ^
Isaiah Todd? Does he know Hunter Dickinson?
January 7th, 2021 at 1:06 PM ^
NBA, Keep your DAMN hands off Hunter until 3 1/2 years from now!
January 7th, 2021 at 2:22 PM ^
3 1/2 years of Hunter would be better than 1-2 years of Chet. I assume those things are mutually exclusive. I also doubt, though, that a 5x-and-counting B1G rookie of the week with no obvious holes in his game will really be staying another year, much less 3.
January 7th, 2021 at 1:28 PM ^
I've had this same thought and it has been discussed some in the forum over at UMHoops. A few thoughts:
- The G-League select team is not the same as a regular G-league player as they aren't linked to any NBA franchise. They would all still be eligible for the draft.
- While Todd was a highly ranked player by 247 it was well known that he wouldn't reach his NBA potential for a while. He didn't really go the GL route to improve his draft stock rather he wanted to get paid and thought it would be a better path to the league than being a 1-and-done on Michigan's roster.
- Since they haven't played yet or had any visibility I would take his current draft stock with a grain of salt.
- The biggest open question in my mind is what happens if he is NOT drafted this year, as it is trending. Would they keep him on the select team for a second year and pay him? Would he have to sign as a free-agent somewhere and be sent to the regular G-League? Would he have to go overseas? I don't think that's been figured out yet.
The original idea behind this team was to provide an alternative to kids that didn't want to go to college that wasn't going overseas. The NBA would get to coach them and scout them easily and the players could develop and make some money without pretending to be students.
For a guy like Jalen Green this is probably going to work out great - just as intended. It remains to be seen what will happen to a guy like Todd who isn't exciting enough for an NBA team to draft him on potential. That path hasn't been written yet. Todd saw himself as a 1-and-done and was ranked as such by 247 and others. The reality is that he wasn't likely to be ready for rotation minutes at Michigan and may not have as much NBA potential as people thought....so how does he get from where he is to where he wants to be?
Good luck to the kid - I'm glad he has a little money in his pocket while he tries to figure it out.
January 7th, 2021 at 1:46 PM ^
+1 for whither
January 7th, 2021 at 2:35 PM ^
Did we get a commit from Hunter as a "plan B" to Todd going elsewhere? If so, right now I think I may OK with that...
January 7th, 2021 at 2:42 PM ^
No Dickinson was always a major piece of the class. But A LOT of people, myself included, were SUPER down on the team when they lost Christopher to ASU and Todd to the G-league.
January 7th, 2021 at 3:03 PM ^
In his two scrimmages with NBA G League Ignite, Todd is 6/20 on FGs, 1/6 on 3s, 8/8 FTs, with 12 Reb, 1 Steal, 0 Blk/Ast, 1 TO, and 6 fouls.
The Ignite team from what I've read will only play 10-12 scrimmages and not play any real games. They are essentially a Harlem Globetrotter style team. How they are affording to pay these guys this much money is beyond me. Even their opponent is a collection of players not good enough for the NBA or the real G League. And the Ignite has lost twice to them in scrimmages.
Green and Kuminga are balling out for them at the moment, but it's literally an incubator showcase team.
January 7th, 2021 at 3:20 PM ^
SI wrote an article a couple weeks ago about him and the other top HS players who went straight to the G-League:
https://www.si.com/nba/2020/12/21/g-league-ignite-scouting-jalen-green-jonathan-kuminga
Here's the tidbit about Todd:
It’s not a huge surprise, but Todd and Sotto will both require patience. Todd profiles as more of a two-way contract guy and potential second-round pick at this stage, with some appealing skill flashes, but a limited feel for playing team basketball. He’s listed at 6' 10", but he’s very slender and has always fancied himself as more of a finesse player than a big. Todd struggled to impact the game in any way beyond a handful of mid-post catch situations, and even then, he’s rather raw. He needs to add strength and show a better understanding of his potential role moving forward, and the expectations here should not be as high as those for his U.S. peers. The former Michigan commit will have to work to better define his role prospects.
January 7th, 2021 at 4:57 PM ^
So he'd probably only be playing in blowout time anyway.
January 7th, 2021 at 4:22 PM ^
Non sheep could easily watch a video of Todd last year and see that he was overrated. Christopher, on the other hand, had the looks of a stud. I was really hoping to land him - but if landing him meant only one year of him and not getting Brown for a year - i think things worked out fairly well for us.