Boogie Ellis knew he would not be picked in the first round of the 2024 NBA draft on Wednesday. He was hoping he would be drafted on Thursday in the second round. However, if he was watching Wednesday’s first round, he had to have been unhappy that Dalton Knecht fell on the draft board to No. 17. Knecht was a projected top-10 pick for a lot of NBA draft experts, but he dropped nearly 10 slots from where he was expected to be picked. We should have known, right then, that Boogie Ellis’s chances of getting drafted were slim to none.
Why is this the case? Why can we say this with some degree of confidence? The reports on why Dalton Knecht dropped on the draft board were that he was 23 years old. He wasn’t a 19- or 20-year-old player. Therefore, NBA teams were afraid of getting an older player with a shorter shelf life. NBA teams fell in love with 19- and 20-year-old players whose bodies are in an earlier developmental stage and whose careers can extend even longer.
Yes, for anyone who is thinking what we’re thinking, we agree with you: It is absurd to be afraid to draft a 23-year-old athlete. Maybe the chances of that athlete having a 15-year career are worse than the odds of a 20-year-old playing 15 years in the pros. However, should that be the standard for drafting players? The 23-year-old player is much more ready to play on Day 1 and in his rookie season. If that 23-year-old provides seven solid pro seasons and the 20-year-old becomes a draft bust, which player — and pick — became more valuable? We agree with the idea that Dalton Knecht was worth a top-10 pick and that he had no business falling to 17. However, NBA teams and front offices didn’t see it that way.
Right or wrong, fair or foul, Boogie Ellis had to have known that if 23-year-old Dalton Knecht — a shooter-scorer — fell several spots on the draft board becuase of his age, the 23-year-old Ellis was going to encounter the same fate. He was not going to have a place on the draft board. This explains why Ellis did not get drafted.
It’s not fair, but no one ever said life — or the NBA draft — was fair.
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