The obvious question as the professional basketball career of Wendell Carter is in its infancy is whether being the first-round draft choice of the Chicago Bulls conveys the authority to approve all player acquisitions.
Not for Wendell, of course, but for his folks.
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This seems to be what the Carter family would have in mind. After all, if Mike Krzyzewski hasn't earned the right to populate his Duke teams without parental interference with 1,100 victories and five NCAA championships on his resume, then clearly Bulls execs Gar Forman and John Paxson can't operate independently after missing the playoffs in two of the past three seasons.
Krzyzewski was blasted by Carter’s mother, Kylia, in an interview with NBC Sports Chicago, because Duke chose to add Marvin Bagley to its 2017-18 team late last summer, when Bagley chose to reclassify and graduate high school a year earlier than expected. That meant Bagley and Carter would play together, rather than Carter being the team’s primary big man.
“My initial reaction, I was pissed,” Kylia Carter said. “And it wasn’t pissed because Marvin was coming. To be honest, I felt like that was information that was kept from us. It felt (shady); it felt like my baby was going to get kicked to the curb. I felt like all of that.”
Said Wendell’s father, Wendell Sr. “I was concerned because I felt like we were lied to.”
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Wendell Carter signed his letter of intent in November 2016. The Bagley decision to reclassify became an issue in July 2017. Now, Coach K has a lot of skills, but omniscience is not one of them.
The Bagley reclassification was written about by CBS Sports, by 247 Sports, by ESPN and by Sporting News. In an earlier age, we would have said, “It was in all the papers.” Duke’s position as a player in that recruitment was reported at the same time. The Carters either were A) expecting Duke to anticipate Bagley’s decision to accelerate his academic and basketball careers, or B) expecting Duke to decline interest from a player with All-America talent.
Are they serious?
Given the outcome for all involved, it’s hard to understand why the Carters would object to Duke attempting to make its team better by adding a player who became a first-team All-American, averaged 21 points and 11 rebounds and helped the Devils come within an inch of reaching the Final Four. That success allowed Wendell to be showcased as part of a successful college team that won 29 games and ended the regular season ranked No. 5 in the AP poll.
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As a member of the Blue Devils, Wendell was praised for his defensive might in the center of Duke’s 2-3 zone and for his consistent contributions. One writer at Fansided posited that Carter ought to have been ACC player of the year.
The truth is if Bagley had chosen a college other than Duke, Carter likely would not have been chosen any higher in the draft than No. 7 overall, which is where he landed.
Had Carter chosen not to play college basketball, though, he might not have been selected until the second round.
How do we know this?
Well, let’s examine first how Carter performed in the four games Bagley missed last February with an injury. Without Bagley on the floor to consume his customary 13 shots, Carter went from 8.6 field goal attempts per game to 10.8.
Two shots? Was Bagley really cramping Carter’s style so much? In the sans-Bagley games, Carter shot .442 from the field and averaged 16.3 points and 2.8 turnovers, compared to a .580 percent, 13.2 points and 1.9 turnovers when he had Bagley nearby.
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It seems Bagley might have contributed to Carter being a better college player.
Even more on point is this: Carter was ranked the consensus No. 7 player in the 2017 recruiting class, with 6-11 Mitchell Robinson directly behind him at No. 8. Robinson initially signed to attend Western Kentucky, then decided late he would pass on college altogether and instead training privately for the NBA Draft.
Again, Carter rode his single season as a Duke Blue Devil to the No. 7 overall pick in the 2018 draft.
Robinson was chosen No. 36 overall by the Knicks.
Carter is guaranteed to earn about $8 million in his first two years in the league. Last year’s No. 37 pick, Semi Ojeleye, signed for $2.67 million over his first two seasons.
So one year at Duke paid off to the tune of $5 million.
That’s honest money.
