The past week has been a blur — in the worst way — for Michigan State fans. They watched as Jeremy Fears Jr. partook in the NBA Combine and although it was almost a forgone conclusion that he was just testing the draft waters to get feedback, he performed well and opened some eyes.
Right before the NBA Combine, Fears was projected by ESPN to be the No. 47 overall pick by the Phoenix Suns, and after his performance, that stock has only risen.
Following two solid scrimmages and overall positive testing, Fears has come out looking like a possible early second round pick. He did mention that it would take him getting a first-round grade for him to even consider leaving Michigan State and staying in the NBA draft but that hasn’t happened — publicly, at least — quite yet.
Fears is looking like a second-rounder at this point and while he has seen his stock rise, he’s still in the range where a roster spot isn’t guaranteed nor is the money.
Seeing Fears and his dad tweet some cryptic things on Sunday ruffled the Michigan State fanbase’s feathers a little bit, causing a non-zero amount of panic. Fears said that no one can really tell him what’s best for him and his dad said that no one should put stock into mock drafts.
The panic is real and the situation is getting murky.
What to make of the Jeremy Fears Jr. situation
No one truly knows what Fears is going to do outside of his close personal circle which likely consists of him and his family and agent, but it feels like they had a mission in mind.
Although I still believe that Fears is going to come back, I don’t think he nor his dad or agent really liked the fact that a return was considered a forgone conclusion for one of the best players in college basketball. It almost felt like everyone was taking his likely return for granted and they weren’t even thinking twice about him potentially leaving.
I’m guessing they didn’t love that. They still want to feel wanted by both the NBA and Tom Izzo so this could also be an NIL leverage opportunity as well.
I’m not saying that Fears is doing this just for money, but no agent in the history of agents wouldn’t at least advise their player to do something similar to this for a bigger check. Why not make Izzo sweat a little and force his hand to increase NIL compensation? Agents are slick like that.
The concern isn’t non-existent, but I just can’t see him staying in the draft just to be a second-rounder and see a pay cut.
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