NBA Draft Age Limit

[williams22]

So I'm in the middle of writing a policy debate speech for a managerial communications class I have to take. I've chosen to argue against the current NBA Draft minimum age rule and I was curious to see everyone's thoughts on it.

I'm going to be arguing that it has created the "one-and-done" phenomena which has had a negative impact on the college game. Also, it restricts the options of young players and threatens to send some overseas (Brandon Jennings). Furthermore, we are kidding ourselves if we think making these kids go to college is equivalent to giving them a college education. Most of these players concentrate on school for the first semester of their freshman year and that is all.

Thoughts?

[FishFace5]

+1. Agree with your whole thought process.
Make it 2 years or just let em go right out of high school.
Give em a "1 and done" in the development league if you dont want teams drafting 18 year olds but its ruining college ball.

[JohnAnthony]

Willaims, can you please expand on this rule? I'm outside of the US and obviously less knowledgeable, especially when it comes to rules and restrictions in NBA & NCAAB. Thanks in advance!

[FishFace5]

Cant go right from high school to the NBA anymore JA.
You gotta do something else for a year. College, Prep School, Europe ect.

[williams22]

The way the rule is currently written is you must be 19 years old and at least one year removed from high school in order to enter the NBA draft.

[williams22]

I'm going to propose a multi-part plan:

1. High school players will be allowed to choose if they want to jump straight to the pros or not.
2. The NBA will provide pre-draft camps at which a group of NBA GMs, scouts, and both current and former players will evaluate the talent.
3. At the end of each camp, the players will receive written comments from this group with honest recommendations about whether or not they are ready for the pros.
4. If a player decides to go to college, he must stay for at least 3 years, similar to baseball.
5. A rule change will be made that will allow NBA teams to draft players and send them to the D-League without having the player count against the team's roster space.

How does this sound? Anyone willing to play devil's advocate?

[H-BOMB]

The NBA sucks with this rule. You can go fight a war at 18 but you can't play in the NBA. If a kid is ready to play in the NBA let him.

[JohnAnthony]

Thanks for explaining FF & Williams. Good like with your presentation tomorrow!

[whatsgood5]

I'm going to propose a multi-part plan: 1. High school players will be allowed to choose if they want to jump straight to the pros or not. 2. The NBA will provide pre-draft camps at which a group of NBA GMs, scouts, and both current and former players will evaluate the talent. 3. At the end of each camp, the players will receive written comments from this group with honest recommendations about whether or not they are ready for the pros. 4. If a player decides to go to college, he must stay for at least 3 years, similar to baseball. 5. A rule change will be made that will allow NBA teams to draft players and send them to the D-League without having the player count against the team's roster space. How does this sound? Anyone willing to play devil's advocate?

I really like rule number 5 williams. That obviously eliminates the one and done factor, and helps keep the college game much more likeable.

[Bill Dozer]

There was talk in the offseason, likely because nothing else to write about, that Kobe and Lebron could go to Europe and get paid beyond what they could with the cap, be internationally marketed, and pay much less in taxes. It would in theory make the Euro league international and take NBA fans. If they ever scored a marquee player they'd risk losing a lot of young rooks for more than the one year.

It's a stretch but imagine Lebron and Jennings on Maccabi Tel Aviv? Jersey sales without NBA revenue?