NBA Hopes to Raise Age Limit Again.

[EastSideBucksFan]

I don't understand how they just go ahead and do this.


Don't they need approval from the Players Association to change the current CBA?

[Buck You]

NBA commissioner David Stern and NCAA president Myles Brand are in agreement that both sides would benefit from a rule that would require players to stay in college for at least two years before leaving early for the NBA.

Now they just have to convince everybody else.

According to sources, the proposal would still need to be passed through the NBA Players Association.

"It's a big step for the owners and the commissioner to say they're ready to bargain in good faith to get the rule passed," said one college coach who wished to remain anonymous. "The NBA is willing to give up something to get this rule passed; we just don't know what it is yet."

The NBA adopted a 19-year-old age limit through the collective bargaining agreement which expires in 2010-11.

If the new rule goes into effect, it would eliminate the one-and-done players such as Greg Oden and Kevin Durant and force them to spend at least two years in college.

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Wow, again. This would definitley make next years draft class very weak if it indeed is imposed for next year. It would though probably get rid of the busts in the drafts. Because with 2 year players you really know what you are going to get. I don't particularly like it at all but whatever works I guess.

[emunney]

The word you're looking for is "raise."

What will the league give up? RFA?

[Buck You]

The word you're looking for is "raise."

What will the league give up? RFA?

Yeah, I can't think right now.

I don't understand how they just go ahead and do this.


Don't they need approval from the Players Association to change the current CBA?

Yeah, it says that in the article.

[jerrod]

that title is killing me

but anyways, i think this is stupid just like i thought it was stupid before but this is one of those situations that the people that it infringes upon have absolutely no power.

[Andrew34r]

I dont like it. I like the excitement of getting a young player with a ton of potential and developing him or in some cases he is already developed enough to make an impact right away. If a player is developed enough to have an impact on a team I dont see why he should be held back for 1 year let alone 2 years. And to be honest if things dont work out in the NBA a player can always go back to school and get a degree...god knows they will have enough money to do it.

[ReasonablySober]

I heard this on the radio earlier in the day and it made my day. It makes both leagues better. You get good college players sticking around another season making NCAA Competition that much better (can you have imagined Durant and Augustin vs Walker and Beasley this season and meanwhile, the NBA benefits because these guys get another year of seasoning and playing 30 minutes a night instead of wallowing away on the bench in the NBA.

But this won't happen for a few years. I believe the current CBA runs through 2011.

[DanoMac]

I honestly am not in favor of this.

Take a look at some of the NBA's stars in this day and age. Who are, arguably, 3 of the best 5 players in the NBA right now? Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant. All high schoolers. What if one of them had been forced to go to college and busted up a knee? Stern says he wants to get rid of teams taking high school players and hoping they become stars. Well, Stern, YOU could be getting rid of some future stars.

[Buck You]

I honestly am not in favor of this.

Take a look at some of the NBA's stars in this day and age. Who are, arguably, 3 of the best 5 players in the NBA right now? Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant. All high schoolers. What if one of them had been forced to go to college and busted up a knee? Stern says he wants to get rid of teams taking high school players and hoping they become stars. Well, Stern, YOU could be getting rid of some future stars.

Well, I see what you are saying there and I'm not in favor of this rule either. But who says that the player wouldn't bust the same knee out in the NBA later in his career?

[ReasonablySober]

I honestly am not in favor of this.

Take a look at some of the NBA's stars in this day and age. Who are, arguably, 3 of the best 5 players in the NBA right now? Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant. All high schoolers. What if one of them had been forced to go to college and busted up a knee? Stern says he wants to get rid of teams taking high school players and hoping they become stars. Well, Stern, YOU could be getting rid of some future stars.

You're talking about the extreme exceptions.

[raferfenix]

I honestly am not in favor of this.

Take a look at some of the NBA's stars in this day and age. Who are, arguably, 3 of the best 5 players in the NBA right now? Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant. All high schoolers. What if one of them had been forced to go to college and busted up a knee? Stern says he wants to get rid of teams taking high school players and hoping they become stars. Well, Stern, YOU could be getting rid of some future stars.

they could just as easily bust their knee in the NBA and never reach superstardome too though. The big problem is their finacial future will be in jeopardy, it's not that they'd be any more likely to have an injury ruin their future.

[LISTEN2JAZZ]

This move benefits fans of the NCAA and NBA, but hurts the players (especially those who won't be drafted at all after more extensive scouting). Personally, I don't care about them any more than they care about me, so I'm all for it.

People against the age limit always point to how good Lebron/Kobe/KG are as a reason why there shouldn't be an age limit, but that doesn't address the goal of an age limit at all. The goal is not to keep Lebron and Kobe out of the NBA. It's to keep them out of the NBA until they're 20.

With a 20 year old age limit, the drafts would have looked like this:

2005: Lebron, Bogut, Paul, Deng
2006: Howard, Jefferson, Smith, Marvin Williams

The same players would be making it to the NBA, but the best ones would be going at the top of the draft, and the first year or two of crappy development would happen outside the NBA. It would be a return to the era when #1 picks dominate the league as instant all-stars.

[trwi7]

2005: Lebron, Bogut, Paul, Deng

[ReasonablySober]

The NFL makes college kids wait two years. You never hear a serious argument to that. Williams and Clarette challenged the rule but a lot of good that did them.

People will tell you that it's a different game and that college kids aren't physically ready to play in the NFL. But that wouldn't stop an NFL team from investing a first or second round pick in them. You're kidding yourself if you think an NFL team wouldn't invest a first round pick in a guy like Peterson or Vick or maybe even someone like Terrell Pryor out of high school. They could stash them on the bench, the same way they do in the NBA.

But what good does that do? What good did it do the NBA or NCAA that Telfair came to the league two years too early instead of going to Louisville? Or Webster or Livingston? Kendrick Perkins or James Lang?

Let these guys go and refine their games, get some serious burn in great programs under excellent coaches. It's good for everyone.

[LISTEN2JAZZ]

If a player is developed enough to have an impact on a team I dont see why he should be held back for 1 year let alone 2 years.

Because there's no way to enforce "if they're developed enough." Teams had to draft all talented high school players whether or not they were developed, and the result was weak rookie classes who don't help their teams.

Lebron was good as a rookie, but almost none of the others were.

Andrew Bynum: 1.6 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 0.2 apg
Tracy McGrady: 7.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.5 apg
Jermaine O'Neal: 4.1 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 0.2 apg
Al Jefferson: 6.7 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 0.3 apg
Josh Smith: 9.7 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.7 apg
Kobe Bryant: 7.6 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 1.3 apg
Monta Ellis: 6.8 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 1.6 ppg

Considering how talented those players are, those are some awful stats. I'm not sure if a single one of those players was any better than whatever veterans minimum scrub they forced out of the league when they were drafted.

[LISTEN2JAZZ]

All high schoolers. What if one of them had been forced to go to college and busted up a knee? Stern says he wants to get rid of teams taking high school players and hoping they become stars. Well, Stern, YOU could be getting rid of some future stars.

In order for this to have any validity, you'd have to show that there are more injuries in college than the NBA. I would guess that due to the much easier schedule in the NCAA, there are fewer injuries there.

Also, we already had an era where all players waited 2 years before coming to the NBA. It existed from the inception of the lotto in 1984 until the year after KG was drafted in 1996. Do you honestly believe that the high school era produced star players at a greater rate than the college era before it?

[zizek]

Follow the money. It's a good way to scam young basketball stars out of millions of dollars. Colleges get the money the high school stars bring in in attendance and pay them diddly. The NBA gets a bigger free minor league system just when they've shown they can run one themselves if they want to pay for it.

The lame LeBron, KG, Kobe, Dwight, TMac, JO and Moses Malone are bizarre rarities argument is trotted out when the rarities in the last legal high school class appear to be the flops and when players with 30-some games in college are doing fine.

It's all about the bottom lines of big businesses like UW, Marquette and the Bucks.

[ReasonablySober]

Follow the money. It's a good way to scam young basketball stars out of millions of dollars. Colleges get the money the high school stars bring in in attendance and pay them diddly. The NBA gets a bigger free minor league system just when they've shown they can run one themselves if they want to pay for it.

The lame LeBron, KG, Kobe, Dwight, TMac, JO and Moses Malone are bizarre rarities argument is trotted out when the rarities in the last legal high school class appear to be the flops and when players with 30-some games in college are doing fine.

It's all about the bottom lines of big businesses like UW, Marquette and the Bucks.

I prefer to think of it as preventing young kids from screwing NBA teams out of millions of dollars they don't deserve. Yes, there are the LeBrons and Howards. But there are more guys that enter the NBA, sit on the bench and do absolutely nothing of value for years.

[LISTEN2JAZZ]

Follow the money. It's a good way to scam young basketball stars out of millions of dollars. Colleges get the money the high school stars bring in in attendance and pay them diddly.

They aren't forced to go to college though. They can go straight to the D-League and earn $35k for the two years, or they can go to Europe and earn well over six figures. Good luck getting me to shed a tear for them.

The lame LeBron, KG, Kobe, Dwight, TMac, JO and Moses Malone are bizarre rarities argument is trotted out when the rarities in the last legal high school class appear to be the flops and when players with 30-some games in college are doing fine.

How many high school players have been good pros in year 1, and how many total haver there been? Lebron and Amare are the only good ones I can think of out of what, 50?

It's all about the bottom lines of big businesses like UW, Marquette and the Bucks.

It's also about the level of entertainment I receive as a paying fan. I'm the one paying, and I want to watch serious players, instead of kids who don't know what they're doing.

[zizek]

-= original quote snipped =-



I prefer to think of it as preventing young kids from screwing NBA teams out of millions of dollars they don't deserve. Yes, there are the LeBrons and Howards. But there are more guys that enter the NBA, sit on the bench and do absolutely nothing of value for years.

The NBA has shown it is perfectly capable of running a minor league system for those who aren't ready and never will be. The NBA decides who has enough talent to give their first round money to. It is obviously not the player's fault if the NBA scouts and GMs can't do their jobs.