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NBA rules need to change. Trade agreements and NBA rules prevent team trades to be executed until the start of the new season starts on July 6th. Watching players being drafted by a team that is not actually the team they will play for is just stupid. These players have dreamed of this moment their entire life and we can’t even give them the right hat! It’s 2019, fix the rule or move the draft back two weeks. Teams are not even allowed to tweet the trades and welcome their new picks. Ridiculous.
Three University of Tennessee players were taken in the two round (60 picks, two per team) draft.
Grant Williams pick #22 to the the Boston Celtics was ranked #191 in 2016.
Admiral Scholfield pick#42 to the Washington Wizards was ranked #251 in 2015.
Jordan Bone pick #57 to the Detroit Pistons was ranked #171 in 2016.
Kyle Alexander Undrafted Free Agent signed with the Miami Heat for the NBA Summer League was ranked #362 in 2016.
Tennessee was the only program to have three players drafted who had zero offers out of high school from the Duke, UNC, and Kentucky’s of the world. This is why Rick Barnes was named Coach of the year! He saw their potential when no one else did. He transformed their bodies physically and mentally. Coach Barnes coached the heck out of them and changed their lives forever.
That bitch move of a kick to draw a foul by Carson Edwards and ended UT’s season may haunt me forever. (I still believe we would have made it to the final four.) Edwards was also drafted by the Boston Celtics and he will be teammates with Grant Williams. Grant is so nice that he will probably be friends with him. If he was my teammate, I’d kick him every time I got the chance. With Admiral going to the Washington Wizards I will be attending more Wizards games next year to watch him and former UT star, Jordan McRae.
All of the sadness I felt when the Vols season ended this year has now started the healing process. Knowing that Williams and Bone left early physically hurt my heart. I just knew Grant could 3-peat as SEC Player of the Year and UT would build a statue of him outside of Thompson-Boling Arena. Bone was underrated all year and got snubbed on so many awards. Another season would have given him the spotlight to really shine. His athleticism alone will wow you. I selfishly wanted them to finish their eligibility at UT. But Coach Barnes coached them again when he gave them his blessing to enter the NBA Draft. To see all three of them drafted and Kyle sign with a team gave me so much joy for them, their families, and the UT program.
One rule that wont change is I’ll definitely be watching a lot more NBA games next season and rooting for some of the best players to ever play for the University of Tennessee.