And those teenagers drafted in baseball invariably start off in the dregs of the minor leagues playing against players their own age. They work themselves up through the farm systems and if they are good enough, generally debut in their early 20s. Quick, name the last 17 year old to play MLB (hint - it hasn't happened since the 1950s). OK, how about the last 18 year old? (hint - currently suspended for 2014 due to PEDs). Prior to him, no one in decades.
Some teams have saved millions because of this current age limit. Just look at Shabazz Muhammad. He was supposed to be the #2 pick coming out of high school. After college where his flaws were exposed, he dropped all the way to 14 where he was lucky to be drafted and should have fell even further.
and is it good for the game ? should we care about what is good for owners ? i dont think so. it's up to the scouts to do a good job, to know if a guy is ready or not. AND if a guy is drafted but not ready, they now got the D-League ... D=Development ...
I think it's good for the game. Ain't nobody got time or money for busts. That includes teams, owners, gm's, scouts, coaches, and most importantly us the fans. Now I realize there's no such thing as a sure thing but proving yourself in college or at least showing what you got before you come to the big leagues only helps in reducing the risk of drafting a bust. Development league is meant to supplement the NBA not replace college.
Well they already have to go college for one year now, still doesn't prevent busts...I mean just look at the Cavs. You will never prevent busts. Some guys just feast on the easier competition and never rise to the competition. Guys like Bennett aren't unskilled players, mentally they just don't have it though.
Stupid. You can either get it done or you can't. If the owners want to reduce risk.....how about properly scouting players?
Right now baseball has the perfect system. 1. Either declare out of high school or stay 3 years. 2. An extensive, well established minor league network to both train the ill-prepared and weed out the unworthy. Players benefit from this because there's an immediate discriminating mechanism that separates the high school grads who think they are ready vs those who realize they need more time in college to a.) train and b.) build confidence by being king of the hill, in a smaller hill. Then, there's a further second discriminating method, for all those who thought they were ready, to hear it firsthand from coaches: "You aren't ready, punk." In reality, the majority of kids have an accurate approximation of their ability, but a good half to three-quarters of this lot skipped college simply because they don't want to have anything to do with class for the rest of their lives. You saw what happened in UNC: a good chunk of those players can't even read. So for that second demographic you institute a minor league: a professional level where people make more money than they do in college (unless they go to Kentucky) yet still can get their heads wound around the concept of training full-time to be a professional athlete. That is what the NBA needs. With baseball's system, the teams would obviously benefit, not having to waste their picks and cash on high-percentage busts. The players would benefit, as the guys like Lebron or TMac who are physically ready would not be held back. The ones who need seasoning can go to college, or if they are too dumb they can go to the D-league. Finally, both college and the D-league prosper by having higher quality players with more continuity, less turnover, and an end to this dumb one-and-done reality where a recruiter with no coaching ability can just hire five of the nation's best freshmen and compete for the NCAA championship year-in year-out.
This is a horrible and flawed argument. If he has flaws, why shouldn't they be exposed and why shouldn't he be picked at his potential ... are you saying it's ok to basically con teams out of money? Moreover, let's say he is drafted #2 but only has the potential of a #14 pick. Didn't his selection at #2 make picks #3-14 lose millions in deserved contractual money?
If you were in Shabazz's position, obviously you would want the chance to cash in on the money. It is not his fault that a team would have picked him so high, so he wouldn't be conning the team out of money. It is the team's fault for not evaluating him correctly. Now if you want to talk about a draft pick that cons teams out of money, just look at a guy Morey picked #16 in the draft a few years ago.
I don't have a problem with it as long as long as NCAA teams offer some type of monetary compensation for those that would have more than likely been able to make an NBA roster. Most guys not only try to make it to the league if they are capable of but also due to financial distress that they or their family is experiencing.
That's the whole idea, you can't scout players based on 1 year of college play. Might need more data.
The point isn't to prevent ALL busts, but to eliminate a good chunk of them. Guys like Shabazz Muhammad. Bennett proves playing in college won't expose all the frauds.
age is not a factor, look at all the high schoolers drafted since 1995 Kevin Garnett #5 Kobe Bryant #13 Jermaine O'Neal #17 Tracy McGrady #9 Al Harrington #25 Rashard Lewis #32 Korleone Young #40 Jonathan Bender #5 Leon Smith #25 Darius Miles #3 DeShawn Stevenson #23 Kwame Brown #1 Tyson Chandler #2 Eddy Curry #4 DeSagana Diop #8 Ousmane Cisse #46 Amar'e Stoudemire #9 LeBron James #1 Travis Outlaw #23 Ndudi Ebi #26 Kendrick Perkins #27 James Lang #48 Dwight Howard #1 Shaun Livingston #4 Robert Swift #12 Sebastian Telfair #13 Al Jefferson #15 Josh Smith #17 J. R. Smith #18 Dorell Wright #19 Martell Webster #6 Andrew Bynum #10 Gerald Green #18 C. J. Miles #34 Ricky Sánchez #35 Monta Ellis #40 Louis Williams #45 Andray Blatche #49 Amir Johnson #56 yes some high picks have busted (Bender, Miles, Diop ...) but i'd say the % of players that r still in the league is superior to the % of those who were drafted out of college. there have been busts in top 10 since 2006 even with the new rule just look at 2006 Adam Morrison #3 (junior) Tyrus Thomas #4 (freshman) Shelden Williams #5 (senior) Patrick O Bryant #9 (sophomore)
I like the idea because it only helps the college and NBADL get stronger. This rule could help solidify the D League
