The one-and-done conundrum

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/16237629/ten-years-nba-one-done-rule-no-less-controversial



The "one-and-'done" rule is turning 10 years old! What do you guys think about it? As a basketball fan, I love it. I get to see the stars in college. NBA drafts and rosters seem much more solid. There will always be busts, but as a fan I don't have to worry about my team drafting a 17 year old based on the P word.



The free market part of me though says that these kids should be able to decide for themselves and should be able to earn $$ if someone is willing to gamble and pay them.



Is the NBA really looking after these teenagers or are they protecting their owners/GMs from themselves who just can't help but draft potential over quality? Even tennis now has some age restrictions aimed at helping prolong a player's career and reduce burnout.



I wonder if the NBA could expand their D-League and be more like MLB to draft these high schoolers and put them in the D-League first on a minimal contract before allowing them to move up to the NBA.

The free market decided they didn't want 17 year olds drafted, so I have no concern with that. The NBA is a private organization and can create their own rules.

I think the NBA did the socially responsible thing. It's not like other industries/jobs don't have minimum age requirements. It was never about the very few elites like Kobe who were good enough to go to the NBA out of HS. The problem was with all the kids who were getting terrible advice and declared for the draft out of HS and hired an agent and didn't get drafted, leaving them also with no chance at getting their college paid for while playing. It's easy for 17 year olds to be a little delusional about their NBA hopes, and when every year there were twice as many HS players declaring as there were total number of players who can be taken in the entire draft, it's a problem. At least this way those guys have a year to play in college to find out if they really are that good, or to develop their game at the appropriate level.

They need a 3rd round of the NBA draft for drafting to your D-League team. The player gets better coach, etc. The team can pay him 150K a season have an option sign him to a rookie scale contract. Everyone wins. Players who aren't really student athletes can get some money and the best chance to develop. More players who want to play in college will have scholarships available.

Qman wrote:
They need a 3rd round of the NBA draft for drafting to your D-League team. The player gets better coach, etc. The team can pay him 150K a season have an option sign him to a rookie scale contract. Everyone wins. Players who aren't really student athletes can get some money and the best chance to develop. More players who want to play in college will have scholarships available.

Those players are already free to sign with a D-league team. The problem with a lot of those HS players declaring is that the majority of them were only D-league talent at best to begin with, but were sold a bill of goods by a sleazy "agent" or were endlessly pumped up by people around them who aren't qualified to be giving that type of advice. They can still go to the D-league today if they don't want to go to college, but the rule at least gives them another chance to look at college first.

I hate the NBA draft rules, but I hate the NCAA's response to it even more.



I wish the NBA/NCAA relationship was similar to the MLB/NCAA relationship.



1. H.S. kids should be able get drafted. There is a market for them. Ask Lebron, Kobe and KG.



2. A H.S. or college kid could choose to go to play college basketball after he gets drafted as long as he doesn't play professionally. This all or nothing approach adopted by the NCAA makes ZERO sense. Why do they think you are a pro if you get drafted? They don't apply that in baseball. Kids get drafted all the time and still choose to play college baseball.



3. If a kid enrolls in college, he stays for 3 years. If you are a college student, you're a college student. The one and done is a farce. This is also the rule for MLB.



4. Kids should be able to hire agents and still play in college. WHAT!?!? Yes, absolutely. They can assist players in negotiating deals and cover the expenses for players to workout for teams. Good agents can provide sound advice and really help a kid. The problem is the NCAA demonizes agents so that their own classist rules aren't scrutinized.

mormonrasta wrote:
I hate the NBA draft rules, but I hate the NCAA's response to it even more.



I wish the NBA/NCAA relationship was similar to the MLB/NCAA relationship.



1. H.S. kids should be able get drafted. There is a market for them. Ask Lebron, Kobe and KG.



2. A H.S. or college kid could choose to go to play college basketball after he gets drafted as long as he doesn't play professionally. This all or nothing approach adopted by the NCAA makes ZERO sense. Why do they think you are a pro if you get drafted? They don't apply that in baseball. Kids get drafted all the time and still choose to play college baseball.



3. If a kid enrolls in college, he stays for 3 years. If you are a college student, you're a college student. The one and done is a farce. This is also the rule for MLB.



4. Kids should be able to hire agents and still play in college. WHAT!?!? Yes, absolutely. They can assist players in negotiating deals and cover the expenses for players to workout for teams. Good agents can provide sound advice and really help a kid. The problem is the NCAA demonizes agents so that their own classist rules aren't scrutinized.

I like all of this, a lot. Can you imagine if another Lebron James comes along that the NBA really will want to turn him away? #4 is the only one that's kinda iffy. How are these kids going to pay for these agents? Even if you make a good case for it, it's probably the least likely to happen just because of the perception that recognized.

mormonrasta wrote:
1. H.S. kids should be able get drafted. There is a market for them. Ask Lebron, Kobe and KG.

You should also ask Korleone Young, Ousmane Cisse, Ndudi Ebi, James Lang, and Ricky Sanchez---kids who were drafted by the NBA, but never made it out of the D-league and after washing out were ineligible to get a free college education while playing hoops. These guys are the reason for the one-and-done rule, not the Kobe/Garnett/McGrady/Chandler/Lebron/Howard players.

snoscythe wrote:

1. H.S. kids should be able get drafted. There is a market for them. Ask Lebron, Kobe and KG.

You should also ask Korleone Young, Ousmane Cisse, Ndudi Ebi, James Lang, and Ricky Sanchez---kids who were drafted by the NBA, but never made it out of the D-league and after washing out were ineligible to get a free college education while playing hoops. These guys are the reason for the one-and-done rule, not the Kobe/Garnett/McGrady/Chandler/Lebron/Howard players.

Thank you for proving my point.



Since Garnett was drafted in 1995 there were 41 players drafted straight out of high school. It sure worked out for these guys:



1. KG (no explanation needed)

2. Kobe (no explanation needed)

3. Jermaine Oneal (6X all star)

4. Tracy McGrady (7X all star

5. Al Harrington (16 year NBA career)

6. Rashard Lewis (2X all star)

7. Jonathan Bender (262 games over 8 seasons. Injuries)

8. Darius Miles (446 games played)

9. Deshawn Stevenson (NBA champion 2011)

10. Kwame Brown (13 year NBA career)

11. Eddy Curry (12 year NBA career)

12. Tyson Chandler (still playing)

13. DeSagana Diop (12 year NBA career)

14. Amare Stoudemire (still playing)

15. Lebron (no explanation needed)

16 Travis Outlaw (622 NBA games played)

17 Kendrick Perkins (still playing)

18 Dwight Howard (no explanation needed)

19 Shaun Livingston (NBA champion)

20 Sebastian Telfair (564 games played)

21 Al Jefferson (still playing)

22 Josh Smith (still playing)

23 JR Smith (still playing without a shirt)

24. Dorell Wright (549 games played)

25. Martell Webster (580 games played)

26. Andrew Bynum (2X NBA Champ)

27. Gerald Green (Slam dunk champ. 497 games played)

28. CJ Miles (Still playing)

29. Monta Ellis (Still playing)

30. Louis Williams (Still Playing)

31. Andray Blatche (564 games played)

32. Amir Johnson (Still Playing)



Do I feel bad for guys like Ebi? I don't know. He made 2.7 million dollars by the time he was 23 playing basketball instead of going to college. He's still playing in Europe. I'm sure he can afford to go to college anywhere if he wants to. Let's be clear that he was the exception, not the rule.



78% of the HS players that got drafted had good to great careers. I would be stunned if even 50% of the players drafted out of college played 500+ games in the NBA like the overwhelming majority of these players. The one and done rule is dumb. It protects nobody other than the NBA from getting great players for longer.



What is even dumber is the NCAA response. You brought up Korleone Young. He was a 2nd round pick. That's probably not what he envisioned when he declared for the draft. If he played baseball and didn't like where he was drafted, he could have played college baseball. Many of these kids negotiate until right before school starts. But Korleone Young plays basketball. The NCAA shuts the door on basketball players who do not like where they are drafted. It doesn't make sense at all.

Nobody says anything about college tennis players or golfers who go one and done to go pro. If a brilliant computer engineer takes a job after one year of college no one says a thing. Young basketball players make a career decision to leave college early and people get upset. I don't see why it's even an issue.



Go Cougars!



L Hatton

Louisville, KY