[valentine]

 So I was just sittin around thinking about basketball and what not, and my mind turned to the NBA Age Restriction and wanted to ask you guys, if it were possible, do you think lil’ Doc could jump straight from high school to the league? Do you even think Doc would let him do it? And lastly, do you think it would hinder his progression or just speed up the inevitable? 

[akhan786Participant]

I don’t really think that Rivers would jump to the nba because I don’t think he’s really ready yet.

Though he posseses one of the most complete offensive games that we have seen in years at the highschool level, he still needs to shore up his defense and he can not only improve his defense at Duke but change it into a plus not a minus.

Also, what most consider when entering their name early in the draft is whether they need the financial assistance. I assume that the Rivers family is quite a bit wealthy and has no need of another source of income.

Lastly, I think that Rivers will enjoy the college experience even if it is just for one year.

If you want a likely candidate to jump straight from highschool to the NBA the best prospect IMO is Andre Drummond. This guy reminds scouts of the Dwight Howard’s defensive capabilities and Amare Stoudemire’s offensive prowess.

[akhan786Participant]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH3_K4uIsxA

[akhan786Participant]

sorry had a little trouble embedding it

[Ghost01Participant]

Considering hes the consensus number 1 player in high school bball, and before the age restriction was implicated the number 1 player would go pro every year, so i would say yea.

[mikeyvthedonParticipant]

I think he could go from the NBA to HS and that his dad would let him do it. Going into the draft out of HS was never a big concern, it was just about how immediately you could contribute when doing so. He more than likely would be a very high pick, so I do not think it would be a problem. However, he more than likely would have a very difficult rookie year and would not necessarily contribute at a high level right away.

People here tend to think that a player staying in college will help or hinder their ability to play in the NBA, and I do not think that is the case. If someone stays in college, chances are they will improve, but I think they would probably improve even more on the NBA level. The better the competition you face, the better you become. So, I am not a person who believes that a player is better by staying in college compared to playing in the NBA, it makes very little sense to me.

One thing I do believe however, is that if someone stays in college for a year or even two, they are definitely more prepared to contribute in the NBA. I think I might have confused people by this statement, so I will give an example. Take Kevin Durant. KD is a player who was affected immediately by the age restriction and played in college. He killed it, won POY awards and generally dominated to the tune of around 26 and 11. His rookie year, he was still pretty strong, scoring 20 and getting about 5 boards and a bit if I remember correctly. Now, imagine if KD was allowed to come out of HS immediately. Would he have come out averaging 20 and 5? I personally do not think so, I think he more than likely might be around 15-16 or so, and would have more than likely got bodied a lot. However, by this second year in the league, I am guessing he would have maybe been averaging better than his stats he actually posted in his 2007 rookie of the year campaign. Think this theory is far fetched? Look at the best HS to NBA players from their first to second years. The improvement is usually huge.

So, my thoughts on Rivers would be, that yes, he would more than likely be putting off the inevitable. But, his one year in college will just mean he will be putting up better numbers in his first year in the NBA. Kobe went from about 8 to about 15. LeBron went from 21 to about 27. Had both of those guys spent a year in college, I am guessing Kobe would be about the same and LeBron would be around 25 ppg in his first year. I am not a person who thinks that college will change the way you play in the NBA or what your role may end up being. What I do think is that a player spending a year in college just makes them more able to contribute as a rookie, and for a stat head, that is enough for me to like the age limit. So, Austin would probably be better from the age of 18 to 19 if he played in the NBA, but he will be more ready to contribute in his first year once he plays the year out at Duke.

[Quincey Hodges]

Andre Drummond would go high but get murdered the first 2 seasons. He has the Perry Jones drive where he doesn’t go hard all the time and doesn’t dominate like he should

[Quincey Hodges]

Austin would probably go but he wouldn’t be the top player picked. Davis would go before him because unlike previous number ! Rivers isn’t thought to have the most upside in his highschool class.

Davis,Gilchrist, and Miller would all go before him according to NBA scouts ( from scouts.com,Rivals,Draftexpress talking to NBA scouts)

[mikeyvthedonParticipant]

Drummond is someone we will have to wait and see on, but it could be tough in the early going. He has to display a drive that has not really been seen in him. Dwight Howard had that drive and he averaged 12 and 10 as a rookie out of HS, but until Drummond learns to utilize his dominant size and athleticism, those statistics would more than likely not be reached for at least a while. As far as Rivers, I think he would likely go top 10 in this years class, but he more than likely would be behind the three larger wing prospects listed. He might be the most ready to contribute of the three, but their long term prospects would make them very intriguing and hard to pass up. Nonetheless, I think it is a good thing for their early NBA careers to have a season to maybe bulk up and refine their skills and be more ready to contribute as rookies.

[HitsterParticipant]

Austin Rivers could be a top 5 prospect if he was eligible to be drafted this year given his skillset and the value that top PG’s seem to have attracted in recent drafts. Whether he would have declared I don’t know, his family must be fairly rich so the need for money may not be great and with a lockout a possibility I could have seen him waiting for as long as possible before making a decision.

[Quincey Hodges]

Even the rich guys go pro early though. For alot of the kids its the Dream of playing in the NBA

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