(03-29-2018 10:16 PM)arkstfan Wrote: (03-29-2018 09:31 PM)ken d Wrote: (03-29-2018 05:05 PM)Wedge Wrote: As someone suggested awhile back, if the NBA doesn't open its draft to recent HS graduates, then the G League should set aside 3 roster places on each team that can only be filled by players who have graduated HS but are not yet eligible for the NBA draft. (E.g., teams could have 12 unrestricted roster spots plus 3 more that can only be used on 17-18 year old HS grads.)
Assuming the G League expands by a few more teams so that each NBA team has a G League team, there would then be 90 G League places specifically reserved for players who want to bypass college basketball.
I could see the NBA allowing its teams to draft players straight out of high school and then requiring them to play a year in the G-League before calling them up to the bigs. That would also give those teams incentive to give more minutes to the "none and done" players they have already used a valuable draft pick on.
They might adjust the G-League pay scale to give these kids incentive to actually sign with the team that drafts them instead of returning to the draft the following year.
One high school player per team is almost double the number of one and dones last year.
There are two logical ways to address this if the NBA wants to preserve the idea of keeping straight from high school players out to cut down draft mistakes.
One is for the NBA to offer the 30 or so top prospects a G League salary to go play a year and then be draft eligible after the season, maybe toss in a college scholarship like MLB does, if you sign out of high school, MLB will pay for you to get a four year degree. Can even toss out a $50k or $100k signing bonus. Remember that's cheap, NBA minimum this year is $582,180 and 30th pick gets just over $1.3 million in this draft, first pick just over $6 million.
Another is just add a third round to the draft with a low pay scale and if you get called up after a year to the team that drafted you, you get whatever salary you negotiated the year before but if there are any guarantees you defeat the point.
College athletics is at a crossroads, with challenges to its player compensation rules coming from all sides. All things considered, courts would much prefer that the NCAA and professional sports leagues sort out all their issues on their own. They would rather not be forced to make momentous rulings.
One thing is already part of settled law. Intercollegiate sports are only tax exempt if they are deemed “amateur”, and a part of the schools’ larger tax exempt purpose. But for the most part, the definition of amateurism is left hazy. To some extent, the NCAA has treated amateur status the way one would look at virginity. Once it’s lost, it can never be restored. But that’s an NCAA construct, not the IRS position.
If the NCAA were to modify its stance on this one point, it could offer a number of possible options for the NBA and NCAA to more peacefully coexist. Here is one option.
The NBA could institute a supplemental draft, for high school seniors only. It would take place before the regular draft, and ideally before the NCAA’s second signing date. No player would have to declare for this draft. It would consist of a single round, and no team would be required to use its pick. But, if they do use it, it would be in lieu of their first round pick in the regular draft.
If a high school senior isn’t selected in this supplemental draft, he may then not be drafted until he is two years out of high school.
If he is drafted, he would be assigned to the G-League. The team that drafts him would then have to sign him to a rookie NBA contract, based on the current salary scale for the position in which he was drafted. That is, if he was selected by the team holding the 10th pick, he gets the starting salary any other player would get for being the 10th pick in the regular draft.
The team that drafts him must sign him to a rookie contract before the next draft or lose its rights.
At that point the player has three options: stay in the G-League in hopes of being drafted later by another team, sign with another pro league, or go to college. Here is where the NCAA comes in. After one year in the G-League, they should, IMO,
allow the player to regain his amateur status by enrolling in college, and completing a minimum of 30 credit hours with, say, a 2.5 GPA. For its part, the NBA team would reimburse the school for the cost of its scholarship for that year, since the player won’t be eligible to compete that year (much like a transfer student).
After regaining his amateur status, the player would have three years remaining eligibility, and the NBA would agree not to draft him again until he has used up at least two of them.
Everybody gives up something here, but everybody also gains something. That has to happen for any deal to work.
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Game changer in college basketball
