Galileo's Brilliant NBA Plan!

[Galileo]

First this:

Age minimum has already benefited players, NBA
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=Ag0ZHhyC01U_gmBUeR82oWa8vLYF?slug=ys-sternagelimit032408&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Galileo has a better plan:

The NBA and the NCAA work out a deal. Any player in college can be drafted, but players drafted can remain in college. NBA mandated contracts will require college players drafted the right to remain in college as long as they want to, or until they graduate. While in college they will still be paid their NBA salary, which will be put in an escrow account until the player jumps into the NBA. There is no such thing as declaring for the NBA draft anymore.

BENEFITS

The Players

* The players can earn their college degrees without sacrificing NBA money.

* Individual rights of free association are not infringed. Any player can be drafted, if they are legal adults 18 years old.

* Risk of injury is no longer a rationale to enter the NBA early.

The NCAA

* The best college players will likely remain in college through their senior year, unless they are NBA ready beforehand. Even then, they may stay in college for more exposure. This system is no different than a brilliant young engineer signing a professional contract to work somewhere when they finish their undergrad.

* The star players in the NCAA tournament will be more likely to be future NBA stars. As of now, most of the tourney stars are only shining because all the NBA talent has gone pro. The endless, almost 100% turnover, of new stars every year will end.

* The NCAA can tout players already drafted, like high schools tout players offered scholarships. Just as a high school player is touted as 'recruited by North Carolina', a college player can be touted as 'recruited by the San Antonio Spurs'.

The NBA

* New NBA players will have more NAME RECOGNITION when they enter the NBA. If they play four years at a major college and hit the NCAA tourney a few times, the general public will be more aware of, and be a fan of, these players. This will build NBA ratings.

* Raw prospects can play full time in college, instead of sitting on an NBA bench, and wasting a roster spot.

* If the NBA thinks paying players still in college is too expensive, please bear in mind the NBA will not be incurring the costs of coaching the player or the costs of meals, travel, insurance, etc. If necessary, a plan of partial reinbursement from the NCAA could be worked out to make it fair, after weighing all the pros and cons.

This is Galileo's brilliant plan!

I hope someone with connections will forward the plan pronto to David Stern, Kenny Smith, or Charley Rosen. I also await Duncan228's response, as he is one of the most intelligent blog posters here at Spurstalk.com

:clap :clap :clap

[duncan228]

I also await Duncan228's response, as he is one of the most intelligent blog posters here at Spurstalk.com

You only like me because I'm a Duncan fan. :)

And "he" is a "she."

[Galileo]

You only like me because I'm a Duncan fan. :)

And "he" is a "she."

R U a hottie?

:music

[Typhoon]

R U a hottie?

:music


Virgo

[peewee's lovechild]

R U a hottie?

:music


I wonder how Kyle Smith feels about all this.

[ClingingMars]

I love the plan.

-Mars

[gospursgojas]

What happens if a player gets injured???

Do they still get that money? Do you actually belive that an NBA front office would want to give away money to a player that is not the same after an injury? What if its career ending?

If they don't get the money, than you got the same problem of kids coming out of school early bc they don't want to wait for fear of injury.

Its fine the way it is.

[K-State Spur]

there's no benefit to the NBA there. if they are going to be paying the kid, they'd rather he be learning on an NBA roster.

the reason that the league wants the age limit is that they are able to get a better read on players BEFORE investing any money on them.

[Galileo]

What happens if a player gets injured???

Do they still get that money? Do you actually belive that an NBA front office would want to give away money to a player that is not the same after an injury? What if its career ending?

If they don't get the money, than you got the same problem of kids coming out of school early bc they don't want to wait for fear of injury.

Its fine the way it is.

The player still gets the money. That's the risk of drafting young raw talent. Young raw talent sitting on your bench doesn't help your team anyway.

[Galileo]

there's no benefit to the NBA there. if they are going to be paying the kid, they'd rather he be learning on an NBA roster.

the reason that the league wants the age limit is that they are able to get a better read on players BEFORE investing any money on them.

The NBA doesn't want the best players in the NBA to be unknown to the public. A good example is Michael Beasly, maybe the best college player since Tim Duncan.

Star college players are on national TV playing dozens of times each year. The NBA has still not passed college basketball in overall popularity. In my state, Wisconsin, its not even close. College basketball is way more popular here.

[peewee's lovechild]

the reason that the league wants the age limit is that they are able to get a better read on players BEFORE investing any money on them.

I agree with that.

The NBA has to be benefitting greatly before they consider any major changes.

[2Cleva]

Not only doews the NBA want to scout them more, they also want the stars to generate more fan interest.

Guys like Oden and Durant brought name recognition and a following to their teams for casual fans from the moment they are drafted. Guys out of HS don't do that.

[K-State Spur]

The NBA doesn't want the best players in the NBA to be unknown to the public. A good example is Michael Beasly, maybe the best college player since Tim Duncan.


so, what's your point?

there's still no advantage to the NBA drafting and paying these kids before they leave school (not to mention the giant haymaker that the NCAA would throw on that plan). college athletes will be on TV and gain exposure whether they are cashing NBA checks or not.

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

The problem I see is that the NBA still offers brighter lights and more recognition than college. The money a kid can earn from his team might still be the same, but you're still going to have kids thinking shoe deals, and endorsement contracts. The morons who are only seeing dollar signs when they jump to the draft and torpedo their futures are still only going to be seeing dollar signs.

Also, this gives the draftees even more leverage against the teams. A guy could quietly do what Yi did this year and let it be subtly known that if he's drafted by a team that doesn't suit his tastes he'll just stick around for another few years. Now that might be kind of ideal in that it would make the players stay in school, but it's one reason why the NBA might not be on board. I think GMs feel like there's enough uncertainty in the draft without adding more.

Plus, this could all but kill the D-League.

[Galileo]

so, what's your point?

there's still no advantage to the NBA drafting and paying these kids before they leave school (not to mention the giant haymaker that the NCAA would throw on that plan). college athletes will be on TV and gain exposure whether they are cashing NBA checks or not.

Kevin Durant would be getting 10 times more national publicity, if he were still in college this year. He might be starring in the NCAA torney right now. Those fans will follow him to the NBA.

Tyler Hansbrough has 10 times as many fans as Durant, even though Durant is a better player.

[K-State Spur]

psycho T also has 10x as many fans as beasley, who is still in school (many of these fans and media have delusions that Hansbrough is actually the player of the year, but I digress).

It's more a Carolina thing than an NCAA vs. NBA thing.

Plus, you have to take into account that Durant went to dying team. Put him on the Knicks and we'd never hear the end of his greatness.

[Galileo]

so, what's your point?

there's still no advantage to the NBA drafting and paying these kids before they leave school (not to mention the giant haymaker that the NCAA would throw on that plan). college athletes will be on TV and gain exposure whether they are cashing NBA checks or not.

you didn't read the whole article. The NCAA and the NBA must work out the plan together.

The problem is, once you're drafted, you must leave college. Why does it have to be this way? In any other profession, a college student can line up a job before they graduate. But not in basketball. Plain stupid.

[stretch]

not going to work. terrible "brilliant plan".

[Galileo]

what happens if you draft a 18 year old kid that sucks in college? There have been tons of All-Americans that have been busts so your stuck paying them?



What happens if North Carolina recruits a junior in high school, and then he sucks his senior year?

NBA teams are under no obligation to drafy underclassmen. It used to be every draft pick was a senior, before Spencer Haywood. If you pick an underclassman, you take a risk.

Almost every NBA team is already wasting money on players with bust contracts, whether the players are young, old, or in between.

[K-State Spur]

you didn't read the whole article. The NCAA and the NBA must work out the plan together.

The problem is, once you're drafted, you must leave college. Why does it have to be this way? In any other profession, a college student can line up a job before they graduate. But not in basketball. Plain stupid.

i read your idea. but it does not matter when you say that they must work it out, because the premise is beyond reason.

the ncaa will never agree to a policy that strips their athletes of their amateurism. you can list all the other advantages you want, but it's not going to happen.

[K-State Spur]

What happens if North Carolina recruits a junior in high school, and then he sucks his senior year?


then UNC has wasted a scholly. not tens of millions.

the problem is, I don't think you understand WHY the NBA went to the age limit. it had absolutely nothing to do with getting their future draft picks national exposure at the college level. it had everything to do with with hedging the risks on the kids that they were investing millions into.

yes, there will still always be busts even with the age limit. but the longer the NBA waits, the more they learn about a kid's maturity and skills, which lowers the risk factor significantly compared to drafting kids straight out HS.

[Galileo]

how is a star player drafted by a NBA team going to calculate money for a NBA franchise if he stays in college?

Example: Beasly decides to stay in college for 4 years to get his degree..how much money as a owner lost by paying him a salary to stay in college? Also, how does having Beasly stay in college improve his team's performance on the court?

So let's say Beasly is drafted at 19, and stays in college 3 years. As an owner he paid 3 years of Beasly's salary to stay in college, then it would take at least 1-3 years for a player to make a huge impact in the nba. So basically the owner would have to wait until Beasly is 23-25 before he becomes a star, rather than hopefully 21 or 22 years old. And look at marketing too, you can't market Beasly while he is at K-state..what are your promotions going to say, come and see Beasly only 3 years away, only 2 years away, etc.

the player decides how long he wants to stay in college, not the NBA team.

If Beasly stays in college, he would be the biggest star in college next year. If he goes pro, he'll disappear on a losing team.

But if Beasly doesn't go pro, he might get injured. Or he might not develop, so he'd be an idiot not to go pro.

Another benefit for staying in college is what I call the David Robinson effect. Robinson went to the navy for two years, so the Spurs loaded up more draft talent for two years until Robinson came aboard.

If a team drafted Beasly, and he stayed one more year in college, the same NBA team that got Beasly could get another lottery pick next year as well.

[Galileo]

Not only doews the NBA want to scout them more, they also want the stars to generate more fan interest.

Guys like Oden and Durant brought name recognition and a following to their teams for casual fans from the moment they are drafted. Guys out of HS don't do that.

Correct. But if they stayed in college two more years, until they were juniors, they would bring a giant fan base with them to the NBA.

[Galileo]

he has a ton of Tar heel fans..but that means nothing in the NBA, period!

JJ Reddick had a lot of fans in college and he sucks in the NBA..so nobody cares about him.

Kevin Durant will be a huge star in this league and the fans will follow!

Harold Minor was supposed to be next Michael Jordan and he tons of fans in college and he sucked in the NBA so nobody cared about him.

Unless you improve your game in the NBA the fans will stop watching you..and can you blame them?

And last time I checked the NBA and College basketball are not even close in comparison.

True, but you missed one of my points.

The proportion of college stars who become NBA stars, has gone down.

Take a look at the Wooden Award winners, and the Most Outstanding Final Four players from the past, and compare them to the present. The quality of these award winners has gone way down.

You example of JJ Redick is good, but misses a point. JJ Redick wouldn't have been as big a star had not a dozen better players from his class already turned pro.

[Galileo]

The problem I see is that the NBA still offers brighter lights and more recognition than college. The money a kid can earn from his team might still be the same, but you're still going to have kids thinking shoe deals, and endorsement contracts. The morons who are only seeing dollar signs when they jump to the draft and torpedo their futures are still only going to be seeing dollar signs.

Also, this gives the draftees even more leverage against the teams. A guy could quietly do what Yi did this year and let it be subtly known that if he's drafted by a team that doesn't suit his tastes he'll just stick around for another few years. Now that might be kind of ideal in that it would make the players stay in school, but it's one reason why the NBA might not be on board. I think GMs feel like there's enough uncertainty in the draft without adding more.

Plus, this could all but kill the D-League.

Most people in the United States have never heard of the D-league. Few care about it. This despite that any D league team could probably whup Duke's ass.

[Galileo]

then UNC has wasted a scholly. not tens of millions.

the problem is, I don't think you understand WHY the NBA went to the age limit. it had absolutely nothing to do with getting their future draft picks national exposure at the college level. it had everything to do with with hedging the risks on the kids that they were investing millions into.

yes, there will still always be busts even with the age limit. but the longer the NBA waits, the more they learn about a kid's maturity and skills, which lowers the risk factor significantly compared to drafting kids straight out HS.

Wrong.

David Stern wants future NBA stars to build name recognition in college. But his plan takes away freedom of choice for legal adults over age 18.

If I were the next Lebron James, why not sit out my first two years of college and not risk injury?

[Galileo]

i read your idea. but it does not matter when you say that they must work it out, because the premise is beyond reason.

the ncaa will never agree to a policy that strips their athletes of their amateurism. you can list all the other advantages you want, but it's not going to happen.

Don't believe it.

The NCAA is losing its biggest stars every year to the NBA draft.

The Olympics changed their policy, why not the NCAA?

The NBA money must be kept in escrow until they player leaves college.

[travis2]

The proportion of college stars who become college stars, has gone down.


This sentence makes as much sense as your idea.

[K-State Spur]

Correct. But if they stayed in college two more years, until they were juniors, they would bring a giant fan base with them to the NBA.

just like reddick did?

unless the guy proves to be a star at the NBA level, fan bases won't follow him. and if proves to be a star, he'll generate his own base anyways.

[travis2]

Correct. But if they stayed in college two more years, until they were juniors, they would bring a giant fan base with them to the NBA.

College fan bases tend to follow the school. There is some bleed-over to the NBA when a particularly good player graduates, but not all THAT much.

[K-State Spur]

Wrong.

David Stern wants future NBA stars to build name recognition in college. But his plan takes away freedom of choice for legal adults over age 18.

If I were the next Lebron James, why not sit out my first two years of college and not risk injury?

well, if you say it's wrong, then it must be wrong. especially since you're spot on with everything else in this thread.

the NBA just loved investing millions of kids whose top competition had been high school and the AAU circuit.

[K-State Spur]

Do you have proof of this? Stern doesn't care about the college he only cares about the NBA.

The reason he put an age limit is because of how many horrible high school players trying to make the NBA, that weren't ready unlike the Lebron's, T-macs, Kobe and Kg's!


Um..do you realize that college players take out insurance against the risk of injuries

exactly. and the NBA knows that they are going to get the Lebrons and T-Macs and Kobes eventually anyways.

the age limit is all about hedging risk.

[Galileo]

NCAA Men's Division I MOP Award
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Basketball_Tournament_Most_Outstanding_Player

Naismith College Player of the Year
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naismith_College_Player_of_the_Year

The quality has gone down, to the detriment of both the NBA and NCAA.

[Galileo]

This sentence makes as much sense as your idea.

fixed the typo:

"The proportion of college stars who become NBA stars, has gone down."

[Galileo]

Also how is the salary cap structured too? Do you have to include a players salary that is in college against the cap?



Yes, it counts against the salary cap.

[Galileo]

then that even makes it a worse idea :lol :lol

Really a owner is going to pay a player that doesn't play for his team for 2-3 years and it's going to count against the salary cap? :dizzy

dude, then if that's such a big problem, DON'T DRAFT HIM.

Can you not see the light?

Why do you think David Stern encourages all the top players to play in the Olympics?

TO BUILD NAME RECOGNITION FOR THE NBA.

[travis2]

The NBA doesn't need name recognition. It needs positive PR. And while Stern may want more players to play Olympic basketball, the teams aren't so wild about it.

[Spurminator]

I want to see one story, just one, about a current or former NBA player who regrets not finishing his education before entering the league.

[K-State Spur]

dude, then if that's such a big problem, DON'T DRAFT HIM.

Can you not see the light?

Why do you think David Stern encourages all the top players to play in the Olympics?

TO BUILD NAME RECOGNITION FOR THE NBA.

the olympics don't interfere with the regular season or playoffs.

you're still talking about paying guys to NOT play for you.

[Galileo]

The NBA doesn't need name recognition. It needs positive PR. And while Stern may want more players to play Olympic basketball, the teams aren't so wild about it.

Really, the NBA doesn't need name recognition. Do you realize that the college basketball still has more fans than the NBA? Even though the NBA has better players?

Galileo's plan is all about marketing.

The NBA should shorten their regular season schedule as well. Compared to other sports, both college and pro, it is the most out of wack.

The playoffs should be run like this:

Round One; one game elimination, all teams included, top team in each conference gets a bye.

Round Two; best of three

Round Three; best of five

Conference Finals; best of seven

Finals; best of nine

[travis2]

The problem isn't name recognition. The problem is PR. It's not like people are saying "huh, what's the NBA?".

[Galileo]

I want to see one story, just one, about a current or former NBA player who regrets not finishing his education before entering the league.

Do you realize that players with a degree have a better shot of getting a coaching or broadcasting job? Or working as an agent? Or in anything basketball related?

Do you understand that when the NBA encourages players to finish college, it helps the reputation of the league.

[LocosPorJuana]

I think It's a shame that Ricky Rubio will not be able to enter the draft this year. I feel that if you play at the pro level, even if it's overseas, the rule should not be enforced.

[travis2]

Do you realize that players with a degree have a better shot of getting a coaching or broadcasting job? Or working as an agent? Or in anything basketball related?

Do you understand that when the NBA encourages players to finish college, it helps the reputation of the league.

That may be true, but it doesn't speak at all to the point Spurminator made...

[Spurminator]

Do you realize that players with a degree have a better shot of getting a coaching or broadcasting job? Or working as an agent? Or in anything basketball related?

Do you understand that when the NBA encourages players to finish college, it helps the reputation of the league.


Then give me the name of a player who has attributed his failure to land a broadcasting or coaching gig to his unfinished education.

[Galileo]

Then give me the name of a player who has attributed his failure to land a broadcasting or coaching gig to his unfinished education.

Dontonio Wingfield.

[gospursgojas]

The player still gets the money. That's the risk of drafting young raw talent. Young raw talent sitting on your bench doesn't help your team anyway.

Once again to you actually think a NBA FO will pay money to a player they will never use??

[Galileo]

Once again to you actually think a NBA FO will pay money to a player they will never use??

the team pays the money, the the league. They don't have to draft underclassmen who stay in college. But they have the choice if they want to take the risk.