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.