The NBA Draft and the lockout vacuum

Whooooooooosh.

That sound you just heard was the collective exodus of college basketball talent, both proven and fringe, to the next level.

With the threat of an NBA lockout looming ominously over the 2010-2011 season, it's become go time for any and all top-end NBA Draft prospects, and I can't really blame them. Why not take what money you can get and run, when there might not be any to be had next year?

The lockout's trickle-down effect on the draft pool has been been painfully obvious. Fittingly enough, Oklahoma freshman guard Tommy Mason-Griffin kicked off the "he's-going-to-enter-the-what?" sideshow last week when he announced his decision to go pro after a season in which he was the lone bright spot on a terribly underwhelming Sooner squad.

Mason-Griffin's a good college player, as his stats will tell you. In his first campaign in Norman, he averaged 14 points and 5 assists per game in a backcourt partially shared with star guard Willie Warren.

But ESPN's Chad Ford doesn't even have him among his top 100 draft prospects. There are 60 total picks in the NBA Draft, and a bunch of the last-selected never see a minute of action in the league. In other words, enjoy Israel/Spain/Italy, Tommy!

When you look at a talented team like Kentucky, it gets even more comical. Obviously, Big Blue's mighty triumvirate of John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Patrick Patterson are all guaranteed lottery picks who'd be foolish to not chase the money this year when there might not be any in 2011.

But Eric Bledsoe? Daniel Orton? Really? If the rumors are true, neither will be back in Lexington next year, probably because they'll probably playing professional somewhere. Of course, it makes too much sense for someone like Orton -- who racked up a gaudy 3.4 points and 3.3 rebounds per game this season -- to wait at least one and maybe two more seasons to get a guaranteed first-round contract.

And let's say a lockout is avoided. If an Orton or a Mason-Griffin were to abstain from The Great 2010 Draft Dash, they'd certainly enjoy a lighter class of competing prospects, and, as a result, more money.

Because, regrettably, isn't that what this is all about anyway?