Jan Vesely Tells the NBA, “Wait a Minute”

By: Slam

NEWS: “After consulting with my coach Mr. Dusan Vujosevic, my Agent and my family, who has always been very supportive of me in every decision that I have made in the past, I made the decision not to enter the 2010 NBA Draft.  I have decided to stay and play for my club BC Partizan for the next season.” This quote is from the mouth of the Czech Republic’s own Jan Vesely.  With the Final Four closing in quickly Vesely wanted to make it abundantly clear that he is just focused on the finals and not anything else.  Vesely will play for Partizan next season and will not enter his name into the 2010 NBA Draft.

IMPACT: WOW!  That’s the first thing that needs to be said.  Vesely was looking like a sure-fire first rounder early this year and then his play exploded in the early stages of the Top 16 and he was looking like a definite lottery pick.  This is a little bit of a head scratching move because Vesely was hot right now and he could of taken advantage of that.  Vesely even could of gotten drafted this year and then still played in Europe for another year, but he chose a different route.

The first thing this impacts is Partizan.  He is averaging 8 points and 4.6 rebounds for the season for a Partizan team that is in the Euroleague Final Four.  Coming back next year Vesely will be looked upon to continue his hustling and offensive rebounding ways but will be asked to carry more of the teams scoring load.  This is incredible news for Partizan because Vesely was such a huge part of their team this year and they now don’t need to go find a replacement for him just yet, especially with their cash strapped funds.

The next thing this move effects is the NBA draft.  Vesely was looked at as a very intriguing prospect and this could give the other big name European prospect Donatas Montiejunas a bump up for teams looking internationally.  In a very shaky draft class Vesely could of risen even higher on draft boards with good workouts, but he decided he will save that for next year.  Lastly Vesely has taken a risk here.  If he doesn’t see a big jump in his offensive production next season NBA teams may see less potential in him and he could slide in the draft.  But if he keeps working hard at his game he could be an even more NBA ready player next year.  Only time will tell, but we all wish you the best of luck Jan.