Henri Veesaar's NBA Draft decision stings even more due to major NCAA rule change

Henri Veesaar was never a lock for the first round of the NBA Draft, yet fairly early in the process, he made it clear that he wasn’t coming back to North Carolina. That decision proved costly, at least financially, when Veesaar slid out of Round 1. 

Now, as the former UNC and Arizona center waits to hear his name called on Night 2 of the 2026 NBA Draft, he doesn’t simply have to mull over the loss of a lucrative one-year deal to stay in college, but with the NCAA approving five-in-five legislation on Tuesday that would have given him an additional year of eligibility, he has two years of potential lost paychecks to think about. 

Henri Veesaar may have left a two-year payday on the table by leaving UNC

CBS’s Matt Norlander reported that North Carolina and new head coach Michael Malone would have paid about $4.5 million to get Veesaar back in Chapel Hill for the 2026-27 season. That’s a big number to leave on the table for the uncertainty of the draft, even if Veesaar, who is engaged to be married, was rumored to simply be ready to move on from college and begin a professional career. 

Even Koa Peat, who became the final pick of the first round at No. 30 overall on Tuesday night, will receive a four-year contract worth $15.5 million with a salary just over $3 million in Year 1. As a second-round pick, even if he’s selected at No. 31 overall, Veesaar's will not necessarily be fully guaranteed. Second-round picks do not have a rookie scale, as the first-round picks do, and often sign for the rookie minimum of just over $1 million for the first year. 

Those second-round contracts are negotiated individually, so Veesaar could be valued higher than that by the team that selects him, but there’s almost no world where he’s making $4.5 million, a number he could have cashed in for at UNC (or another college, for that matter), not just for this year, but for next. That could be a difference of about $6-7 million over two years, and that’s assuming fifth-year Veesaar wouldn’t exceed $5 million. 

Veesaar didn’t know that the five-in-five rule would be passed, but there have been inklings that it’s coming for months. The plan was so popular that President Trump even included a similar provision in his executive order, which certainly wasn’t filled with original ideas. So, if he wasn’t able to see what was coming down the line, his agent at the Klutch Sports Group should have. 

Maybe Veesaar was just dead-set on leaving college. I know I was ready to get out when my four years were up, and I sure didn’t have a million-dollar salary waiting for me on the other side. But I also didn’t have a multi-million dollar salary there, for me, if I came back. 

Henri Veesaar’s decision may have hurt UNC even worse

You have to feel for the player who made a significant jump during his lone season in Chapel Hill, going from a seven-footer who never had a double-digit rebound game through two years at Arizona to the prototypical stretch five and a double-double machine averaging 17 points and almost nine boards. 

Floor spacing and rim protection are a rare combo, and when you find them together, that’s a valuable player. Even on a team where freshman Caleb Wilson was universally acclaimed as the best player, Veesaar’s on/off splits dwarfed Wilson’s. Yet, as a below-the-rim athlete with a slight frame at 227 pounds, his value is a lot greater in the college game than in the NBA. 

Malone could have built around Veesaar. With the Terrence Brown pickup, a slashing guard who would pair beautifully with a pick-and-pop five, he seemingly began to. Instead, he was forced to hop overseas to take swings on international bigs Sayon Keita and Alexandros Samodurov, who would both be wonderful complements to Veesaar in the front court, but carry significant question marks as first-year starters. 

So, while Veesaar failed to maximize his earning potential, if he’s a good player in the NBA, he’ll make it back. UNC, however, will have a much tougher time replacing his production next year, and that could hold the Tar Heels back from contending for the ACC title with Duke and Louisville.

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