On Monday, Milos Uzan was reported as saying he would only leave the Houston Cougars for “guaranteed money” in the NBA.
The conversation, as reported by Paper City’s Chris Baldwin, was about Uzan’s choices between remaining at Houston or leaving for the NBA.
On the heels of what happened with Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders and the NFL Draft, Uzan may sound brash to some. But, the reality is he’s just speaking the truth about the NBA draft process and the options that he has.
The Truth About NBA Money
As Baldwin points out, and confirmed within the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement, only first-round draft picks are entitled to guaranteed money. That’s 30 players. Those are two-year guarantees with team options for a third and fourth year. There are also escalators for players that do great things, like become rookie of the year or earn all-NBA selection.
Second-round picks aren’t entitled to that, though more teams are signing second-rounders to guaranteed deals. Baldwin did the research and found that 16 of last year’s second-round picks received two-year guaranteed deals. In 2024, Tyler Kolek received a four-year deal with three years of guaranteed money at $6.6 million.
Sounds like a lot, right? It’s still much cheaper than first-round money. Cost is driving these deals in a cost-conscious NBA.
These are not the two-way deals you hear about. Those are contracts where players are paid G League salaries with the G League and then get paid an NBA rookie base salary when they play in NBA games, whcih are pro-rated. Players are also capped at the number of NBA games they can play.
Uzan wants no part of that and for good reason. There’s little security. He can also do better with NIL money and revenue sharing in that instance.
The NBA Draft Process Will Help Uzan
The NBA draft process is, without question, the best of the four professional sports. Players like Uzan — who still have eligibility left — can declare, go through the entire pre-draft process and even get invited to the G League Elite Camp or the NBA Scouting Combine. In fact, Uzan is at the combine this week.
He’ll get a chance to go through all the workouts, all the scrimmages and meet with as many teams as possible. The NBA gives every player a pre-draft report card, including strengths and weaknesses. He’ll be armed with every bit of information to make his decision. All he must do is make it by May 28 so he can retain his eligibility and go back to Houston — if that’s what he wants.
The optionality of this process is as good as it gets in professional sports.
When in Doubt, Stay
NFL prospects with eligibility don’t get this option. If a college player declares, they’re done — no matter where they get drafted. Sometimes, they don’t. But at least there are at least 250 selections. Sanders didn’t have the option. He was out of eligibility.
In the NBA Draft, there are only 60. It’s a much harder bet, especially when you include the international players that in some cases are pro-ready.
Players like Uzan don’t ask for my opinion, but I do have one. If you still have eligibility remaining, unless you are a lead-pipe lock first-round pick, stay in school. There’s no reason to leave if you still have time on the clock.
Uzan will get better coaching under Kelvin Sampson — who coached in the league — and get more playing time. He can return and play his way into the first round like Ochai Agbaji did a couple of years ago.
The decision is his. But there’s nothing brash about what he said on Monday. It was smart. It was the truth. When the time comes, he’ll know what to do.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
