Clones Confidential
Fansided

DeAndre Kane: Why more people should defend NBA potential, not attack age

By Brian Spaen

facebooktwitterreddit

DeAndre Kane has been highly touted to have the physical ability to play in the NBA. Buzzwords such as versatility, moving in transition, wingspan, creating shots, finding the open man, and more are being attached to him.

More from Iowa State Cyclones

So what’s up with not being drafted on Thursday night?

National NBA columnist Zach Buckley over at Bleacher Report had a lengthy analysis on Kane after the fact. His main argument throughout the piece was why teams weren’t giving him a chance at the age of 25.

He highlighted a tweet where an NBA writer pointed out that Kane was older than James Harden. He’s also older than DeMar DeRozan, Danny Green, DeAndre Jordan, JaVale McGee, O.J. Mayo, Brook Lopez, Blake Griffin, and Kevin Durant.

But, like I argued back in my analysis, why should it matter if Kane is older? He’s ready to make an impact on day one, yet scouts are treating him like he’s old chinaware.

Buckley not only loves Kane’s potential and highlights it with many scouts and those who cover both college basketball and the NBA, but argues why age should even be a discussion point.

"He’s 25 years old—not 45. With his strength and understanding of how to use it, he could play a long time in this league even after making a late start.Once guys get to the league, their age doesn’t become a discussion point until it starts attacking their physical gifts. Kane is years away from that becoming a concern. He just needs someone to take a low-risk chance on bringing him on board."

Iowa and Kansas fans have been enjoying rubbing it in to Iowa State fans on neither player being one of the 60 picked on draft night, but that doesn’t tarnish what either Kane or Melvin Ejim are. They still have the potential to become solid NBA players, and they can start to prove people wrong with the NBA Summer League in a few short weeks.

Home/Iowa State Cyclones