PG - Thats a really great post and one that anyone draft eligible should read. I think you know more about this than anyone I know.
There is one aspect of your post that I'd like to give a slightly different slant too though.
I know you didn't mean to imply this, but it is not always the case that a player who asks for a lot of money is one who is not hungry. It might be that the player has other short-term goals. We both know one (the same one) in precisely that situation a few years ago. Now he finds himself in a somewhat similar situation this year and I'll bet he'd sign for whatever they'd pay him. Why the change? Because he finished what he wanted to do FIRST. We both respect him for that...actually I even admire him for that...probably you do too.
As you know, last year our son went through the draft. Some teams asked him "how much?" He gave a very big number. It didn't reflect his lack of desire to play nor an irrational view of his worth. He was actually quite realistic about his worth. It reflected his view of what it would take for him to just consider bypassing something that had been a dream of his all his life. It really was an easy decision in the end. Fulfill a dream that had been there since he could remember. I also admire him, very much, for that decision. Life isn't all about money and I think he said that loud-and-clear. He isn't looking back at all to my knowledge, despite an up-and-down freshman year. In 2 or 3 years if he is lucky enough to be drafted again, I can say almost for certain that money will not be an issue because playing beyond his current level is the NEXT dream of his life.
I certainly know that others have a different viewpoint and I FULLY respect it. There is no one who can possibly understand why anyone makes their decision unless they walk in their shoes. Maybe sometimes its about money, maybe even most of the time? But there are those for whom the money is nothing more than a side issue.