Towns, Lyles, WCS, Booker are going in the 1st round
Dakari Johnson 2nd round
Harrison Twins probably will be undrafted
I think Dakari Johnson will be picked in the early second round. I don't know about the Harrison twins, I feel like they will both get drafted, probably on the second round. I just can't see both going undrafted.
Harrison twins --> poster children for the impact of having kids attend college for a year instead of jumping right to the NBA. these 2 would have been first round picks coming out of high school and now after their sophomore years there's a legit discussion point that neither one could be drafted.
is there anyone that doesn't see the benefit of that rule?
I'm fairly sure the Harrison twins don't see the benefit.
Yup.
Rule favors management of NBA teams by keeping them from having to choose on talent when they're 18, just another year of no wages for the Harrison twins.
Given that even talented players frequently wash out of the NBA rookie deals are often all you get too.
Players should be able to enter the draft out of high school. If they are undrafted they should be able to play in college. Players should be payed and able to get endorsements in college. If an underclassman is undrafted they should be able to stay playing in college. All this would be much more fair for the player. Unfortunately the colleges and NBA owners don't care much about that.
Nor should they care about that. They are trying to produce the best product they can, and delayed draft eligibility helps (Harrison twins being a great example). I understand that some straight from high school guys were/are Hall of Famers, but I firmly believe that overall, later entry produces a better product.
I fully accept there are two sides to this argument, and that the current system would have been hurtful to KG, Kobe, etc. However, there is one pro-high school eligibility argument that I roll my eyes at and that is the "It's not fair to the kid to deny him the opportunity if he's ready" argument.
So what? Practically every other job (outside of the arts or entrepreneurship) has the same situation. What if you are an incredibly talented electrician, but you drop out of apprenticeship school a month before graduating - you can't get a job until you finish the apprenticeship, no matter how talented you are. Just pick the college major and drop out 10 credit hours short of getting your degree. That will preclude you from being eligible for most jobs. You can argue that it's arbitrary and unfair, but it is the easiest way for the employer to be comfortable that they are hiring a reasonably qualified person. You make rules geared toward the norm, you don't make rules based upon the rare and spectacular exception.
And if you want to compare pro athletes with artists or entrepreneurs, I'll disagree on this basis: by definition, I'm doing both of those things on my own dime. Team-based athletes are "asking" someone to hire them at their company. The company can and should be able to determine the criteria for hiring.
If I'm buying a house, I want to know that it was built by trained and certified experts. Maybe the most talented plumber alive thought that school wasn't for him, so he isn't certified. Good for him, but he's not getting my business. As a consumer of the NBA's product, I want the best product possible for my money. That may slightly inconvenience two or three 18 year olds per year who aren't interested in school. As a consumer, I'm OK with that.