Should the NBA continue to allow the one and done?

Okay, Brogdon is doing better than his fellow rookies, but Otto Porter is playing better than Brogdon and is a year younger. Point is, does the NBA gain that much if the players develop away from the league? Players start to become major contrubutors at around the same age anyway, are we better off as viewers if the players become better in leagues we don’t watch rather than in the NBA?

Teams are cetainly better off because they draft finished products for very little money, but the players lose loads of cash. If the NBA bans the one-and-done, we will see the NCAA losing loads of players, basically the NCAA will be a bunch of rich kids and middling talent that couldn’t get offers overseas. So stars like Michael Porter Jr. will be playing three years for Barcelona and most Americans won’t get to see him for those three years at all instead of seeing him play a year of college and then slowly progressing on an NBA team.

 Your point that we didn’t have many all-star freshmen drafted between 2009 and 2013 is a little silly, because if you look at the 2009 draft, for example, it had 2 freshmen in the lottery, 50% of these freshmen have become an all-star (Derozan), while Tyreke Evans was the rookie of the year. If anything, this is a point for having more freshmen come out.

 Its not the One and Done thats the problem.. Its the AAU system thats the problem.. Ive coached international players and obviously American players, I was blown away how much basketball theory international talent understand at a young age.. Lots of times College Coaches are the first introduction for American players to Basketball Theory..

 First of all most people would say basketball today is far better than the 70s and 80s, and this is the best or 2nd best era of basketball next to the early 90s.

People say this all the time, and my response will always be this: What makes you think you will be better as a basketball player plaing 35~ games against a handful of NBA players compared to 80+ games against all NBA players?

You look at this year as an example, but ignore the fact that 2015 had alot of great players all one and done (or 19 year old europeans)

One and Done players are the best in the NBA by your statistics, you say it’s 5 – 13, but you pit Freshmen against Sophmores, Juniors, and Seniors. So Actually the Freshman have 5 players and the other 3 classes didn’t average 15 which they would if they were equal to Freshman. 

The NBA needs to allow you to draft players when ever they want. If a NBA team thinks Michael Porter can help them right now, they should be able to draft him if he enters his name, and he should be able to play for them.

An effective way to bridge this problem is to have a skip college or stay two years program. A large number of the current one and dones would have gone pro straight from high school, and a surprisingly large number of the players who left high school to go to the pros have done very well (Johnathan Abrams has a great book on the subject). The system would be tough for players who surprised by going one and done (D’Angelo Russell, Marquesse Chriss, etc), but many of those players would not have suffered from another year in school, and the college game would be measurably improved, reducing the incentive to be a pro hoops factory like Duke and UK have been the last few years.

An effective way to bridge this problem is to have a skip college or stay two years program. A large number of the current one and dones would have gone pro straight from high school, and a surprisingly large number of the players who left high school to go to the pros have done very well (Johnathan Abrams has a great book on the subject). The system would be tough for players who surprised by going one and done (D’Angelo Russell, Marquesse Chriss, etc), but many of those players would not have suffered from another year in school, and the college game would be measurably improved, reducing the incentive to be a pro hoops factory like Duke and UK have been the last few years.

 Sure, if the College game wants to start paying it’s players then force them to stay there.  Otherwise, these kids have a right to make a living like anybody else does.  If college won’t pay, then go overseas.

If we want to encourage players to stay stateside.  Let kids fresh out of highschool enter the draft, don’t make them go to college and instead force them to play in the G League for a year or two.  In this case, the League.. not the NCAA gets to profit off of the young athletes and the atheletes actually get paid what most would be getting paid after a year in the NCAA anyways.  The G League would be lit.

Of course good luck selling NBA franchises on this idea as who wants to pay top prospect money for a player that won’t even be on their team for a few years.

 The top players in the NBA are absolutely unstoppable. They are VIDEO GAME players. 

As a whole, players are shooting 3’s at a higher rate than some guys hit on layups back in the 50’s (might be exaggerating but whatever).

NBA players are optimizing their games with the rules they are given. It’s a 3 pointer league. Widen the lane, change the shot clock to 30 seconds, and get rid of the 3 pointer (or ban the 3 but replace it with a further out 4 point arc) and you will see a different game. 

What do critics mean by a lack of fundamentals anyway? Guys can’t dribble? 

I think a lot of guys aren’t good off the ball. Their court awareness could be better. I think some of the problem is being OVER COACHED. Basketball is like chess. Memorize a few moves, and some theory, then let the game evolve. Awareness is key. Be in the moment.

There shouldn’t be any restrictions on players coming out of high school, let alone this foolish one and done rule. If guys aren’t good enough they won’t make the league. If guys are good enough they will make it. 

 If the NBA doesn’t want one and done players and they are ruining the league than the answer is pretty simple imo. Stop drafting them. But we all know that will never happen so instead the suggestion is for the NBA to put a rule in place to protect gms from themselves. It’s just hypocritical. There is a very short window for NBA players to earn money and there is no guarantee of how long that window will stay open. One injury and it could be over. Potentially millions gone just like that. I thought the original one and done rule was exploitative and for them to extend it to 2 years or more would be even worse.

This constant idea that is being shoved down our throats by old-timers that the skill level and quality of play is somehow decreasing is just ridiculous. I have been watching the NBA for 25 years and I would say that the overall skill level of the players is probably better now than it’s ever been. The game is evolving rapidly and we are seeing things and players with physical gifts and skill sets we have never seen before. The league is certainly not hurting. Some skills (like low post scoring) are becoming more scarce but there are still plenty of players in the league that can do that and do it well. It’s just been determined thats not always the most efficient way to play. We are seeing better spacing, ball movement, creative offensive sets and less isolation ball than at any point in modern NBA history right now.

The idea that only college coaches can develop players is outdated as well. There are plenty of players who come into the league with questionable skill sets and develop into completely different players once they get to the league. The best way to improve is by being tested by the best players are there is no better league in the world than the NBA. The NBA has its own minor league system now as well which didn’t exist in previous generations for players who need to develop and aren’t ready for the league. 

I just don’t see any logical reason for the NBA to extend the age limit, other than giving gms more time to evaluate players to prevent them from making bad decisions and the NCAA to profit more.

Personally it made the draft more fun. Sure their was more busts but isnt that on the scouting dept for each team. Your drafted in the first round of the draft  that money sets you up for quite awhile.