Mark Bradley: College basketball stinks

They would have to stop shaking in anger at the mention of the word "agent," then.

 

And the team that used one of its two draft selections on this player gets . . . ?

 

This would have made a heck of a column.

 

The difference between then and now is the rookie salary cap. The incentive to be selected at the very top of the draft was so much greater, and the investment in those picks was so much more substantial, that players waited until they were "ready" and teams wanted to be as certain as possible their investments would pay.
When the gamble on the 4/5 pick went from $30 million to $8 million, it wasn't that great a risk to take a wildly talented HS kid and see if he'd develop. The rookie cap changed everything -- and not for the better. If the NFL didn't have the 3-year rule, it was damage their talent pool the same way it did basketball's.

 

Good point. Although 1986 begs to differ. And begs for a new drug.

 

Look at the top five picks in the 1984 NBA draft: Akeem Olajuwon, Sam Bowie, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Sam Perkins.

Put those five guys on the floor together in their prime and they smoke a team comprised of the top five picks from any other year... ever. If you need a point guard, there was some guy named John Stockton who was picked No. 16 (behind Lancaster Gordon and Leon Wood, among others) who could distribute the ball pretty well.

 

Who gives a shit? That's their problem.

 

It's great to watch old games becuase back in the day, players had a lot more leeway on taking bad shots. Throw on those games and watch the backup power forwards and center fire off no-touch, awful-form 15-footers. They make a few, and coaches let them go with it.

 

I could support that. It would make teams think twice before spending a pick on an early-entry candidate.

 

I don't think anybody except the real Lost Causers yearning for the days of 4-year-lettermen really begrudge lottery picks the right to go pro. If a guy is going to be a lottery pick and see significant PT as a rookie, of course, go.

It's the guys who are going to be lower first-round picks, or second-rounders without guaranteed deals, who would be better off coming back. And college basketball would be better off LETTING them come back.

 

I'd take LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Darko Milicic because the lineup would function better than having Sam Perkins at shooting guard. But yes, the 1984 draft is heralded. What's your point? There's about one great, stand-out draft every decade.

 

God damn it I typed this exact thing before you but took time to go back through the thread and you beat me. I even had Sam at the 2 guard. Does Hakeem dominate? Of course, although Bowie's corpse, Barkley and Perkins might be clogging things for him. But the perimeter is no contest.