Morgantown, West Virginia – The final day for players to withdraw from the 2021 NBA Draft is on July 7th, but the decision has likely already been made for Miles “Deuce” McBride.
McBride posted an eyebrow-raising message on his personal social media account saying, “Just reminiscing” with pictures and videos from last season with the Mountaineers.
Freshman forward Isaiah Cottrell added a crying face emoji, which further adds to the speculation that McBride has decided to leave Morgantown.
It’s certainly possible that McBride was simply looking back on his sophomore season at West Virginia University, but it really feels like a decision that he has chosen to remain in the NBA Draft will be made official anytime now.
McBride, now considered a late 1st round pick or early second round pick in the upcoming NBA Draft by most experts and analysts, should absolutely remain in the draft and cash in on the tremendous fortune that awaits him.
NBADraft.net – typically the most accurate online source for NBA Mock Drafts – currently have McBride being picked by the New York Knicks with the 21st overall pick in the 1st round of the upcoming draft: https://www.nbadraft.net/nba-mock-drafts/
Another year in Morgantown isn’t going to change or improve McBride’s draft stock and passing up on an opportunity to become instantly wealthy by risking potential injury next season just doesn’t make any sense.
Miles McBride is a smart young man. Although education is clearly important to him and his family, classes can be taken remotely and he can finish his degree virtually during the offseason. The idea of a student being forced to remain on campus to complete their college education is no longer relevant.
Although McBride has only played two seasons in Morgantown, he’s a very complete, polished player who is ready to play professionally. He has few obvious weaknesses and many attributes that NBA scouts and executives drool over. He is a talented mid-range/perimeter scorer, can get to the basket and finish, developed as a point guard last season as a sophomore, and, at 20 years old, has tremendous upside.
According to NBA Draft Room, “McBride is a compact, strong and hard-nosed point guard with nice athletic ability and NBA level tools.
He’s enjoying a breakout sophomore season for the Mountaineers, scoring the ball at a nice clip, hitting his three point shots and taking over a leadership role on the team. He’s a point guard who can really score – and he doesn’t need to be a ball dominant player to be effective.
McBride is a stout one on one defender who slides his feet well, has pesky hands and is a ball-hawk. He’s got a strong upper body and can body up to keep his man out of the lane and can guard up one or two positions thanks to his strength.”
If McBride had clear areas in his game that needs work or improvement, coming back to WVU for another season would make sense. He would use that extra year to polish his craft, earn his degree and then enter the 2022 NBA Draft.
But that’s simply not the case. He’s ready now.
While West Virginia fans selfishly wish for Miles McBride to return for at least one more season for the Mountaineers, he should strike while the iron is hot and cash in on his once-in-a-lifetime lottery ticket!
