Frustrated by his slide from the late lottery to one of the final picks in the first round on Thursday night, former Texas guard Jordan Hamilton offered an unlikely theory for why so many teams passed on him.
Hamilton told Denver-based NBA writer Chris Tomasson that Longhorns coach Rick Barnes was partially to blame for him still being on the board when the Nuggets plucked him with the 26th pick.
"[Barnes] called some teams and said that I probably wasn't coachable and things like that. But I feel like I can be coachable," Hamilton said. He added that he "got some feedback" when asked how he knew Barnes had been critical of him, though he wouldn't name those who shared that information with him.
It's impossible to know for sure whether Barnes indeed bad-mouthed Hamilton to NBA teams, but it seems unlikely for several reasons.
Once Hamilton declared for the draft and signed with an agent two months ago, Barnes had nothing to gain by seeing one of his former players' stock fall. Plus, all an NBA scout would need is game film to find evidence that Hamilton was sometimes difficult to coach.
It's certainly no secret that Hamilton has a reputation as a volume shooter sometimes prone to taking ill-advised shots rather than looking for his teammates. In fact, one reason those close to Arizona star Derrick Williams believe he went under-the-radar until college was because he played on Hamilton's AAU team in high school and rarely got the ball.
Later in the same interview with Tomasson, Hamilton was more complimentary of Barnes, referring to him as "a great coach" and insisting he still loved Texas. And in a draft night release issued by Texas, Barnes praised Hamilton for the maturity he showed staying in school after his freshman year.
"I will always respect Jordan for the way he honestly sat down and evaluated himself following his freshman season here," Barnes said. "He realized there was a lot that he needed to learn. Jordan worked so hard at the game but more importantly, he grew as a person. When we think about Jordan as a person from the time he arrived on campus as a freshman, he has really grown."
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