Thon Maker thread got me thinking about this. What do you guys think are the positives and negatives associated with the one and done rule, should we get rid of it, and what would be the best viable alternative?

Positives:
- So far, since the rules has been in place, we've gotten to see nearly every truly elite pro prospect play at the college level. Maybe Thon declaring will set a precedent and change this, but players like Simmons, Durant, Anthony Davis, etc... bring coverage and extra excitement to the college game.
- The NBA gets players in the draft who are a year more physically mature than it would otherwise.
- The fortunes of college teams can change over night by adding a player who is good enough to be a contributor at the next level. Can help add parity and give teams that would otherwise suck worse like LSU a fighting chance.

Negatives:
- Forces kids who might just want to play basketball to either spend a year of their life in college, from which they are unlikely to graduate having attended for just one year, or just preparing for the NBA like Maker, not playing ball. Takes an entire year of earning a great living away from these guys.
- Less stability year over year on college squads.
- One and done players overshadow other great college players who would otherwise get more recognition (Simmons)

Make it like baseball.

You can declare out of high school. If you don't get drafted or don't sign, you can still go to college.

But once in college, it needs to be a two year minimum and maybe even a certain age.. say 21.. before you can declare.

It may be a reality check for some kids, who think they are ready for the NBA out of high school but figure out after a year in college that they would benefit from more time playing at that level.

Positive - player doesn't have to care 1% about academics.

Negative - see positive.

I'd be more in favor of 2-and-done. Maybe go back to allowing HS players to declare. Any undrafted player is free to sign with the D-League or go to college. D-League players could go back to college after one year, as long as they didn't make more than the D-League max. The D-League season would count as a redshirt year.

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Make it like baseball.

You can declare out of high school. If you don't get drafted or don't sign, you can still go to college.

But once in college, it needs to be a two year minimum and maybe even a certain age.. say 21.. before you can declare.

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I agree but the NBA doesn't want to invest in minor leagues/ academies/ player development like MLB does. College basketball is a free (to the NBA) relatively high quality player development system.

I don't think it is in anybody's interest to change the system besides maybe the players. But they can always go pro overseas if they don't want to go to college.

The NBA will not do away with the rule unless a court makes them do so.

Why is it more beneficial to them than letting players come at 18? Is it just that name recognition of players entering the league is increased through their year in college?

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Why is it more beneficial to them than letting players come at 18? Is it just that name recognition of players entering the league is increased through their year in college?

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Because it gives them an extra year of vetting and development and reduces uncertainty

google Robert Swift.

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Why is it more beneficial to them than letting players come at 18? Is it just that name recognition of players entering the league is increased through their year in college?

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Because it gives them an extra year of vetting and development and reduces uncertainty

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and it's 100% free!

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Make it like baseball.

You can declare out of high school. If you don't get drafted or don't sign, you can still go to college.

But once in college, it needs to be a two year minimum and maybe even a certain age.. say 21.. before you can declare.

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If you are the colleges, you don't want high schoolers waiting until June to see if they will get drafted. There's no way for the top teams to manage their rosters. And that trickles down to other schools, because if Kansas and UK are waiting to see if 2-3 of their studs go the NBA, then many other recruits will hold out to see if those schools will have a roster spot and playing time for them. For example, if Kansas is sitting on a couple of kids that are a draft risk, then a Deshawn Corprew will keep A&M on the string past the spring signing period seeing what happens in Lawrence, KS.

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google Robert Swift.

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Jesus

Sonics straight killed it in the mid-2000s drafts with the Swift-Petro-Sene trio

The rule appears to have the following purpose from an NBA perspective:

1. Avoid babysitting immature children who just left (might have not even graduated or potentially graduated with skanky credentials) from high school.

2. Protect the NCAA as a source of training and maturation for said immature children including de-skanking their credentials.

Mark Cuban said he would prefer that the NBA require a bachelor's degree. And I'm equally sure the one year after high school graduation rule is about all the NBAPA will put up with in a CBA short of a substantial reduction in roster size / salary cap (which ain't what's going on right now.)

I don't think one and done hurts college basketball. This year demonstrated that there is a strategic choice between emphasizing one-and-done talent over four-year skills and experience (and presumably somewhat less talent.) Since there are 32 teams in the NBA and only 14 lottery picks (and possibly fewer picks that are lottery quality), it's worth noting that even if the top 14 picks in any year are evenly distributed across the whole nation and always result in picking freshmen, that would mean only 14 roster spots in any given NCAA year really are high-quality NBA material. And of that maybe one or two per year could be confused with a Kobe or a LeBron.

That suggests MOST schools are better off recruiting to a four-year roster and working hard to help their graduates both graduate and to be prepared professionally for a career in something other than professional sports. If a student athlete makes it into the NBA, unless he's very, very good he's likely to be exposed and might (or might not) be able to recover in some other professional venue.

Speaking of Texas A&M specifically: we've had one true one and done. And he is now a key contributor to the Clippers WITH all of the faults that were apparent when he played for A&M. That emphasizes that WE as a basketball school would be hard pressed to survive on one and dones. Barnes had more of them at Texas some of which have done well in the NBA (KD very specifically though others are at least at the journeyman level in their first five seasons). But that didn't save Barnes' job. This suggests that it is a lower risk strategy to build a solid, four-year focused program and work hard to get the occasional high talent player in with the risk that they might go to the NBA after one year. Probably a bigger issue is managing the one and dones that show up so that they don't poison the four-year student athletes with "grass is greener" syndrome.

I personally would not change a thing. The one and done works. It doesn't harm basketball. There is a bit of an advantage to coaches that can recruit them but it seems balanced by rules like the APR requirements. We shouldn't focus on it because it generally neither benefits nor hurts us.

I hate this rule because it further "professionalizes" college sports. The 1 and dones aren't going to class. Make it 3 years like college baseball.

The NBA won't do away with the 1 and dones because of the money. Athletes attached to a big school attract more money than those who go straight from high school. Kevin durant is considered a longhorn and he and the NBA and tu benefit from that relationship. Guys like Kobe Bryant and Lebron James never went to a bigtime college and they don't have the additional monetary backing that a college fanbase like the Ohio St Buckeyes could provide.

I think it's pretty stupid that players have to waste a year in college if they're ready. I also don't love the baseball solution because you might have a player who's ready for the NBA after their freshman or sophomore year but then can't go.

I think players should be able to test the draft without risking their eligibility, which they can actually do again this year in college basketball. You can declare without an agent and then come back. I'd like high school players to be able to do this also. You can declare out of high school, but if you go undrafted you can still go to college.

You'd have to move the draft up if you did this, maybe to mid or late April, but that's not a huge problem. The MLB draft takes place during the season.

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I think it's pretty stupid that players have to waste a year in college if they're ready. I also don't love the baseball solution because you might have a player who's ready for the NBA after their freshman or sophomore year but then can't go.

I think players should be able to test the draft without risking their eligibility, which they can actually do again this year in college basketball. You can declare without an agent and then come back. I'd like high school players to be able to do this also. You can declare out of high school, but if you go undrafted you can still go to college.

You'd have to move the draft up if you did this, maybe to mid or late April, but that's not a huge problem. The MLB draft takes place during the season.

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MLB draft and the NBA are slightly different, the NBA would not move the draft during season, just like they won't get rid of the one and done rule.

Well yeah, why would either side get rid of the current system? For the people making the money in works great, I just think it's dumb for a player like Ben Simmons to have to waste a year of his time.

I didn't say they were going to change it, but that doesn't mean it's not stupid.

Hop, just add 2 more schollies for men's and women's basketball. Or 2 for men, and 2 for the women's yoga team.

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I think it's pretty stupid that players have to waste a year in college if they're ready. I also don't love the baseball solution because you might have a player who's ready for the NBA after their freshman or sophomore year but then can't go.

I think players should be able to test the draft without risking their eligibility, which they can actually do again this year in college basketball. You can declare without an agent and then come back. I'd like high school players to be able to do this also. You can declare out of high school, but if you go undrafted you can still go to college.

You'd have to move the draft up if you did this, maybe to mid or late April, but that's not a huge problem. The MLB draft takes place during the season.

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So you are going to have a draft in the middle of the basketball season? That will never happen. The MLB Draft is a completely different animal since teams draft for the farm system and the future where most players take years to get to the bigs. The NBA Draft is about now, and you don't know your short term needs in the middle of the season.

I didn't say they should move the draft to January, they could have it at the end of april or the beginning of May. Everyone who isn't in the playoffs would already be done and the high school and college seasons are already over.

Also this is pointless because I'm sort of saying this would be the best way to do it but it's obviously not the best way to make money from it.

As it stands now the draft is all of 9 days after the Finals, so all of the scouting and prep work is going on during the season anyway. There's no reason the actual picks can't happen then except for all the hype and publicity leading up to the draft. Which, again, is why it won't actually change.

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Hop, just add 2 more schollies for men's and women's basketball. Or 2 for men, and 2 for the women's yoga team.

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Universities are trying to cut scholarships, not raise them. Plus, that doesn't solve the problem. Players are looking for a program with a combination of stature/success and immediate playing time. Offering an extra spot on the bench won't change behavior.

I don't think the numbers of players likely to be drafted is high enough to have a significant impact on recruiting efforts at the college level. College coaches will be able to talk to these guys and get a feel for whether they are intent on declaring. It would create some chaos for a limited number of teams, but I think the benefit to the individuals who don't have to kill time in college before doing what they want to do outweighs the negative impact to the teams.

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Well yeah, why would either side get rid of the current system? For the people making the money in works great, I just think it's dumb for a player like Ben Simmons to have to waste a year of his time.

I didn't say they were going to change it, but that doesn't mean it's not stupid.

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Ben Simmons is an interesting example because he is not American and therefore college basketball was never the obvious answer for him. Most NBA level European and Argentine/ Brazilian players never play college basketball. They play for a domestic professional team until they are ready for the jump.

Ben Simmons also had all of those options. He could have played professionally in Australia. He could have played professionally in Spain or Italy and made good money and signed his Nike contract already and gotten even more good money.

The fact that he chose to play in the US in college for a year just goes to show it is a pretty attractive option from a development and brand building point of view.

Simmons' godfather was on the LSU staff and his sister works for the agency he's probably going to sign with (which also represents Lebron.) He's an interesting case on a couple of levels. He shows that the branding of college basketball is valuable, but also shows just how big of a charade a one-and-done player really is.

Because he didn't go to class?

I think that reflects on him but not necessarily on the NBA's rule or college basketball.

I know lots of people that enrolled in college and then stopped going to class after one semester and dropped out and got a job. That job was usually something like working construction rather than playing basketball, but it really isn't that different.

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Simmons' godfather was on the LSU staff and his sister works for the agency he's probably going to sign with (which also represents Lebron.) He's an interesting case on a couple of levels. He shows that the branding of college basketball is valuable, but also shows just how big of a charade a one-and-done player really is.

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I'm with you on this. One and dones are fine to add for a specific season if a team happens to be peaking that year and the timing works out and they can have a special season. That being said, I believe that over the course of their careers, guys like Caruso, Gilder, Hogg, and Davis will have a much bigger, more positive and lasting impact on the program than a one and done (or a grad transfer for that matter).

I realize that not everyone has the same opinion, I just think it's dumb for a player who could be in the NBA to not be in the NBA. Seems like a waste of everyone's time.

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I realize that not everyone has the same opinion, I just think it's dumb for a player who could be in the NBA to not be in the NBA. Seems like a waste of everyone's time.

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I just don't think it is bad for the development of the player if he doesn't get to the NBA before age 19. And as the sport continues to become more internationalized, that will become the case even more so as there will be lots of other very good professional leagues out there.

On the other hand, at some point the threat to the NBA might become the risk that players opt for other leagues and decide to stick rather than come to the NBA when they turn 19. Let's say 10 years from now the next Ben Simmons might compare a lucrative 10 year contract in China versus waiting a year for the NBA draft and might chose the former.

You from overseas? Seem to have a lot of info and strong opinions on international prospects and basketball.

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I realize that not everyone has the same opinion, I just think it's dumb for a player who could be in the NBA to not be in the NBA. Seems like a waste of everyone's time.

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Trust me, had high school players been successful in the NBA originally, the one year rule would never have been put in place. It's not a waste of time for the NBA, because it's their rule to protect teams from drafting kids that aren't ready for the NBA.