Article on NBA age minimum

[CFAN38]

Thought this was a good read

http://www.sbnation.com/2016/3/22/11283050/nba-age-minimum-draft-2016-fix-it


I persoannly like the following idea.

-All players are draft eligible at high school graduation or age 18.

-The length of your rookie contract is based on age, player has a year added for every year under 20 and one reduced for every year over 21. This allows teams more time to see/develop teens before committing big $$ and it gives college players a reason to stay in school once there. The logic often used for getting right to the NBA is to get to the big second contract faster this curbs some of that.

-Expand the D-League, every team must have their own team

-Players on rookie scale deals should be able to openly move from D-League to NBA roster with no limit on the number of moves or prospects. In doing so allowing teams to carry over the 15 man roster as long as additional players are on rookie deals and where obtain in the draft or on draft night by the team. (Cant trade for a young player and get the same benefits as you would if you drafted player) This promotes teams to develop their own guys.

- Give all second round picks 2 year D-League contracts with a 3rd year NBA team option/Player D-league Option. So play good for two seasons in D-League and the NBA team can retain you on the NBA roster for 1 year at the same rate the 30th pick in your draft would get in 3rd year. (This would eliminate need to send guys to Europe, Iverson and Thorton would both currently be playing in Maine). Or if you are not having your option picked up you can take the player option to stay one more year in D-League.

-If the 2nd round pick plays in 25% of the NBA teams games in either of his first two season he earns a contract to match that of the 30th pick in the draft. Playing his way into a larger deal. ( This would have to be a salary cap and tax exemption to avoid teams holding guys back for cap reasons)

- Add a third round to the draft. These picks will be treated like current 2nd round picks. Nothing guaranteed. 

-D-league should have a early season Tournament, a regular season and then a NCAA like end of the season single elimination Tournament.


In the end I think this works out great for the Owners and the Players association. The Players simply will have more members as more guys will have guaranteed contracts and will no longer have players forced to go to college. The owners have better control of the development of young players. With this control they will also be more patient with development without the fear of being burnt on the second contract.

For the NCAA they will have more fringe NBA players staying 4 years. If you are a guy who knows he isnt going 1st round and will likely be stuck in a 2 year D-League deal you will be more apt to sticking it out for your education then going to the Pros.

[manl_lui]

that is quite interesting...more players enter the pool, makes 2nd rounders more valuable as well as teams aren't just drafting projects. 3rd round becomes the new 2nd round, that those players drafted there are probably projects.

This also allows teams to be more patient with their projects when they are drafted young. I am also a big fan of every team should have their own D-League team, but on the business side, I'd place those D-League teams in cities/states where an NBA team is not present, like what we have in Maine. Expand the business. Sort of like a real JV team of the NBA

[JohnBoy65]

I like this idea too. One of the only other ideas I saw that I really liked was an elimination of the draft.

Instead it'd create a 'Rookie free agency period'. Basically, the worst the team the larger the contract a team could offer. So, this year the lakers would be able to offer Ben Simmons on of the largest rookie contracts, but if Simmons were so inclined he could take a cheaper contract with Cle, SAS, GS, etc. I thought it was interesting, and it could put an end to tanking.

[CFAN38]

I like this idea too. One of the only other ideas I saw that I really liked was an elimination of the draft.

Instead it'd create a 'Rookie free agency period'. Basically, the worst the team the larger the contract a team could offer. So, this year the lakers would be able to offer Ben Simmons on of the largest rookie contracts, but if Simmons were so inclined he could take a cheaper contract with Cle, SAS, GS, etc. I thought it was interesting, and it could put an end to tanking.

The idea of a rookie free agent period seems a bit scary to me. I could see this quickly turning corrupt similar to the issues big time college basketball faces. However the NBA is less likely to set in and sully their product with punishments. I expect we would see alot more High school athletes getting their pockets lined by agents and the AAU teams would just start feeding their NBA interests.   

[PhoSita]

I'm definitely in favor of expanding roster slots for D-League call-ups, and allowing rookie contract players to play in the D-League without taking up active roster spots.


Making the D-League more robust and competitive would be really good for college and the NBA. 

I'd like to see more guys who are only interested in playing professional ball head straight to the D-League, while guys who want to get an education stay in school long enough to actually finish their degrees.

It'd be nice if NBA teams could draft players while they are still in college without ruining their college eligibility.