NBA Draft 2011: Has Perry Jones Fallen Out of the Lottery?

While the NCAA tournament rages on towards the start of the Sweet 16, Baylor’s Perry Jones is sitting at home, waiting patiently for the games to end and preparing for his next move.

This is of course because Jones’ Baylor Bears didn’t make the tournament, due to their late-season collapse during Big 12 play.

Thought to be a key addition to last year’s Elite Eight, Jones was tied for ESPN’s No. 3 recruit behind UNC’s Harrison Barnes and OSU’s Jarred Sullinger, but wasn’t even on the court during his conference tournament to give Baylor a shot at making the Big Dance.

Suspended for accepting gifts and money, Jones was excused from the Big 12 tournament and told he would be ineligible for the first five games next season. If this didn’t solidify his anticipated jump to the NBA, then impending Baylor recruit Quincy Miller should.

But regardless of any outside factors, Jones was always presumed to declare for the draft in the first place. The question that now remains is has Jones fallen out of the lottery because of his poor decisions and his team’s performance?

Just in case you were concerned, the answer is no. Jones won’t be falling out of the lottery on June 23, but may have slipped some spots.

Beyond the suspension and Baylor’s poor play, Jones himself didn’t perform at a level worthy of a top pick, so it shouldn’t be a shock to see the aforementioned Barnes and Sullinger go ahead of him. Add in Derrick Williams of Arizona and Kentucky’s Terrence Jones, not to mention three highly touted Euros and you start to see why Jones is slipping.

This is one of the deepest drafts for power forwards in a few years. Teams have the luxury of being able to pick and choose what’s important to them and find the big man that can best help their team. If you were an NBA GM and had the choice between a proven NCAA postseason competitor or a raw talent, who would you take? 

Unless you’re David Kahn, you'd take the proven talent who’s the same age as the raw player. This is a trend that has been growing over the past four years from NBA executives.

There’s still plenty of time for things to change and more detailed scouting reports to come out, as the draft is three months away. However, Perry Jones will have to build himself back up if he wants to prove his doubters that he is a more talented player than those who are proving themselves now.

Either that, or he can settle for sliding to No. 9 or 10 and be viewed as an underachiever from the get-go as he pursues his new career in the NBA.