Let's say Williams goes somewhere between 6th and 10th in the draft this year. If he stayed one more year, got more consistent with his jump shot and toned his body a little more, he could be the top pick, depending who else is in the draft and what team is picking first. Here is the 2004-2005 rookie salary scale:
2004-05 NBA Rookie Scale
<TT>Pick 1st Year 2nd Year 3rd Year 4th Opt 5th Qualifying</TT>
<TT>1 $3,483,100 $3,744,300 $4,005,600 26.1% 30.0%</TT>
<TT>2 $3,116,400 $3,350,100 $3,583,800 26.2% 30.5%</TT>
<TT>3 $2,798,600 $3,008,500 $3,218,400 26.4% 31.2%</TT>
<TT>4 $2,523,200 $2,712,400 $2,901,600 26.5% 31.9%</TT>
<TT>5 $2,284,900 $2,456,200 $2,627,600 26.7% 32.6%</TT>
<TT>6 $2.075,300 $2,231,000 $2,386,600 26.8% 33.4%</TT>
<TT>7 $1,894,500 $2,036,600 $2,178,700 27.0% 34.1%</TT>
<TT>8 $1,735,600 $1,865,800 $1,996,000 27.2% 34.8%</TT>
<TT>9 $1,595,400 $1,715,000 $1,834,700 27.4% 35.5%</TT>
<TT>10 $1,515,600 $1,629,300 $1,742,900 27.5% 36.2%</TT>
<TT>11 $1,439,800 $1,547,800 $1,655,800 32.7% 36.9%</TT>
<TT>12 $1,367,800 $1,470,400 $1,573,000 37.8% 37.6%</TT>
<TT>13 $1,299,400 $1,396,900 $1,494,300 42.9% 38.3%</TT>
<TT>14 $1,234,500 $1,327,000 $1,419,600 48.1% 39.1%</TT>
<TT>15 $1,172,700 $1,260,700 $1,348,600 53.3% 39.8%</TT>
<TT>16 $1,114,100 $1,197,700 $1,281,200 53.4% 40.5%</TT>
<TT>17 $1,058,400 $1,137,800 $1,217,200 53.6% 41.2%</TT>
<TT>18 $1,005,500 $1,080,900 $1,156,300 53.8% 41.9%</TT>
<TT>19 $960,200 $1,032,200 $1,104,300 54.0% 42.6%</TT>
<TT>20 $921,800 $991,000 $1,060,100 54.2% 43.3%</TT>
<TT>21 $884,900 $951,300 $1,017,700 59.3% 44.1%</TT>
<TT>22 $849,500 $913,300 $977,000 64.5% 44.8%</TT>
<TT>23 $815,600 $876,700 $937,900 69.7% 45.5%</TT>
<TT>24 $782,900 $841,700 $900,400 74.9% 46.2%</TT>
<TT>25 $751,600 $808,000 $864,400 80.1% 46.9%</TT>
<TT>26 $726,700 $781,200 $835,700 80.3% 47.6%</TT>
<TT>27 $705,700 $758,700 $811,600 80.4% 48.3%</TT>
<TT>28 $701,400 $754,000 $806,600 80.5% 49.0%</TT>
<TT>29 $696,300 $748,500 $800,700 80.5% 50.0%</TT>
As you can see, he stands to gain a good deal of money by improving his draft position. He would be smart to not hire an agent and wait a while to see where he will ge picked. If he's not in the top five, I think he should stay, as long as he can continue to support his kid for another year in Champaign. Of course, I want him to stay so they can try again for the national title. I do think that if he waits a year he'll be the first point guard taken, whereas this year some misguided team will take Chris Paul ahead of him, simply because Dickie V was on his nutsack all year.