‘Easy decision': Aussie pulls out of NBA Draft, Bogut lifts lid on $10m truth
Just three days after the OKC Thunder clinched the NBA championship, the eyes of the basketball world will be on the NBA Draft on Thursday (AEST).
Josh Giddey (No. 6 pick) and Dyson Daniels (No. 8) are Australia's greatest success basketball success stories at the moment after being taken with lottery picks in recent drafts by the Thunder and the New Orleans Pelicans, respectively.
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This year, there are four Australians expected to be picked in the second round of the NBA Draft — Sydney Kings youngster Alex Toohey, 220cm Brisbane Bullets giant Rocco Zikarsky, Duke point guard Tyrese Proctor and Illawarra Hawks NBL champion Lachlan Olbrich.
Proctor is the most highly rated prospect of the Australians after he spent three years playing college basketball at Duke. The 21-year-old is expected to be picked early in the second round.
Another top Aussie prospect is Alex Condon, a 20-year-old centre who achieved NCAA glory with the Florida Gators this year, becoming the sixth Australian to win the US national college basketball championship.
Condon had been slated to be picked late in the first round, possibly to the Brooklyn Nets, but last month he made the decision to withdraw from this year's NBA Draft to return to Florida for another year of college hoops.
It's becoming increasingly common for players who aren't expected to be first round picks to pull out of the NBA Draft to stay in college, especially after name, image and licence (NIL) rules were changed in 2021.
For top football players, basketball players and gymnasts, this means they can earn hundreds of thousands, if not millions, playing sport at college while being a campus celebrity.
The No. 1 pick is expected to earn as much USD$12.6 million in their first season, while players selected at the end of the first round of the NBA Draft received a tick over US$2.5 million.
Luc Longley and Andrew Bogut remain the two Aussie seven-footers who have dominated the NBA — Bogut told news.com.au Zikarsky has room for improvement, but 211cm Condon could be something special.
'He's tall, he's got great touch,' Bogut said of Zikarsky.
'I think it's just going to be a matter of how he copes with physicality and getting in the nitty gritty over there on a daily basis.
'Alex Condon is the other guy — he had to be drafted in this upcoming draft but he's pulled his name out.
'Obviously, the NIL money makes a big difference to go back to.
'He's probably going to make more money this coming season in college than he would being drafted in the second round.
'So it's a pretty easy decision to have another great year in college, all the perks of that and get paid better He's probably the next one in line that has a chance.'
Bogut, who was taken by the Milwaukee Bucks with the No. 1 pick in the 2005 draft, doesn't believe he would have gone at No. 1 in today's landscape.
'I will say this, if NIL money was what it was when I was in college, I don't know if I'm the No. 1 pick,' Bogut said.
'I just think you let your guard down. I think it'd be super hard.
'If I went back as a sophomore, in today's (money), I'd probably be getting 10 million a year in NIL for the next three years of my college career.
Bogut continued: 'I don't know if I'd have that same motivation to get to the NBA and make a good living because you've got it already and in a cool, chill environment in college, partying in the dorms, making 10 million a year.
'Playing in front of college crowds, great. One game a week.
'I think it would have fried my brain … and I probably would have fizzled out.'
Longley said the NIL money on offer to top players is 'more than I made in my whole pro career'.
'I'm trying to imagine being in college and having that kind of money,' Longley said.
'All your peers are living in the dorms and boiling rice at the end of the month, putting butter and salt in it to get through.'
Both Giddey and Daniels are no longer on the teams that drafted them but their improvement in season 2024-25 means the duo are set to receive massive paydays worth as much as USD$30 million (A$45 million) per year.
Daniels' younger brother Dash Daniels looms as Australia's next great prospect — the 17-year-old has joined the NBL's Melbourne United as an NBL Next Star and will likely declare for the draft in coming years.
The Dallas Mavericks are expected to take Duke star Cooper Flagg after being awarded the No. 1 pick in a draft lottery stunner.
The rest of the top 10 is unclear, with Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper highly rated, but Bailey has refused to work out with NBA teams, a cardinal sin in the draft process.
Bailey, a sharpshooter from Rutgers in New Jersey, has been criticised by Philadelphia's Paul George, who said: 'If I'm Ace Bailey I can't get mad if my stock drops.
'He's cancelled all workouts. He hasn't worked out for any team. You're not in a position to be making those demands. Make it to the league first.
'That's a kid that's been paid in college. 'I got money, I don't care. I'm gonna tell you where I'm gonna go.
'It's almost the 'me before the team', before he's on the team.'
Bogut names potential Boomers starting five for LA 2028 Olympics
Josh Giddey and Dyson Daniels are now the main men for the Boomers, despite Patty Mills once again scoring clutch buckets when it mattered most at the Paris Olympics.
But looking ahead to the 2028 LA Olympics, it's doubtful Mills and Joe Ingles will be part of the national team as the Boomers chase a second Olympic medal.
Asked to name a potential Boomers starting five for the 2028 Games, Bogut said Giddey and Daniels are locks, and he favours Jock Landale at centre and bringing back Paris snub Matisse Thybulle.
That leaves one spot up for grabs and the Boomers will be hoping a three-point shooter emerges over the next three years to supplement Giddey's playmaking and the defensive prowess of Daniels and Thybulle.
Bogut said: 'You'll have Giddey and Dyson. Jock will be the 'five'. As of today, I'd love to have Matisse back in the fold.
'I think the 'three spot' is up for grabs and we need a shooter there. Is it Josh Green? Or does someone come up that can really shoot the ball, a (Johnny) Furphy or someone like that.'
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