Analysis: Free agency, Europe, Butler’s choices now

What's next for Jamar Butler, now that his name wasn't called in Thursday night's NBA draft?

Probably a trip to an NBA team's summer league squad in an attempt to be signed as a free agent. And if that doesn't work out, the probable destination is a professional basketball team in Europe.

That's the plan, according to the Shawnee High School graduate's agent, John Spencer, of Raleigh, N.C.

Butler will be able to look at several NBA summer league opportunities, his agent said.

The four-year starter at Ohio State worked out for the Indiana Pacers and Portland Trailblazers before the draft. During the Portland workout, he hit 35 of 50 on 3-pointers, according to Spencer. But a hamstring injury, which first happened during a pre-draft camp in Orlando, returned and kept him from going to workouts for the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat.

"It was very frustrating for him because he was playing very, very well," Spencer said.

Spencer, who played professionally in several countries, including China, represents a number of athletes currently playing in Europe. Some of those players include Butler's former Ohio State teammates Je'Kel Foster and J.J. Sullinger.

At least nine former Ohio State players were on European pro teams last season.

Terence Dials, Boban Savovic and Foster played in France. Sullinger played in Poland and the Philippines. Ron Lewis was in Belgium and Ivan Harris was in Finland.

Scoonie Penn has played in Croatia and Greece recently, Brian Brown played in Germany and Brent Darby was on an Italian team.

Players can use the free agent path or Europe to get to the NBA, but it isn't easy.

Current NBA guards like Earl Boykins, Smush Parker and Charlie Bell - all of whom were undrafted - have had solid careers.

But, according to one study, between 1991 and 2006, an average of only two players a year who were undrafted went on to become a contributing member of the rotation of an NBA team.

Some players embrace the European option. Others do it because they have to. Some players, like Mike Sylvester, the dad of former OSU player Matt Sylvester, make a long career of it. The older Sylvester played 18 years for Italian pro teams.

Once you get past the first 20 or 25 picks in the first round of the two-round draft, those chosen really don't have a huge advantage over those who weren't selected.

Being picked early in the draft is a good indicator a player will stay on an NBA roster for at least a year. In the 2007 draft, the first 23 players taken finished the season with an NBA team. But 15 of the final 37 selections weren't in the NBA at season's end.

Many of those not on an NBA roster were foreign players. One reason teams spend draft picks on those players even if they don't think they can sign them is they retain the rights to them indefinitely.

But unselected players, like Butler, can also take heart that teams don't always hit the mark with their draft picks.

In the last 10 years, NBA standouts like Carlos Boozer, Gilbert Arenas and Manu Ginobili all had to wait until the second round before they were picked.

Spencer said the difference between being a free agent and a second-round selection is not always as large as it might seem.

"The thing that I always caution guys is that they still have to make the team if they're taken in the second round. They don't have a guaranteed contract," he said.

The last Lima player to be selected in the NBA draft was John McCullough in the fourth round in 1979 after he was the Big Eight Player of the Year at Oklahoma. New Knoxville's Evan Eschmeyer, a second-round choice of the New Jersey Nets in 1999 out of Northwestern, is the last area player to be selected.