LofJ wrote:The last hoorah for big time college basketball was last night. I wonder what effect the elimination of 1 and done will have on the game? What will NBA teams do with top prospects if they don't go to college?
Guys like Zion would likely skip the G league and be playing in the NBA right now. But what about raw, but talented players like Brandon Ingram that need development? Will people start to flock to G league venues once the talent pool hits a critical point? I think they will, but it will take time.
Good players will also certainly continue to play in college, and some of them will turn out to be great in the NBA. But eventually the best young players that the NBA wants their hands on but aren't quite ready for the big league will turn the G league into something worth watching.
College basketball will basically be the same, the appeal is mostly the atmosphere of games & the final tournament which won't change at all. It wasn't any better or worse when guys were jumping ship out of high school prior to the rule change. I would also argue 1 and dones haven't been super relevant to who ends up winning the whole thing. Since '06, 1 and dones have only played a huge role on the '12 Kentucky and '15 Duke teams.
I expect the G-league to be mostly college-aged kids relatively soon after the rule is changed, but I don't think it'll ever hit the popularity of College Basketball. I think it'll make the NBA better in the long run. I think NBA teams should just look into having Academies and start letting teams try to develop their own talent.