The immediate repercussions are clear. Ivan Rabb fell from a potential top-10 lottery pick in 2016 to an early-second rounder in this year’s draft, while in the process losing more than $10 million. But that doesn’t tell the whole story of Rabb’s decision to stay at Cal for his sophomore year.
Rabb surprised the basketball world when he announced he would not enter the 2016 draft. He was billed as one of the top power forward prospects in the nation after having a stellar freshman year at Cal. Yet Rabb wanted to stay in college and improve his game, even as teammates such as Jaylen Brown and Tyrone Wallace were testing their luck in the draft.
Entering his sophomore season, Rabb was selected as a first-team preseason All-American. The award reaffirmed his skill set and possibly his decision to opt out of the draft, but the high expectations put a target on his back. From game one, Rabb was double-teamed whenever he touched the ball, forcing him to take contested shots or give the ball away. Rabb encountered even further trouble because of the lack of quality players around him, providing him with no help when he struggled. The double teaming continued on into the latter half of the season, preventing Rabb from developing his inside game.
Rabb’s stats took a hit due to this strategy. As Cal’s only reliable and healthy scorer, he averaged 14.0 points per game and 10.5 rebounds, the latter of which led the conference. However, under the double team, Rabb’s field goal percentage took a hit, as he shot just 48% in 2017, compared to 62% the year before.
Meanwhile, former teammate Jaylen Brown was finding success in his rookie year with the Celtics. Although projected to be a higher pick in the 2016 draft, Brown seemed to be even less polished than Rabb. Despite this, Brown was enjoying a quality first year in the NBA with one of the top teams in the east. Ivan Rabb’s decision continued to look worse and worse.
What didn’t show in the stats however, was the level of maturity that Rabb had grown to. By the end of the season, Rabb was calmly passing out of the double-teams, while choosing the right times to attack the opposing defense. To escape the double teams inside the paint, Rabb would occasionally step out and take a long jumper, drastically increasing his outside game. He would even step out behind the three-point line, sinking 8 threes throughout the year.
Only time will tell whether Ivan Rabb’s decision to stay at Cal for his sophomore year was beneficial. What he lost in money, he made up for in skill and experience. The 35th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft will try to show the basketball world that his decision was the correct one, and will only benefit him in the future.
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