Mikal Bridges needed to choose between returning as the top-rated college basketball player in 2019 according to the Value Add Basketball projections – or the potential $9.5 million in guaranteed contracts over three years if the projection of him going ninth in the NBA draft proves accurate.
He joined teammate Jalen Brunson in signing with an agent, and if the other two projected first-round picks from Villanova’s championship team the four project to net $23 million in guaranteed contracts.
Now the runner-ups Michigan also lost out with Moe Wagner announcing he will sign with an agent as well – making him the third most valuable college player to go in the draft (see his nice post for Michigan fans here). Updates on players signing with agents and being removed from the database of 5,000+ projections of values for next year will be posted at Pudner sports.
However, there was good news for one team as we added Creighton’s Khyri Thomas back into the database base after news he had not actually signed an agent – meaning he can still return to Creighton. Thomas looks like a first-round pick as one of the best perimeter defenders in the game, but when a player does not sign an agent we leave him with his team but with a note they may leave for the pros making his “team name” in the database “Creighton/could go NBA.” Adding him back in makes Creighton the 29th best team in the country for next year, so fans hope he decides on another year in Nebraska.
Here are all the players being dropped from the database of 2019 projections, still leaving more than 5,400 players or open roster spots.
| Player out of Projections | Height | Team losing player | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mikal Bridges #25 | 6-foot-7 | Villanova | 11.06 |
| Jalen Brunson #1 | 6-foot-2 | Villanova | 10.44 |
| Moe Wagner #13 | 6-foot-11 | Michigan | 8.58 |
| Landry Shamet #11 | 6-foot-4 | Wichita State | 8.17 |
| Khyri Thomas #2 | 6-foot-3 | Creighton/could go NBA | 8.03 |
| Anfernee Simons | 6-foot-4 | High School | 7.80 |
| Malik Newman #14 | 6-foot-3 | Kansas | 7.42 |
| Marcus Derrickson #24 | 6-foot-7 | Georgetown | 6.86 |
| Hamidou Diallo #3 | 6-foot-5 | Kentucky | 5.64 |
| Mustapha Heron #5 | 6-foot-5 | Auburn | 5.38 |
| Lonnie Walker #4 | 6-foot-5 | Miami FL | 5.09 |
| Trevon Duval #1 | 6-foot-3 | Duke | 4.38 |
| Justin Jackson #21 | 6-foot-7 | Maryland | 1.18 |
| Drew Edwards #25 | 6-foot-4 | Providence | 0.77 |
| Dikembe Dixson #10 | 6-foot-7 | Chicago State | 0.40 |
| Fred Sims #14 | 6-foot-4 | Chicago State | 0.30 |
Here is the three-year total of guaranteed contracts for a first round pick based on their actual draft position last year. The projections of four Villanova players at NBA Draft net are noted by the dollar amount. Michigan’s Wagner does not project to go until the second round, where no contract is guaranteed and a player can land in the D-League making only $19,500 to $26,000 or can land overseas.
| Pick | 3-year guarantee |
|---|---|
| 1 | $20,926,100 |
| 2 | $18,723,200 |
| 3 | $16,813,500 |
| 4 | $15,159,200 |
| 5 | $13,727,400 |
| 6 | $12,468,200 |
| 7 | $11,381,800 |
| 8 | $10,427,200 |
| 9 | $9,584,900 (Bridges) |
| 10 | $9,105,300 |
| 11 | $8,650,300 |
| 12 | $8,218,100 |
| 13 | $7,807,100 |
| 14 | $7,416,900 |
| 15 | $7,045,300 |
| 16 | $6,693,600 |
| 17 | $6,358,700 |
| 18 | $6,041,000 |
| 19 | $5,768,800 |
| 20 | $5,537,700 |
| 21 | $5,316,400 |
| 22 | $5,103,900 |
| 23 | $4,899,800 (DiVincenzo) |
| 24 | $4,704,000 |
| 25 | $4,515,700 |
| 26 | $4,365,900 (Spellman) |
| 27 | $4,240,000 |
| 28 | $4,214,000 |
| 29 | $4,183,200 (Brunson) |
| 30 | $4,153,200 |