Older prospects draw hope from Brogdon's NBA success

CHICAGO — The votes have already been cast for the NBA's rookie of the year and it's expected that it's a three-player race. As has been well established heading into the announcement at the NBA awards show on June 26, the favorites are Philadelphia's Dario Saric and Joel Embiid, as well as Milwaukee's Malcolm Brogdon.

This week at the NBA draft combine, there was a group of individuals keenly interested in that race. To a man they have an interest in the outcome — they're by and large pulling for Brogdon — but how it shakes out doesn't matter all that much.

For the older players in the draft who spent four or more years in college, Brogdon's immediate success in the NBA as a 24-year-old rookie who spent five years in college at Virginia is an example they hope to emulate.

"I think Brogdon definitely is the poster boy for us right now as far as some of our older guys coming out," said Nigel Williams-Goss, 22, who spent four years in college split between Washington and Gonzaga.

Regardless of what happens with the rookie of the year award, nothing can change Brogdon's accomplishments. He averaged 10.2 points per game this season while ranking third among rookies in field goal percentage (45.7%), second in three-point field goal percentage (40.4%) and second in free throw percentage (86.5%). He also led all rookies with 4.2 assists and 1.1 steals per game while logging the second-most minutes per game (26.4), which doesn't factor in the six games he started in the playoffs.

In the playoffs, Brogdon averaged 9.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game while shooting 40.0% from the floor and 47.6% on three-pointers. His contributions in individual games were more up and down than the numbers might suggest, but so too were the Bucks' performances as a team. Overall, his being a rookie didn't stand out as he played long, critical minutes for Milwaukee.

"Experience goes a long way," said Oregon's Dillon Brooks, 21, who played three seasons in college. "Guys are ready from the jump and he showed he's one of the top rookies in his class. I sat down, I was at the Raptors game watching him play and he was doing amazing. It shows a lot. It shows you can take your chances on older guys."

The award, though, would be significant in bucking numerous trends, especially when it comes to age.

Brgodon would be just the fourth four-year college player to earn the honor since 1997. In that span, Tim Duncan (1997), Brandon Roy (2007) and Damian Lillard (2013) are the only players who used their full college eligibility and went on to win rookie of the year.

The difference between those three and Brogdon, though, is they were all selected in the first six picks of the draft while Brogdon was taken with the sixth pick in the second round. Duncan was taken No. 1 and is one of two seniors to be taken with the top pick over the past 20 years (Kenyon Martin was the other in 2000).

During the one-and-done era from 2006 to present, college seniors — even all-Americans like Brogdon — have slipped in the draft process because of their age.

"There's a premium on age," Wisconsin's Nigel Hayes, 22, said. "Obviously if they're going to have two guys to choose from they're going to choose the younger guy. ... That's just an investment decision. If I'm buying a machine, I'd buy the one that has maybe a couple years more life than the other one.

"I guess it makes sense in theory. As we've seen recently in the NBA season that hasn't necessarily played its course. We saw with Malcolm Brogdon, he's a four-year guy and you can see what he has done — he's in contention for rookie of the year."

For years, established, four-year college players have spent the draft process highlighting their proven strength, skill and basketball IQ. They have been able to point to the likes of Chicago's Jimmy Butler and Golden State's Draymond Green as successes, but even those two took time to blossom.

Brogdon is now an even better example considering how he hit the ground running.

“That's the mentality of four-year guys, to be able to go in — you don't need to be groomed," said Villanova's Josh Hart, 22, who like Brogdon was a consensus first-team all-American in college. "It's not about potential. Obviously, we all have our own ceilings, but it's about making an impact right away."

Clemson's Jaron Blossomgame, who played AAU with Brogdon in Atlanta and will be 24 by the time the season begins, understands Brogdon's ascent. He saw Brogdon's business-like approach to basketball first-hand and wasn't surprised to see it pay off at the NBA level.

In addition to Brogdon, Blossomgame pointed to Atlanta forward Taurean Prince's solid rookie campaign this season as recent blueprints for four-year players to follow.

"He's well-rounded defensive and offensive player and it's translating," Blossomgame said of Brogdon. "Me being an older senior, that gives me all the more confidence to see those guys have success at that level."