Malik Newman must make a Difficult Choice

The deadline for Malik Newman to make his final decision to stay in the NBA Draft or not is May 25th and it won’t be an easy one.

Malik Newman is not hearing what he wanted to hear. Most people assumed the highly talented guard from Mississippi State would be able to go to the Combine in Chicago and remind everyone what they saw in him when he was a 5 star high school prospect.

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Instead, Newman reaffirmed what most people thought after his freshman season. Malik Newman has the body of a point guard but not the skill to play the position in the NBA.

Almost everyone you ask thinks Newman needs to come back to Mississippi State where he can learn more under Ben Howland. Remember, it wasn’t until Russell Westbrook’s second year under Howland that he took off and became the player he is today.

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The only mock draft I have been able to find that goes through the second round is this one from Draft Express. it has Malik Newman as the 52nd pick in the draft.

That isn’t anywhere close to a lock for him to get drafted. So now Newman must decide if he can swallow his pride and return to school, or ignore what the scouts and all those at the combine are telling him and stay in the draft.

If you’re looking for any insight into what he might do, I found this tweet he sent in response to Anthony Dixon interesting.

There is a number of things one could read into that, but considering the timing of everything, I didn’t think it was a coincidence.

For those who think this should be an easy decision for Newman, you have to look at what it has been like for the star player his entire life. Ever since he was a freshman in high school, he has been projected as a one and done player. He’s approached the game of basketball with this mentality.

Now that the time is here, for him to admit he isn’t a one and done will not be easy to do. And for that very reason, I don’t think he will.

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If Newman were to stay in the draft, his immediate future would likely be the D League or playing in Europe. While he would be making money, it’s a far cry from where he envisioned he would be at this point in his life.