Good on him for weighing out his options and making decision still early into his pro career. I feel as though he signed for Sydney too early this season. He would've been a great pick for Adelaide under Joey, with the departure of Nathan Sobey. Also would’ve gotten a healthy amount of minutes as well. I reckon he would’ve grown into the player that he showed glimpses off during his Junior Rep Career. All the best Tom!

Nah mate, Olgun mentioned he re-signed for three years. But the Kings were aware he was still deciding between AFL and Basketball. So it wasn't binding.

What's his background? Does he have a realistic chance at AFL?

The problem with these Cat B rookies, is that they are free hits, so AFL teams are happy to take a gamble. The vast majority never make it off the Cat B list.

Best of luck to the young man.

Best of luck to him. But I can't help wondering if things would have been different if he had been with a coach that, I dunno, could actually coach and develop talent? If he was with the Hawks under Bevo as one example, getting the kind of individual development he needed plus more court time, would the AFL be as appealing? Given his background and international experience as a junior? Obviously we'll never know, but one hopes for the Kings' sake that Weaver is the kind of guy who encourages players to stay in the game, rather than look for opportunities elsewhere. Because over the past ten years, it's been one coaching disaster after another in Sydney.

The first result of the NBL next stars program.

If you can't get excited by basketball after playing for your country, they you need to move on... As above, I reckon Gaze was a huge negative influence on his basketball career and while I think Humphries succeeded despite Gaze, Wilson couldn't even get dud minutes regularly at the end of games, so I sort of don't blame him...

Good luck to him, especially if he signed on with the Kings with their knowledge that he was still weighing up his opportunities... Do it young enough to make an impact in your chosen path...

People declaring doom and gloom are overreacting IMO, how many of those mentioned would have made a huge impact at NBL level? no-one really knows for the most part...

The NBL is not suffering a talent drain as a result of these guys choosing footy.
Plenty of opportunity for other players to step up.

Agree anon, a guy who hadn't gone close to fulfilling his junior potential. Plenty of those around. In time, maybe he would have, maybe he wouldn't have, we'll see what happens in time, whether he goes anywhere in footy.

He never got a chance because of:

a) poor coaching; and
b) the "next stars" program which benefits foreign players at the cost of opportunity for locals

He's also only 21. Younger than many DPs. Nathan Sobey did nothing in the NBL until he was 24 and now he's talked about as a fringe boomer and has had summer league exposure. I think Wilson had potential for a similar career at least.

"b) the "next stars" program which benefits foreign players at the cost of opportunity for locals"

No, that's clutching at straws. How many Aussie players got minutes ahead of him that they shouldn't have? Deng Deng? Dane Pineau? Kyle Adnam? Gaze didn't even give the kid garbage minutes. This isn't the fault of the Next Stars program. The blame lays squarely with Andrew Gaze and the Sydney Kings. I think with another 3 years in that system to look forward to, it makes complete sense why he decided to move on.

So the potential NBA draft pick who also plays on the wing had nothing to do with his lack of opportunity? Sure.

Rumour for months is he's going to afl

Exactly, #795 anon - talked up and can't hack putting in the hard yards if he's not treated special... Look at pretty much all of our Aussie NBA players and see how many of those were treated like Gods gifts and how many worked their arses off against some pretty tall odds... I would have liked to have seen Gaze give him a better chance but if he can't handle riding the bench and training hard to earn his time, then good luck in the AFL, buddy...

Is anyone seriously suggesting that Bowen actually took minutes off him? Adnam, maybe, but not Bowen...

This decision is a no brainer IF he thinks 1. He's a reasonable chance of making it as an AFL player and 2. His basketball ability will max out at an NBL career at best.

Based on figures quoted here recently, the average Australian NBL players makes 120k a year. Imports average 220k.

The average AFL player makes over 300k and that will rise to 370k over the next few years.

And there's 700 AFL players compared to around 60 Aussie NBL players.

"Is anyone seriously suggesting that Bowen actually took minutes off him? Adnam, maybe, but not Bowen..."

Considering they're both wings and Adnam is a PG, yes, Bowen took minutes off him.

Mate Tom Wilson was either a PG or SG.

Adnam took minutes off him because whilst Adnam isn't the best defender, he was better option than Wilson; when you had the squad that the kings had last season, they didn't need a young guy wanting to shoot the lights out.

He won the MVP in the SEABL last year (probably should have gone to a player at the Chargers), but he couldn't make his team a winning team. It's the equivalent of making Melo Trimble the NBL MVP when Cairns came last.

The AFL salaries are inflated by big earners eg Ablett and Franklin.
NBL may pay less but you could supplement your earnings playing in NZBL or State leagues or short term euro stints. Plus you could play longer than AFL.

I wish Wilson good luck it's his choice to make.

Not an epidemic at all the OP is being dramatic.

#769 it's actually Jack Bones playing NBL1 for the Tigers. Patrick Bines is the one that switched to footy.

Perhaps those AFL salary figures are inflated due to the high outliers

The median might only be say 250k (and rising)

That salary would probably put you in the top 10 or 15 NBL players.

In fact ignore NBL for a second

How many Australians anywhere in the world are earning more than 250k from basketball?

There's probably 13 in the NBA, 5 in Europe, 5 in the NBL.

That's 23. Who knows, it could be 30. Let's say 40 and be generous.

Well 40 basketball players vs 300 or 400 AFL players.

250k is seriously good coin when earnt over a number of years, the type of money that can set you up for life if you're wise about how you spend it.

Ten times as many people are making that from footy compared to basketball.

I would have liked to have seen Gaze give him a better chance but if he can't handle riding the bench and training hard to earn his time, then good luck in the AFL, buddy...

Decided to do a bit of googling and surprise, surprise, the numbers support my earlier comments and in fact show I was being overly generous to your argument

https://www.afl.com.au/news/2019-03-06/six-milliondollar-men-as-player-salaries-go-up-again

- Only 6 AFL players earned $1mil+ in 2018

- 31 players earned more than $800,000

- The average player wage last season was $362,471

- 383 players earned over $300k in 2018. That's more than half of the 703 AFL players

Yes of course basketball careers last longer, but there is no comparison as far as money in concerned- UNLESS Wilson is in the top 30 or 40 Aussie basketballers.

WHat I mean is, there's no comparison as far as money is concerned, unless Wilson thinks he can become a superstar in the NBL (or make the NBA or a top Euro league).

Let's say he becomes an average NBL player, coming off the bench as a 6th man for 10 years. Maybe a starter. He might earn $1 million or $1.5 million.

If he can become an average AFL player, just making the team as a fringe player in the top 22 for 7 or 8 years, then he would earn $2mil or $3mil.

No comparison.

Of course money isn't the only factor. Maybe he just enjoys playing footy more? Who knows...

The big difference I see is the 500th best player in AFL gets $80k minimum plus match payments for his 3 years then plays local footy for $1000 per game for the next 6-10 years.

The 500th best basketball player in the country is paying fees to play no higher than Warratah league or Big V Div 1 from the get go.

For Wilson, he needs to get in the top 30 Australian basketballers to have a profitable career, if he cracks the top 300 in the AFL he has probably 6-10 years earning $250k+. Just like Greenwood, his decision makes perfect sense.

To add to that, the 100th best AFL player is comfortably on $400k+, that works out to be the the 6th or 7th highest paid player on each AFL teams list.

The 100th best basketball player in the country is barely getting paid travel money in the NBL1 or QBL.

Good luck to him in his future endeavours. I think he could have done far better in terms of his development and some decisions in joices of environments in the past made very little sense.

Also salary comparison makes sense and sort of brings lots of sense to this decision. However can someone put a value of promotion/marketing/networking into all this? For example, playing college is not only about getting a degree but creating networks. There are many examples of good college players that went nowhere after their careers yet they make far greater money in their current roles than they would as players. Everyone's aware of HC salaries in the college - checking salaries of assistant HC would be good as they are on some have load too. Broadcasters, promoters... USA is a huge market, Europe too, what's the best way of creating presence than playing a popular sport. Can anyone project how much Jack White will 'make' after graduating? He may not end up in NBA but the system will certainly look after him.

So to cut my BS short, yes AFL makes perfect sense in a country of 25mill, but I'd like to have a crystal ball to see what he could have gained by staying at SMU and going through the process. There is life after sport and there are professions now paying more than AFL pays to majority of its players now.

Good points Alpha.

The AFL has definitely gotten better at getting its players ready for life after footy through training and development, but also through opportunities from their network of sponsors and partners.

College basketball has given lots of Aussie guys a chance after their playing careers are over. Guys like Rillie and Adam Caporn have gotten coaching gigs over there (with Caporn coming back).

Even guys with lesser playing careers such as David Patrick have managed to have great post-playing careers in basketball.

I don't think your post playing career is going to be the clincher when choosing between sports though and I think these days there are good options in either.