Like I said a better minor league system like they have in baseball or hockey would allow kids who do not want to go to college a chance to earn money and grow into an NBA caliber talent. What about a draft system where a team can draft a player and then let him stay in school, like stashing in Europe. I don’t know if these are good solutions but I don’t like forcing players to stay in college. I don’t even like the one year rule, even though it seems good for the game, because it sets a poor precedent.

These are adults, it is not the nba, or the ncaa or anybody else’s job to protect them from their own choices. If they want to drop out of school at 19 and enter the draft that is their choice whether it’s smart or I like it or it’s good for the game it does not matter. They are grown men making their own life choices for better or worse.

Robert Silverman: Hit the Ted Nelson wall. Anyhoo, since salaries have skyrocketed the last 20 years, it’s hard to compare the long-term earnings of 4 year players (pre-1990 or so) and the 1-year/straight out of HS Garnetts et al.
But the fact that it’s sports that we’re talking about and not any other labor question doesn’t dissuade me from giving up my lefty street cred  

I don’t entirely get this giving away stuff to college. I went to college. There’s a hell of a lot kids get from that experience. Sure the schools make a lot money from sports, but those schools also provide world class educations for their students with a lot of it being paid for by proceeds from athletics.
Would the University of Michigan be as good as school as it is without athletics? Would the University of Alabama? Seriously, I don’t think so.
So, yes, students who play sports help bring money into a school. Many get to come to those schools on full scholarships. Especially those players that are likely to go pro.
So, they get essentially an education for the price of playing a sport…not sure that’s a terrible trade.

And Ben R.
better advice, and better GMs? Seriously.
That’s basically saying you’re going to do nothing. I mean, you can’t control any of that. And the GMs and advice givers are acting in their own interests. That suggestion is tantamount to lip service, IMHO.
No, these kids get preyed upon by the very people you are asking to look out for them.

Again, pro-worthy kids pay no tuition, virtually not housing or food costs, and they get skilled coaching and preparation for a career, and then some because of the four year degree they get. The schools are better schools for the money they make from sports, certainly, but at least they are giving something in return.

I think it protects these young guys. Prepares them better for life.

http://hoopsanalyst.com/blog/?p=533

He was high on Landry and I’m pretty sure even he would be shocked. One of the things that is interesting is that 2nd rounders that have success are usually international prospects, undersized 4′s or combo guards. The fact that Landry was a prototypical 2/3 both in size and athleticism, and was a great scorer and rebounder last year makes his slide even more strange. I understand he didn’t come on till his senior season and both stanford and the Pac10 were horrible butit still surprises me he did not impress someone in workouts.

Mea culpa. On draft night, especially after enduring the misery of seeing no sign of the Knicks logo until the mid 2nd round, only to hear the name of one “known” guy not projected to get drafted (Rautins) and one unknown guy with a milquetoast-sounding name who also wasn’t projected to get drafted, after throwing lots of other names around in the pre-draft posts here and never seeing those two, after reading mock drafts one after another in Draft Express and never seeing those names anywhere, much less going to the Knicks, I admit that my usual optimism was tapped out. Really, I’d be impressed if anyone could show me one reasonable source that touted Fields before the draft.

That he has blossomed into a 30mpg starting 2-guard on a thus far on an above .500 team is mind-boggling, as is the fact that all of the teams in the NBA, with all of their highly-paid scouts, passed on him (in some cases 2-3 times!) At least Ariza was on people’s radar when he came out.

It’s great to look back and laugh at that moment from today’s lofty vantage point of hindsight. Good job, Z!

I just hope that Fields doesn’t turn out to be like Lawson and Blair: expectedly-awesome rookie campaigns followed by weird drop-offs in value. What is going on with those guys?

But the fact that it’s sports that we’re talking about and not any other labor question doesn’t dissuade me from giving up my lefty street cred

Frank O.: I think the NBA really needs to consider a rule that encourages kids to stay in a full four years. I don’t recall, but it seems as though the average career is pretty short and a lot of NBA players who did not finish college in the long run suffer for it.I realize this isn’t a fully formed thought, but I was wondering what others think.
And please, the they should get paid now if they can argument, in my view, is very, very short-sighted. I think the money and the league eats up a lot of good kids who might have been better, and better off getting a full four years of school before coming to the NBA.Of course, college is another problem. Money has corrupted the college system quite a bit, IMHO.  

If it were solely a “what’s the best way for a potential NBA player to develope/hone their skills” question, sure – it’d be worthy of conversation. But the problem is, the massive dollars that Universities get from NCAA bids, being on Nat’l television, etc., doesn’t even begin to equal the money (a 100k scholarship, let’s say) that a college player is given in return. And while one might be tempted to say, “Yeah, but we’re giving a kid who’d never be able to afford it the shot at a college education,” I’d say that argument runs head-first into some seriously racist memes.

The NCAA exploits free labor. The idea of forcing a worker (an NBA prospect) to basically give away the fruits of his labor for basically nothing in order to be able to ply his trade is really problematic to me. Whether it’s in that worker’s best long-term financial interests to give away that labor (spend 4 years in college) is another question altogether. It is clear that it’s in the NBA’s long-term interest to have all college players stay for 4 years as it (probably) would improve the quality of the their product….