This past Thursday was the NBA draft. You can check out cnnsi for each NBA team's selections. In this draft,a number of players picked left college after one year. In fact three of the first five picked John Wall, Derrick Favors, and DeMarcus Cousins were of the one and done variety.
If any of these players had been allowed to go directly to the NBA after High School they most likely would had been no worse than top 10 picks. It worked out pretty well for guys like Kobe Bryant and Lebron James.
2010 marked marks the 5th year anniversary of The NBA's "one and done" rule. An article by the Atlanta Journal Constitution's Michael Carvell asks if the one and done rule is helping or hurting the NBA, NCAA, and players.
Back in 2005 when the NBA negotiated with the NBA players Association they originally wanted a 2 years out of High School rule. The current agreement runs the 2010-2011. At that time should the rule be changed, should it stay the same? This is a very tough question.
For every Byrant and James there were the High School players like Ellis Richardson and Korleone Young who never amounted to anything in the NBA. Would it have mattered if Richardson and Young had spent a year in college?
Critics of the current rule argue that an 18 year old straight out of High School should have the right to make themselves eligible for the NBA draft. I can understand that point, but I think during the early part of this decade the quality of NBA basketball dropped with so many early enty players, while college basketball was robbed of some of the best High School players out there.
In recent years guys like Kevin Durant and John Wall graced college basketball arenas and in my opinion the college game was better for it. Anything more than the 1 year rule is too much. There have been enough players that have made the jump from High School or 1 year of College to the NBA and succeeded. There's no real reason to make it longer than a year.
Institute a 2 year rule and watch some of the best high school players bolt for Europe. Lance Stephenson did it with the one and done rule, and 2 years won't make it better. I think you've gathered by now that I am satisfied with the one and done rule.
I enjoy seeing the best young players bring their game to the nations colleges. Derricks Favors helped Georgia Tech make an 11 game improvement in 2010 over the previous season. Sure I'd like to see these guys stay longer in college, but the NBA is driver. If NBA teams will draft you early then by all these young men should take the money. Keep things the way they are I say.
