Where Things Stand Now

[tzznandrew]

I'm pretty sure after Bird they changed the rule so that you couldn't do that.

But my question is this: who changed the rules, the NBA or NCAA? I thought it was the NBA.

Is this an NBA thing, rather than an NCAA thing? Auerbach drafted Bird and he stayed in college the next year. I think the deal is you can draft them, but you don't own the rights to them, so they can go back to college and then come out again a year later and get redrafted.

 

[upstater]

I'm pretty sure after Bird they changed the rule so that you couldn't do that.

Why isn't the rule in effect for college hockey?

 

[FfldCntyFan]

The only possible answer I have for why the rule is not the same for hockey is that college hockey would have a huge loss in players (who would play junior instead of NCAA) if they were not allowed to play after entering the draft.

It is an NCAA rule, not an NBA rule that ends a players eligibility once he enters the draft. I have no clue why the NCAA changed this (from Larry Bird's day) as this only seems to benefit the NBA.

I still believe that this comes down to the NCAA wanting to look as if they care about these kids when the reality is that they want to use them to make the money that TV contracts offer and ignore anything else.

 

[upstater]

Good point FF, after all, college hockey players can go to juniors or minors. Not so for basketball players.

The NBA should really get minor league basketball going. It's high time. 16 teams of 10 players is what they need. That's 160 players, probably room (if you assume a player can hang out in such a league for 3 or 4 years) for 40-50 players a year. Stick the teams in Seattle, Hartford, Buffalo, Baltimore, Brooklyn, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati or Columbus, Tampa, Kansas City, St. Louis, Vancouver, San Jose, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, San Diego, Vancouver.

Done.

 

[Gurleyman]

Baseball has yet another system - you can drafted out of high school, but if you go to college, you have to wait three years before being draftable again. But baseball has a farm system in place, and there's very little a player can do for their marketability by playing college baseball.

 

[RS9999X]

Good point FF, after all, college hockey players can go to juniors or minors. Not so for basketball players.

The NBA should really get minor league basketball going. It's high time. 16 teams of 10 players is what they need. That's 160 players, probably room (if you assume a player can hang out in such a league for 3 or 4 years) for 40-50 players a year. Stick the teams in Seattle, Hartford, Buffalo, Baltimore, Brooklyn, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati or Columbus, Tampa, Kansas City, St. Louis, Vancouver, San Jose, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, San Diego, Vancouver.

Done.

It's called the D-League.

There are many good proposals the NBA players voted down (tabled). The big one was players could be drafted with a Lotto pick at 18 or 19 but couldn't play or get paid until 20 and the contract guarantee would be based on academic performance and voidable at the rookie pay scale (at the team's discretion) if the player didn't meet the Academic Progress for Sophs. In other words a player who turned out to be a dog but made the grades would get their guaranteed Lotto contract. OTOH a dog who didn't make the APR would cost themselves a huge chunk of moolah and play at the rookie minimum for 3 years.

 

[tzznandrew]

It is an NCAA rule, not an NBA rule that ends a players eligibility once he enters the draft. I have no clue why the NCAA changed this (from Larry Bird's day) as this only seems to benefit the NBA.

Bird didn't declare for the draft in 1978, but he didn't have to apply for "hardship" because his original class (before he dropped out of Indiana) was graduating that year. Despite the fact that he didn't declare for the draft, the Celtics drafted him.

The NBA made a rule after this, the "Bird Collegiate Rule," that stops teams from drafting players who aren't declared for the draft. That's why you didn't see a team draft LeBron James when he was 16, or why nobody swiped up Harrison Barnes or Jared Sullinger last year.

Now, because of the Bird rule, a player needs to declare, and if they stay in and either sign an agent or get drafted, your eligibility is gone. Randolph Morris a couple of years ago didn't sign an agent nor get drafted, and then was allowed to play at Kentucky again after sitting out. He was also then a free agent, eligible to be signed by any team at any time.

 

[upstater]

It's called the D-League.

There are many good proposals the NBA players voted down (tabled). The big one was players could be drafted with a Lotto pick at 18 or 19 but couldn't play or get paid until 20 and the contract guarantee would be based on academic performance and voidable at the rookie pay scale (at the team's discretion) if the player didn't meet the Academic Progress for Sophs. In other words a player who turned out to be a dog but made the grades would get their guaranteed Lotto contract. OTOH a dog who didn't make the APR would cost themselves a huge chunk of moolah and play at the rookie minimum for 3 years.

That's not a minor league. I'm talking about players entering at 18 and getting decent contracts, as in baseball and hockey. I'm talking about medium-sized professional markets. The developmental league caps pay and is in venues that would never garner much interest.

 

[CAHUSKY]

\
The NBA should really get minor league basketball going. It's high time. \.

They have one. Its called college basketball. Why spend the money to do anything else?

 

[upstater]

They have one. Its called college basketball. Why spend the money to do anything else?

Eh, force them into it. Just to shove it in Stern's smarmy face.