Woj nails it (NBA draft age requirements)

My argument would be if the kid decided to stay in school, and there was a good chance he/she would be the CEO or CFO of IBM when he got out, would he/she still come out early knowing the best they would be is a vice president?


You have to buy my above post to buy this one.

 

What happened was people looked at the Lakers and Bryant and the T-Wolves and Garnett, Bryant was drafted 13th, Garnett fifth and said, 'We could have had them if our GM had any sense'. Media also framed GM's as 'the GM who passed over Kobe'.

So GM's started drafting players first on potential and second on 'I don't want to be the guy that passed this years hot prep phenom over.'

Which is how we got to Kwame Brown.

 

IBM wouldn't be paying somebody based on potential. The teenager would be required to produce immediately. Not the case in the NBA. We won't see the likes of DeAndre Jordan, JaVale McGee and Marreese Speights until their second contracts.

 

Problem is, there are no guarantees. Kid could try for the presidency/CEO, but end up a janitor. Being drafted out of HS, at least he's guaranteeing himself a nice income. (this applies to players who you know are going to be good players, not the ones who are hyped up).

Point is, the players should have a choice in whether they want to make the jump from HS. The NBA now won't let them. I could see their point, in a way. It would be like a business requiring employees to have a college degree. Problem is, the NBA bases it on age, not basketball-playing experience. Age doesn't necessarily determine ability.

 

It's still free market business.

If they're going to pay me out of high school, why waste time playing for free in college?

 

Sure there are high schoolers who enter the NBA draft and are huge busts. There have also been a number of college stars who stayed 3 or 4 seasons who have been busts. It's the nature of sport. If everyone was a sure thing, there'd be nothing but great G.M.'s

And how come there isn't this much debate about baseball players. I'd bet my paycheck (as small as it is) that the total number of high school players who "bust" after being drafted straight from high school is higher than the NBA and NFL combined.

 

Because the No.1 pick in the baseball draft isn't expected to come in and star on the team the following season, as they are in the NBA, NFL and sometimes in the NHL.

There is the understanding in place for MLB that everyone will need time in the minors before they reach the big club.

 

I hate the age requirement rule. Absolutely hate it.

You go to college, presumably, to get an education. All these one-and-done kids are going to college for nothing more than their one shining moment before bolting to the NBA. If their dream is the NBA, let them take a shot at it after high school. Let some other kid, who has no shot at the NBA, take that scholarship so he can try and get an education with it.

 

God that's a weak analogy. The obvious difference is that, unlike the business world, the evidence hardly shows that leaving school early hurts a player's ceiling. Quite to the contrary, just about every NBA all-star except Duncan and Nash either skipped college or left early. The league is utterly dominated by the leave-earlys whereas its 4-year college guys generally fill out the benches.

 

Straight out of high school or one-and-dones are not winning titles as the main person on their team.

And if you draft a person in the lottery, you should assume they will be the #1 option on your team.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/

 

Top companies recruit based on potential all the time and, in fact, pay huge signing bonuses to top recruits.

 

Except for Kevin Durant, I don't see anyone in this season's rookie list who is the No.1 option on their team. Even guys coming out of college and into the NBA need some time to adapt. Al Horford's showing some good things in Atlanta right now, averaging almost a double-double with 10.2 ppg and 9.7 rpg, but there's no way he's the No.1 option right now.

Even Greg Oden probably wouldn't have been, considering Brandon Roy's position on that team.