Trey Burke To Test The NBA Market

By: Doug Karsch

I like how the NBA does this, allows a player to get a true sense for the market - declare, get a read, and maintain the option to go back to school. So what's going to happen with Burke?

Well the first rumblings coming out of Ann Arbor indicate that it is more likely he will return to Michigan. As one source asked me, "Burke should ask himself is DJ Cooper (of Ohio) going in the lottery." A pair of NBA sources told our Matt Dery that Burke should stay.

After losing Manny Harris and Darius Morris in the last two year people are asking the question, 'what is going on with Beilein and Michigan basketball?' Word on the street is that agents, in an effort to get an early lead on a potential client, are telling many basketball standouts what they want to hear.

Morris thought he was going in the first round (where the guaranteed money is) but went mid-second and has a contract with no guarantees. The Lakers just went through a trade-deadline search for a point-guard ... with Morris on the roster. Not exactly a great sign for Darius' long term employability with that team. Harris has been back and forth to the D-League. If the goal is just get a pay-check, regardless of the market for your skills, by all means go. But if the goal is to be as successful at your profession as possible (and that profession might be something other than basketball), I would advise all players to leave more avenues open by staying in school until a first round is guaranteed and to progress towards a college degree.

Now it's important to point out that the word-on-the-street regarding Morris and Harris at the same time each of the last two years was that Morris and Harris were leaning towards leaving Michigan. Word now is Burke is likely to stay.