Not much has changed this time around. Nic Wise spent spring 2009 preparing a sneaking entrance into the NBA Draft, flirting with the thought of leaving Arizona early with his two teammates Chase Budinger and Jordan Hill.
An in-home visit from Sean Miller reassured Wise that his senior season would be worthwhile. And for the most part it was, becoming a human bridge from Lute Olson’s players to Sean Miller’s mindset.
Now he’s back on the market, the same spot he was one year ago.
And same isn’t always best in this case.
“”He doesn’t have nearly the buzz going on,”” said Aran Smith of NBADraft.net, comparing Wise to the past two Wildcat draft picks. “”I think he’s the kind of guy that will probably end up on a summer league team. I don’t see him being drafted.””
At one point last season, Wise was projected a late second-round pick in 2010 mock drafts. His limited size and combo-guard type scoring style, though, puts a ceiling on his NBA stock. The ceiling drops further when off-court stories mull during a dormant off-season. Wise was arrested late Friday night for driving with a suspended license after a police officer ran his plates.
Wise had an outstanding warrant for a previous charge of driving with a suspended license.
While it might not weight as negatively as other common major offenses, the arrest still tags onto his track record.
“”An arrest like that doesn’t help him,”” Smith said. “”The timing on that is not very good. But driving with a suspended license, I think it’s one of those things that could be worse.
“”I don’t think it’s devastating, but it doesn’t help,”” Smith said.
In order to simply sustain his NBA desirability from the 2008-09 season, Wise needed to maintain an image as the Pacific 10 Conference’s premiere point guard.
Wise was named first-team all-conference early this season but suffered through a mid-season shooting slump in Pac-10 play. It was that point that Wise’s leadership took over and instilled his mindset into freshman point guard Momo Jones, who said after losing in the Pac-10 Tournament he was ready to take over the team next season.
The way Wise molded Jones into the next generation of point guard might pay dividends down the line.
“”I could see him in the future as a basketball coach,”” Smith said. “”He seems like the guy with really good instincts.
“”I think there were times when we was projected on mock draft, but when it came down to it, he was never really a bona fide draft pick.””
Wise is currently not listed on any mock draft projections.
“”He’s a guy that’s going to end up playing in Europe or the D-League,”” Smith said. “”And the reason behind that is not really having the size to play the point guard position.””
