At around 7:30pm Thursday night in Brooklyn, NY, 30 young
men will have their lives changed forever when David Stern calls their name to
play in the NBA. These 30 young men (some even younger than me, which I find
very upsetting) will see the gratifying culmination of years of summer
basketball camps, AAU travel teams, and countless hours in the gym in front of
the eyes of millions of fans across the world. Also, most will strike it rich
in an instant. But how rich you may ask? Well, I’m here to explain the pretty
big difference between going first overall (such as Kentucky’s Nerlens Noel,
Maryland’s Alex Len, or Georgetown’s Otto Porter) and going fifth or lower.
According to Hoopsworld.com, the first overall pick
(currently held by the Cleveland Cavaliers but they are rumored to be shopping
the pick) of the 2013 draft may be on his way to a 4.4 million dollar 2013-14
season. The second through fourth picks are looking at 3.2 – 3.9 million while
the fifth pick is looking at around 2.9 million. Now, of course, we’re all
thinking that 2.9 million is nothing to sneeze at but it is still interesting
to see the sizeable difference between #1 and #5, especially when you add in
endorsements. Going #6 instead of #3 can be the difference between signing a
multi-million dollar deal with Nike and being without any endorsements at all.
The numbers obviously drop as the draft order progresses with the 30th
pick projected at around $880,600 with the Phoenix Suns.
This upcoming Draft is looked upon as a weaker one so teams
are still deciding at this very hour on which way to go. Chances are that the predicted
#1-#5 picks (Noel, Len, Porter, Kansas’ Ben McLemore, and Indiana’s Victor
Oladipo) will play out differently than predicted and that’ll mean that someone
will be missing out on millions while one lucky kid will realize his dream and
walk away with enough money to last himself a lifetime.
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Aaron J. Coleman is currently a sport management major at Drexel
University in Philadelphia, PA minoring in Communication (with a focus in
Public Relations). He was born and raised in Upper Marlboro, MD, a suburb
outside of Washington, DC. He is currently a supervisor for Drexel’s Intramural
Sports program and also an intern for the Arena Football Legaue’s Philadelphia
Soul franchise. He covers the Chicago Bulls, New York Yankees, and Washington
Redskins (his favorite squads along with the Washington Capitals and Drexel
Dragons) for sportsfansnews.com. Follow Aaron on Twitter @shutupCole. 
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