Kevin Huerter Remains In NBA Draft

This past Wednesday afternoon, 19 year-old Maryland Terrapin sophomore guard Kevin Huerter announced on his Instagram that he would remain in the 2018 NBA Draft.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BjaI5GahnDf/?utm_source=ig_embed

Making the NBA is the opportunity of a lifetime, but everything thing in life has pros and cons. Lets take a deeper look.

Pros

Money

CBS Sports Mock Draft has Huerter to be selected 24th by the Portland Trailblazers. This would include a guaranteed contract. Last year the 24th pick made 1.3 million dollars in their first year.  Below is the the 2017- 2018 Rookie Scale. The money increases each year and if you play better then your contract, best believe you will get an ultimate payday.

Pick	1st Year Salary	2nd Year Salary	3rd Year Option Salary	4th Year Option: Percentage Increased Over 3rd Year Salary	Qualifying Offer: Percentage Increase Over 4th Year Salary
1	$5,855,200	$6,949,900	$8,121,000	26.1%	30.0%
2	$5,238,800	$6,218,300	$7,266,100	26.2%	30.5%
3	$4,704,500	$5,584,000	$6,525,000	26.4%	31.2%
4	$4,241,700	$5,034,600	$5,882,900	26.5%	31.9%
5	$3,841,000	$4,559,100	$5,327,300	26.7%	32.6%
6	$3,488,600	$4,140,900	$4,838,700	26.8%	33.4%
7	$3,184,700	$3,780,100	$4,417,000	27.0%	34.1%
8	$2,917,600	$3,463,100	$4,046,500	27.2%	34.8%
9	$2,681,900	$3,183,300	$3,719,700	27.4%	35.5%
10	$2,547,700	$3,024,100	$3,533,500	27.5%	36.2%
11	$2,420,400	$2,872,900	$3,357,000	32.7%	36.9%
12	$2,299,400	$2,729,400	$3,189,300	37.8%	37.6%
13	$2,184,400	$2,592,900	$3,029,800	42.9%	38.3%
14	$2,075,300	$2,463,200	$2,878,400	48.1%	39.1%
15	$1,971,300	$2,339,900	$2,734,100	53.3%	39.8%
16	$1,872,900	$2,223,000	$2,597,700	53.4%	40.5%
17	$1,779,200	$2,111,900	$2,467,600	53.6%	41.2%
18	$1,690,300	$2,006,300	$2,344,400	53.8%	41.9%
19	$1,614,100	$1,915,900	$2,238,800	54.0%	42.6%
20	$1,549,500	$1,839,200	$2,149,000	54.2%	43.3%
21	$1,487,500	$1,765,700	$2,063,200	59.3%	44.1%
22	$1,428,100	$1,695,100	$1,980,700	64.5%	44.8%
23	$1,371,000	$1,627,300	$1,901,500	69.7%	45.5%
24	$1,316,200	$1,562,200	$1,825,600	74.9%	46.2%
25	$1,263,500	$1,499,700	$1,752,500	80.1%	46.9%
26	$1,221,600	$1,450,000	$1,694,300	80.3%	47.6%
27	$1,186,300	$1,408,200	$1,645,500	80.4%	48.3%
28	$1,179,100	$1,399,600	$1,635,300	80.5%	49.0%
29	$1,170,500	$1,389,300	$1,623,400	80.5%	50.0%
30	$1,162,100	$1,379,300	$1,611,800	80.5%	50.0%

Career Season 

In his last season as a Terrapin, Huerter averaged 14.8 points per game and was the team’s second leading scorer. He was very efficient from the field shooting 50% and 41% from beyond the arc. At 6 ft 7, he will bring a team good height and length. He impressed at the combine, especially with his shooting. Teams will always need a shooting specialist.  In his junior year he was expected to make a huge leap. It could also just be his time to make the next step and join the NBA.

Cons

Playing time 

The NBA is very competitive and it will be a challenge to even see the floor on a consistent basis in your first year. Say if Huerter gets to play for the Trailblazers, he will be in a backcourt with two excellent guards in Damian Lillard and Cj McCollum. The pace is faster and its difficult for rookies to adjust to all the traveling, learning play books and etc. If he is riding the bench it may hurt his confidence and could impact his game. When you go from being the man to just a role player.

Bust

Even with a good combine and sophomore outing, he could end up being a bust. Some players are just good in college and never translate in the NBA. Staying in college would help with experience and flaws in his game that will be exposed at the next level. Being only 19 in the NBA will be a great challenge. The only thing that will tell is time.

Featured Picture Credit

(Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)