Every so often, in any draft, a player comparison fits so tightly and so suddenly that it immediately becomes unavoidable for the rest of the week. Unfortunately for Bradley Beal, the St. Louis native who went No. 3 overall to the Washington Wizards in the 2012 NBA Draft, that comparison was Ray Allen. No big deal, right? Just the NBA's all-time leading three-point shooter. Apparently draft types were unwilling to compromise with, say, Reggie Miller or Dale Ellis.

It beats James Ramsey's week of Skip Schumaker comparisons, I guess, but it's not going to be much fun to live up to. Ray Allen, at this same point in a career, was just finishing his first season as a reserve at UConn. He had two seasons to star in college before he went to the Bucks. Beal will be expected to lead the Wizards in scoring as a rookie--while making John Wall into the passing prodigy he was supposed to have been two years ago, too. Beal started last year at Florida, but he wasn't their first option.

Don't get me wrong-I'm all for eviscerating corrupt college sports and athletes getting paid as soon as possible. But it makes these sudden draft comparisons a little higher-stakes.