Who thinks the minimum age will change eventually?

[Moranis]

 

I say expand the D league to a full 30 teams and make 18 year olds eligible for the NBA draft.  If they are not ready for the NBA right away, stash them on the D-league roster for a year or two.

In principle, this is a great idea.  Attendance is pretty good in Iowa.  But when I watch NBDL games on television the venues look empty.  I would wonder how many of these franchises are profitable.  Even with their limited rosters and coaches.

It would be interesting to see if attendance would improve if it were more of a true minor league system.

I think a big reason minor league baseball does well in general is that there is more of an attachment with the major league clubs, and just about every pro player plays for those teams at some point. 

The problem of course is that contracts would have to be completely changed for these kids coming in.  It works in baseball because most of the players do not get a ton of money until they make it to the big leagues.  But in the NBA, they get paid right away, and that just won't work financially.

I don't think you would have to change much in the way of salary.  You just pay him the contract he gets whether he is in the pros or in the minors.  You can also sign players to minor league only contracts, which would obviously be a lot less.

[Chris]

 

I say expand the D league to a full 30 teams and make 18 year olds eligible for the NBA draft.  If they are not ready for the NBA right away, stash them on the D-league roster for a year or two.

In principle, this is a great idea.  Attendance is pretty good in Iowa.  But when I watch NBDL games on television the venues look empty.  I would wonder how many of these franchises are profitable.  Even with their limited rosters and coaches.

It would be interesting to see if attendance would improve if it were more of a true minor league system.

I think a big reason minor league baseball does well in general is that there is more of an attachment with the major league clubs, and just about every pro player plays for those teams at some point. 

The problem of course is that contracts would have to be completely changed for these kids coming in.  It works in baseball because most of the players do not get a ton of money until they make it to the big leagues.  But in the NBA, they get paid right away, and that just won't work financially.

I don't think you would have to change much in the way of salary.  You just pay him the contract he gets whether he is in the pros or in the minors.  You can also sign players to minor league only contracts, which would obviously be a lot less.

The point is, if this system is going to work, owners are not going to want to pay players the same amount when they are playing on a minor league team.  And why should they?  If a player is not good enough to be playing on the NBA team, then they shouldn't be paid that way.

You are all for fair labor practices, and it isn't exactly fair to have guys making $30 thousand a year, and guys making $4 million a year doing the exact same job, playing for the exact same team, and in many cases producing the same amount, just because one player was drafted higher because of his "potential".

[Finkelskyhook]

I go to a C's game to enjoy the moment.

But I like the NBDL better as a watchable game.  Every game I've been to has players playing hard all the time.  Talented officials calling the game evenly.  Not as much talent....But affordable... $16 seats 5 rows up....$16 can't get you parking at an NBA game.....

Kinda helps also that team I watch has the NBDL MVP, several NBA call-ups, and one of the most adaptable coaches in basketball at any level.   

I would love to see an expanded NBDL as part of the CBA if feasible.

[Celtics18]

 

I say expand the D league to a full 30 teams and make 18 year olds eligible for the NBA draft.  If they are not ready for the NBA right away, stash them on the D-league roster for a year or two.

In principle, this is a great idea.  Attendance is pretty good in Iowa.  But when I watch NBDL games on television the venues look empty.  I would wonder how many of these franchises are profitable.  Even with their limited rosters and coaches.

It would be interesting to see if attendance would improve if it were more of a true minor league system.

I think a big reason minor league baseball does well in general is that there is more of an attachment with the major league clubs, and just about every pro player plays for those teams at some point. 

The problem of course is that contracts would have to be completely changed for these kids coming in.  It works in baseball because most of the players do not get a ton of money until they make it to the big leagues.  But in the NBA, they get paid right away, and that just won't work financially.

I don't think you would have to change much in the way of salary.  You just pay him the contract he gets whether he is in the pros or in the minors.  You can also sign players to minor league only contracts, which would obviously be a lot less.

The point is, if this system is going to work, owners are not going to want to pay players the same amount when they are playing on a minor league team.  And why should they?  If a player is not good enough to be playing on the NBA team, then they shouldn't be paid that way.

You are all for fair labor practices, and it isn't exactly fair to have guys making $30 thousand a year, and guys making $4 million a year doing the exact same job, playing for the exact same team, and in many cases producing the same amount, just because one player was drafted higher because of his "potential".

Is 30 grand the going rate for an NBDL player?  Anyway doesn't it happen in baseball all the time that minor leaguers play alongside mult-millionaire big leaguers. 

I think that salaries will go down across the board anyway with the new CBA.  I do think this can be worked out. 

[mostofusrsad]

    The quality of play in college is so much worse than years ago. It seems like if they added another year or even two to get into the pros it would benefit both leagues.I was curious what people thought the future will hold.  

I don't think the NBA should stop allowing 18 year olds to play in the league.. I don't think that we should force certain players to go to college or wait two years.  Basketball players should have the freedom to choose what they want to do and that trumps all else.

[Finkelskyhook]

 

I say expand the D league to a full 30 teams and make 18 year olds eligible for the NBA draft.  If they are not ready for the NBA right away, stash them on the D-league roster for a year or two.

In principle, this is a great idea.  Attendance is pretty good in Iowa.  But when I watch NBDL games on television the venues look empty.  I would wonder how many of these franchises are profitable.  Even with their limited rosters and coaches.

It would be interesting to see if attendance would improve if it were more of a true minor league system.

I think a big reason minor league baseball does well in general is that there is more of an attachment with the major league clubs, and just about every pro player plays for those teams at some point. 

The problem of course is that contracts would have to be completely changed for these kids coming in.  It works in baseball because most of the players do not get a ton of money until they make it to the big leagues.  But in the NBA, they get paid right away, and that just won't work financially.

I don't think you would have to change much in the way of salary.  You just pay him the contract he gets whether he is in the pros or in the minors.  You can also sign players to minor league only contracts, which would obviously be a lot less.

Unless the NBA thinks that it can support two bottomless money pits (WNBA) and still be profitable, Chris' solution is more viable, IMHO.

[Moranis]

 

I say expand the D league to a full 30 teams and make 18 year olds eligible for the NBA draft.  If they are not ready for the NBA right away, stash them on the D-league roster for a year or two.

In principle, this is a great idea.  Attendance is pretty good in Iowa.  But when I watch NBDL games on television the venues look empty.  I would wonder how many of these franchises are profitable.  Even with their limited rosters and coaches.

It would be interesting to see if attendance would improve if it were more of a true minor league system.

I think a big reason minor league baseball does well in general is that there is more of an attachment with the major league clubs, and just about every pro player plays for those teams at some point. 

The problem of course is that contracts would have to be completely changed for these kids coming in.  It works in baseball because most of the players do not get a ton of money until they make it to the big leagues.  But in the NBA, they get paid right away, and that just won't work financially.

I don't think you would have to change much in the way of salary.  You just pay him the contract he gets whether he is in the pros or in the minors.  You can also sign players to minor league only contracts, which would obviously be a lot less.

The point is, if this system is going to work, owners are not going to want to pay players the same amount when they are playing on a minor league team.  And why should they?  If a player is not good enough to be playing on the NBA team, then they shouldn't be paid that way.

You are all for fair labor practices, and it isn't exactly fair to have guys making $30 thousand a year, and guys making $4 million a year doing the exact same job, playing for the exact same team, and in many cases producing the same amount, just because one player was drafted higher because of his "potential".

The MLB owners pay the kids in the minors major league money all the time. 

You seem to have a very warped sense of what fair labor practices are. 

[feckless]

is there an age limit for baseball or hockey? I honestly do not know.  Didn't MLS pro soccer play an 8th grader?

[MBz]

is there an age limit for baseball or hockey? I honestly do not know.  Didn't MLS pro soccer play an 8th grader?

I think MLB is 16, but I don't think you can draft anyone until they graduate HS.  I think the age 16 really only comes into play for people from out of the USA.  It's a different situation though.  Baseball and hockey have a legit minor league where if a kid isn't ready you can send them down there to be with other young kids.  Soccer is kind of similar, you have reserve squads.  If the NBA gave you the option to hold maybe 17 players and 2 of them had to play for your NBDL affiliate all season then I'd be in favor of scrapping the age rule, until then though I think it's a good rule and would like to see it increased to two years. 

[LooseCannon]

If you raise the age limit, more players will take the Brandon Jennings route of playing overseas until they are eligible.

Create a financial incentive for staying in school.  Players under the age of 21 who have played less than three years of college have an addition year of restricted free agency.  Have the rookie scale contract amounts include a 5% bonus that doesn't count against the salary cap for players who complete college.

This will probably create some incentive for teams to draft teenagers who they get to own for less money for a longer period of time, but that may be balanced out by players having a disincentive to put themselves in such a situation.

One reason that baseball and hockey have minor league affiliates is that those minor leagues were originally completely independent of the "major" leagues and later formed affiliate relationships.  Football just requires too many players, so minor league football takes the form of arena football, while the NBA never went beyond negotiating the allowance of ten-day contracts in its relationship with the CBA.  The NFL did try to build a farm league with NFL Europe, but failed.

[SHAQATTACK]

I don't think it is healthy to play professional contact sports until the body has completed growing .

It would be a good IDEA for individuals to finish growing up mentally and physically .

There should be a min. college committment of 2 years. Meaning if you waste the schools resources , if you decide to go to college then you can't be in the NBA period for two years.