Boilermaker Rick wrote:
What the NBA could do, if they wanted and really cared about the "problem", but they never will, would be to let players get "drafted" out of high school, but instead they could retain the rights of the player through the 4-5 years of eligibility. The problem is they'd have to pay them something, whether a signing/retention bonus, and that would cost them money when instead they could do nothing and instead just have the best talent prove themselves for at least a year, and then pay those who are good, and let the others sit in college getting better.
I agree with this. NHL teams do something along these lines, where you can hold the rights of a college player for up to four years (it's only up to two if they play in junior), but don't have to pay them or use a roster spot on them until they sign. They're then allowed to prove themselves and develop on the NCAA's dime. It's a good system for defensemen, who can use all four years of college to develop and then start the service clock at 22 or 23. The catch to developing on the NCAA's dime is that if you can't get that collegiate player signed in those four years, he goes into unrestricted free agency.
But yeah, I would like to see the NBA do that. I think it would make college basketball more interesting to know that these guys are already "in the system" for their NBA teams. Wasn't it like this circa Bird/Magic?
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Molly Lambert wrote:
The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.
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