Eliminating Age Restrictions On Drafting Would Eliminate Tanking

[Celtics18]

No.

What they need is to extend rosters, and create a better sort of farm system were teams can stash players who are not ready to play without them taking roster spots from better and legit NBA players.

Well -- yes to that, but it would require some sort of modification to the current age restrictions because with a real player development system, the NBA would be less dependent on the NCAA hypocrisy.

The only age restriction should be the legal age to sign a contract and hold a job.

I actually think sixteen is a pretty good number.  It is the age where you can legally leave school and work full-time. 

I am sold on a fully developed NBA farm system and a minimum age of sixteen.  However, I know that's much more unlikely to happen.  I would settle for eighteen to start with. 

[slamtheking]

going back to each team that misses the playoffs having an equal lottery representation would definitely undo the tanking issue. 

I think the weighted system could work but go to a simpler system where each team gets a certain percentage of chances.

Say, best 4 records in the lottery get 5 balls each,
next 5 worst records get 10 balls each and worst 5 records in the league get 15 balls each. 
- slightly skews towards the worst teams
- team quality will only let you tank just so much.  a team might be able to drop one level, say top 4 down to the next 'tier' but they won't be able to go all the way to the bottom.
- getting into a lower tier does improve the odds of winning but not by much.
top 4: 5 chances in 125.
middle 5: 10 chances in 125.
Bottom 5: 15 chances in 125.
-->draw only 2 picks and do the final 12 in order of record.  The absolute worst team is guaranteed no worse than the 3rd pick.

just a thought.

EDIT:
additional thought: base the lottery chances on the team's record that holds the pick, not on the team that originally held the pick. 
For example, a lottery team trades a pick to a playoff team for a player.  The lottery team still stinks with that player so is back in the lottery.  The playoff team makes the playoffs again.  Going into that year's draft the lottery ball distribution is based on the playoff team's record rather than the lottery team's record.  This ensures playoff teams don't get to amass young stars while the lottery teams continue to stink.

[boscel33]

I am for the opposite.  Raise the age to after their junior season.  (or the equivalent if they decide to go overseas if they want to be paid)



The reason, college basketball and overseas is the NBA development leagues.  I want to see more NBA ready rookies, not less.  I am tired of drafts where we don't really know most the names with players that have longer list of skills they need to work on then skills that are already developed.  I am sick of watching 1st rounders spend three seasons sitting on a bench before leaving. 


As for preventing tanking, the only way to possible lessen it, is to adjust the rules to favor team play over star play.  That way, one player will not make all the difference.

So, when you left high school, did you have to wait a certain time period before you got a job and began working, if that was your choice?  When I joined the NAVY out of high school, I didn't have to wait.  Why can a baseball and hockey player be drafted right out of high school, but the NFL and NBA don't allow it?

[Chris]

I am for the opposite.  Raise the age to after their junior season.  (or the equivalent if they decide to go overseas if they want to be paid)



The reason, college basketball and overseas is the NBA development leagues.  I want to see more NBA ready rookies, not less.  I am tired of drafts where we don't really know most the names with players that have longer list of skills they need to work on then skills that are already developed.  I am sick of watching 1st rounders spend three seasons sitting on a bench before leaving. 


As for preventing tanking, the only way to possible lessen it, is to adjust the rules to favor team play over star play.  That way, one player will not make all the difference.

So, when you left high school, did you have to wait a certain time period before you got a job and began working, if that was your choice?  When I joined the NAVY out of high school, I didn't have to wait.  Why can a baseball and hockey player be drafted right out of high school, but the NFL and NBA don't allow it?

There is nothing stopping them from earning money playing basketball.  It is just stopping them from playing in the NBA.

Plenty of organizations have requirements that would prevent people from getting a job with them right out of highschool. 

And the reason the NHL and MLB are able to do it, is because they have great infrastructure for player development in place, as well as contracts that are conducive to that, so players do not have to develop at the major league level.

This is so much more complicated than you make it out to be.  This would involve massive investments by the owners, and would also involve massive give backs by the players associations as far as entry-level contracts are concerned to make happen.  It is a major CBA issue, that neither side really wants to get involved with.

The players association would prefer things stay the way they are, where rookies get paid, and are generally in the majors right away, and the owners would rather have more finished products when they start paying them.

[JSD]

I think it would fix the problem. Wiggins probably would have been a 2007 2nd round pick.

Um, no.

Teams tank in basketball because one player can make such a difference to a team. This is not football, hockey or baseball where you have 15+ rotation players and 30+ man rosters. Basketball will always be a star league, and thus teams will always gamble on the next great thing just because the payoff is so high.

You're exactly right. But now that one player has been off the board for 5 years, so the only logical thing to do is try to win as many games as possible. I don't think you will see as many teams tanking to draft a 14 year old because it becomes so much more of a crap-shoot. Sure, it will happen once in a great while like in Hockey/Baseball.

[JSD]

I am for the opposite.  Raise the age to after their junior season.  (or the equivalent if they decide to go overseas if they want to be paid)



The reason, college basketball and overseas is the NBA development leagues.  I want to see more NBA ready rookies, not less.  I am tired of drafts where we don't really know most the names with players that have longer list of skills they need to work on then skills that are already developed.  I am sick of watching 1st rounders spend three seasons sitting on a bench before leaving. 


As for preventing tanking, the only way to possible lessen it, is to adjust the rules to favor team play over star play.  That way, one player will not make all the difference.

You are confusing the completion with the minor league. Imagine having Lebron James and Durant from ages 18-21 playing in Greece? That would be nothing short of bad for the league.

[LooseCannon]

I really can't understand what's so laughable about eliminating the mandatory one-year, unpaid basketball apprenticeship in the NCAA for young players with potential NBA talent.

Brandon Jennings and Latavious Williams say "hi".

[Celtics18]

I really can't understand what's so laughable about eliminating the mandatory one-year, unpaid basketball apprenticeship in the NCAA for young players with potential NBA talent.

Brandon Jennings and Latavious Williams say "hi".

I don't understand your point.  Brandon Jennings is doing just fine, and I'm not sure that Latavious Williams would have been tearing up the league by now if only he'd spent a year at Kentucky or Kansas. 

[LooseCannon]

I really can't understand what's so laughable about eliminating the mandatory one-year, unpaid basketball apprenticeship in the NCAA for young players with potential NBA talent.

Brandon Jennings and Latavious Williams say "hi".

I don't understand your point.  Brandon Jennings is doing just fine, and I'm not sure that Latavious Williams would have been tearing up the league by now if only he'd spent a year at Kentucky or Kansas.

It's not a mandatory unpaid apprenticeship.

[TripleOT]

With the first pick of the 2033 draft, the Oklahoma Thunder take the unborn child of Kevin Durant and Monica Wright. 

[Celtics18]

I really can't understand what's so laughable about eliminating the mandatory one-year, unpaid basketball apprenticeship in the NCAA for young players with potential NBA talent.

Brandon Jennings and Latavious Williams say "hi".

I don't understand your point.  Brandon Jennings is doing just fine, and I'm not sure that Latavious Williams would have been tearing up the league by now if only he'd spent a year at Kentucky or Kansas.

It's not a mandatory unpaid apprenticeship.

Point taken.  I was speaking figuratively, not literally.  Ricky Ledo says "hi" as well, but he wasn't getting paid. 

For most highly touted basketball prospects leaving high school, I'm guessing playing for free for a year at college feels fairly mandatory.