Sticks Gets Picked

Stanley Robinson was selected by the Orlando Magic -- finally! -- with the next-to-last pick in the 2010 NBA Draft.

Robinson, thought to be a potential late-first round or early-second round selection, went with the 59th pick in the draft. As a second-round pick, Robinson doesn’t get a guaranteed salary and must make the Magic team. He’ll almost certainly play for the team’s summer league team in a couple of weeks.

If Robinson makes the team, he may be able to negotiate a salary for guaranteed money. Former UConn teammate A.J. Price, taken with the No. 52 pick last year, signed a guaranteed three-year, $2 million deal with the Indiana Pacers last fall.

Why did Robinson, thought to be a potential mid-to-late-first round pick, fall so far? Well, don't forget what an NBA director of player personnel told me in February about worries about Robinson's makeup.

“Leaving school, going to work in a factory, he’s already got a couple of kids,” the source said. “Not that those are deal-breakers, but they’re things that could scare some teams away.”

On Wednesday, after playing in the Travelers Championship Celebrity Pro-Am, UConn coach Jim Calhoun said that teams who had interviewed Robinson weren’t sure how focused he was.
“He’s not the kind of guy who says, ‘Someday, I want to be an all-star and win an NBA championship,’” Calhoun noted. “That’s not Stanley.”

Nobody, however, has ever questioned Robinson athleticism. So, he'll have the chance to go to a good team and add some athleticism and energy for 12-15 minutes a game off the bench.