That doesn't really help anything. Most of these kids have financial problems to where they will gladly take 300k a year to help their folks out. At least for high school kids. I think it would give more motivation to existing college players to stick around though. That's why you have guys like Tony Keys who "declare" for the NBA. All they do is declare and hope they get drafted, but they know they won't get drafted and are content with playing in Europe for $, something colleges don't offer, unless it's Michigan. These kids aren't going to the NBA just for big-time money, it's to survive financially, especially if they have children. I think most fans assume that these kids A. have the grades to play in college and B. come from decent financial situations. Seemingly 2/3rds of the kids who declare for the Draft fit into one or both of these categories and feel they have nothing to lose by declaring, and they don't. They are more concerned about taking care of their family now, rather than 4 years from now, when they don't know if there will be a 4 years frmo now. It's much easier for the casual fan to say he would stay in school. When you live amidst gunfire, drugs, best friends dying in middle school, etc. your opinion on waiting to succeed in life changes drastically. Also, you would have to fit in something to where the teams would not be affected cap-wise. Some teams might WANT to purposely draft a hs kid, if he counts less against the cap, whatwith the luxury tax and teams wanting to clear space for FA signings.
They have something called a signing bonus, which is purely guaranteed. While it would alleviate it a bit, I don't think it would make a huge difference in cutting down the early entries. Like I stated above, a lot of the kids just want ANY kind of paycheck whether it's NBDL, NBA, Europe, etc. Again, making millions isn't necessarily the only thing kids are looking for. Just making those few thousands to get a better life no matter what league is the main goal.
I know I've said this before, but if we follow the NFL, you can be sure the NBA will have the following things like the NFL, huge signing bonuses like the one Manning has, and players holding out or forcing trades. Look at Champ Bailey from the Redskins, his discontent of being named the franchise player (which gives his team him the sole right as a FA as long as they pay him the salary the top 5 players in his position makes) because top 5 at his position isn't good enough, he wants higher. And let's not get started with TO. The last thing I would want is some one like Cassell or Cat (undervalued guys) holding out and refusing to play because they know they are getting below market value.
Great post. I don't have a problem with kids trying to do what's best for them and/or their family. An education is important, but I do recognize that college isn't for everybody. My concern is that the quality of NBA play is going down because talented kids who don't know how to play the game enter the league really inexperienced and burden teams who have to teach them how to play or just throw them out there. In the meantime, fans have to watch some subpar basketball. The proposed solutions tweak the financial incentives to enter the league early, so that young players can work on their games in college or the development league without sacrificing earnings and teams don't feel pressured to put undeveloped talent on the active roster. I mean, look at the Bulls. Is the NBA really better off with teams built around youngsters that lack maturity both in the basketball sense and the professional sense?
I think people overstate how much staying in college helps your "fundamentals". The guys who did stay for 4 years, other than Duncan, are generally as poor fundamentally as the hs kids and other early entries. The thing is that Duncan would be as good as he is now, had he left after his Jr. season. It's funny how college coaches are able to avoid blame for not developing their talent in college. It's not like these college seniors come into the NBA making instant impacts either. It seems like the only kids who can shoot in college are the ones who are not athletic enough to ever play in the NBA (Trajan Langdon, Cameron Mills, etc). This is not a problem exclusive to hs kids leaving early. It's a problem at every level of American basketball.
I really like the pay scale measure sucks that sports have come to dollar signs for most players I wish they instituted an age limit of 21,,that way they get at least a couple of years oy school and experience
So that their families can live in 3 more years of poverty and an endangered life? Ya, those 3 years in school where the player skips half of his classes is really worth it. Blame the NCAA for instituting admissions standards that forced guys like Darius Miles and Leon Smith to go to the NBA out of high school. Again, you just seem to assume crap out of your @ss and come up with holier-than-thou statements making it seem like an easy to choice to pass up millions so that you can go to school. Isn't the point of school to make millions/get you to your job? I guess you must not work. If you did, you would understand the logic that if the chance to work in the ultimate job came to you as an 18 year old, you would have turned it down to go to school? Ha.
I agree that for many, the positives of taking the first available payday, whatever it is worth, far outweigh the positives of going to college. My point is, if the league were to adopt any system (not just the one I proposed) to make the college experience financially appealling, the trend could reverse itself. Once enough kids who aren't ready start to see their friends/teammates/HS competitors end up back in the old neighborhood a couple of years later with nothing to show for their talents than a few thousand dollars, they will start to see that the better longterm alternative is to go to school, at least for a year or two.
In the last 6-7 years there have been plenty of HS kids who failed miserably. And it hasn't stopped HS kids. I don't envision that ever really happening.
I agree, the recent failures of some have done little to sway the majority, but the system is not in place yet. I'm not suggesting that HS players would understand why it would be better for them to go to college, but the adults around them would hopefully be smart enough to realize that taking a $50,000-$100,000 nonguaranteed contract straight out of prom would not be the best move. If he goes to school for even two years, the contract could become guaranteed and worth millions. Even the poorest, dumbest mother/father on the planet should realize that option #2 is by far the best for his/her child. If not, he could get cut in camp or after the first year, have no elligibility left to return to college, and come right back home with little or no money left. Seriously, if the base salary for a HS player were, say, $45,000 nonguaranteed, is that player going to appreciably change his or his parents' living situation enough to risk losing his NBA future? What does 50k buy? A car? Maybe rent in a cheap house for a while? Even the most shortsighted, needy families would see the folly in bypassing college for such a small, nonguaranteed sum. Again, I agree that with the way it is now, there is no incentive to go to school. But that is why I am trying to formulate a plan to put the incentive back. If money is no longer an immediate winfall for these kids, they will realize why going to college is better for them in the long run.
Non-guaranteed contracts would give incentives to GMs to draft and cut picks rather than dump it off a team below the cap. The result is that these semi-talented and unlucky players will be doubly screwed of a college education and an American job. I don't think the NCAA will ever allow a grace period for pro-status. I think the developmental league has served MLB pretty well in some respects and a farming system for the NBA should be immensly easier to put up and regulate.
