New NBA Commissioner Silver advocates

[SoCalDukeFan]

Silver's plan is fine if he made one more little change: Free agency starts 4 years after you first play in the D League or in college.

So a 4 year college player is not drafted but is a free agent.

Of course the NBA will not do this.

Getting the clock started on free agency is a bigger issue that one and done, in my opinion.

SoCal

[sagegrouse]

Silver's plan is fine if he made one more little change: Free agency starts 4 years after you first play in the D League or in college.

So a 4 year college player is not drafted but is a free agent.

Of course the NBA will not do this.

Getting the clock started on free agency is a bigger issue that one and done, in my opinion.

SoCal

Not for the colleges. -- Sage

[Indoor66]

I agree, but nobody really pays attention to the minor leagues in MLB (**ducking** all the Durham Bulls fans). But, seriously, around the country, most people wouldn't be able to name a team. I do think having high profile high school players may make going to games more appealing as a reasonably priced family outing, though, so it's certainly growing it in that way. Incidentally, anybody see the recent suit from minor league baseball players arguing they get paid below minimum wage and many are below the poverty line? Seems disgraceful to me considering how much pro ballers get paid - could at least give $40k to the minor leaguers, which wouldn't impact the organizations at all. I think the NBADL players actually get a livable wage (although nothing compared to NBA players, of course). In general, I think I like the concept...

I have to disagree in part. I seriously doubt that "high profile" high schoolers moving to the D League will really raise the profile. Other than their local community (and there to a very great extent to their high school family) the mass of people do not know of these kids. Who ever heard of these kids outside of their community area other than the die hard basketball recruiting junkies? High profile on a basketball board is, in realty, not even a mere bump on most sports fans awareness level. These kids have very little to sell outside of their college affiliations - until they have been around for quite a while.

[newclasspack]

I have to disagree in part. I seriously doubt that "high profile" high schoolers moving to the D League will really raise the profile. Other than their local community (and there to a very great extent to their high school family) the mass of people do not know of these kids. Who ever heard of these kids outside of their community area other than the die hard basketball recruiting junkies? High profile on a basketball board is, in realty, not even a mere bump on most sports fans awareness level. These kids have very little to sell outside of their college affiliations - until they have been around for quite a while.

When the quality of Plays raises.. so will the profile and attention. I can count on two hands the number of bobcat fans I know. if Melo, Westbrook and K. love were on that team though? sell out.

[theAlaskanBear]

I like this idea this reason: Players who may not want to go to school, or don't have the academics to play for a big program (am I kidding myself here?) have an incentive to play in the D-League (faster path to the NBA, plus money). This should (theoretically) ameliorate situations like Derrick Rose, who could not get into a good college program and thus cheated on his SATs to spend a year at Memphis. If Rose had to weigh the situation like this: I have to cheat to spend two years in college before the NBA, and may potentially be academically disqualified...or one-year in the NBDL and get to the NBA faster, would he choose differently?

I am for anything that raises the experience level of college and NBA athletes. It reduces risks and makes for a better game, not to mention it will increase the academic focus of some college players.

Now, how to make it work? I imagine players would have to enter the NBA draft upon leaving high school, be drafted by a franchise, and put into their respective D-League team. Would this mean expanding the draft?

A small, mean part of me wants to see this rule passed just to see how it would impact Calipari's program.

[Dev11]

I have to disagree in part. I seriously doubt that "high profile" high schoolers moving to the D League will really raise the profile. Other than their local community (and there to a very great extent to their high school family) the mass of people do not know of these kids. Who ever heard of these kids outside of their community area other than the die hard basketball recruiting junkies? High profile on a basketball board is, in realty, not even a mere bump on most sports fans awareness level. These kids have very little to sell outside of their college affiliations - until they have been around for quite a while.

The top 4 or 5 recruits every year get the chance to announce their college choices on ESPN. Many more do so on ESPNU. When an Anthony Davis commits, it makes the front page of espn.com. Wherever guys like that play ball, people will follow.

[-jk]

The top 4 or 5 recruits every year get the chance to announce their college choices on ESPN. Many more do so on ESPNU. When an Anthony Davis commits, it makes the front page of espn.com. Wherever guys like that play ball, people will follow.

I disagree. I think the desire to see an Anthony Davis come to your school is the driving force behind the announcement shows. Anthony Davis going to some random D-League team just won't generate the same enthusiasm.

College fans will still watch their teams, even if Anthony Davis isn't there. Pro fans won't care until he gets to the NBA. Locals who support their hometown D-league team and a few hard-core junkies might care, just like MLB's minor leagues.

(Logistically, would these high school kids destined for the D-league be drafted by the NBA and sent down as MLB does, or will they simply find a D-league team somewhere and enter the NBA draft a year later? My guess would be the latter - NBA teams don't want to be saddled with another Kwame Brown.)

I'd really be interested in what sort of ticket sales and ratings a D-league Anthony Davis could generate. Rhetorical question: which was the last D-league game anyone here's watched on TV? Personally, I've never actually seen one. And I can't say I miss it. My attention is tied up in college hoops, with a tiny bit left for the NBA playoffs - and most of that is for the Duke alums.

-jk

[SoCalDukeFan]

If you play in college (2,3 or 4 years) than you get 1 year of service towards free agency.

Suppose you had this rule last year. Its not just 1 year of D League verses 2 years of college, its also one more year before you get the big dough in the NBA.

The NFL put in a salary structure so that you need some years of service before getting the big dough. The result is that more players than ever are leaving college early for the NFL.

Of course I want things that make college more attractive and Silver wants to make the D League better.

SoCal

[Indoor66]

The top 4 or 5 recruits every year get the chance to announce their college choices on ESPN. Many more do so on ESPNU. When an Anthony Davis commits, it makes the front page of espn.com. Wherever guys like that play ball, people will follow.

I think you are fooling yourself. Anthony Davis commits to a Major University program: big news; Anthony Davis commits to Idaho in the D League: ho hum except to the aficionado.

[Billy Dat]

Of course I want things that make college more attractive and Silver wants to make the D League better.

To put a slightly finer point on it, Silver works for the owners and his moves are always going to be designed for their benefit. Since the modern jump-from-high school-to-NBA era really kicked into high gear with the 1995 NBA draft, the owners have done much to "save themselves from themselves" with the rookie salary scale and the current age restriction. They want to delay writing those 7 figure checks until they are absolutely sure that the player is worth it. Of course, the top players in the NBA are so relatively underpaid in comparison to their peers in other sports that it all works in the owners favor anyway - but the zero sum game of the salary cap allows contract mistakes to really hurt teams for years - I am a Knicks fan - I know from such things.

I like the fact that teams are really starting to use their D-League franchises as laboratories for outside-the-box thinking. The advanced stats driven Rockets, for example, are testing the limits of the "shoot 3s, layups or foul shots only" mantra by forcing their D-League team, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, to only take those shots.
http://grantland.com/the-triangle/tr...idrange-shots/

As a fan who has a new D-League franchise moving into my county, I am excited to see the league continue to become a true minor league system - something that has actually been happening more and more over the past 5 years.

If the revised rule passes, I think a kid will have to think long and hard about whether the D-League is the best path. In college, they get to compete with other "kids". The D-League is chock full of grown men desperate to keep their dreams alive at a salary of less than $20K per year. One would assume that "the cream would rise to the top" and these uber-talents would play well and be drafted high the next year, but what if they were "exposed"? All of a sudden, the $60,000/year college room and board is looking like a pretty good trade off.

All that is to say that the NCAA is already a pretty sweet minor leagues for the NBA and it doesn't cost them a dime. They may not have the player development control that they would like, but I think they are very happy with the development that guys like K, Roy, Izzo, Donovan, Self, Cal, etc. and their staff's provide. So, yes, I think Silver would like the D-League to be better, but his primary goal is to help the owners pay the players as little as humanly possible over the course of their career by not paying them max money until they are as old as possible, and avoiding paying them max money once they are over the hill.

[Dev11]

I think you are fooling yourself. Anthony Davis commits to a Major University program: big news; Anthony Davis commits to Idaho in the D League: ho hum except to the aficionado.

15 years ago, if somebody said that one day we'd be watching kids commit to schools after following their every move for 2 years leading up to those commitments, you would have said the same thing. Fans follow the stars.

[lotusland]

15 years ago, if somebody said that one day we'd be watching kids commit to schools after following their every move for 2 years leading up to those commitments, you would have said the same thing. Fans follow the stars.

I've never watched or listened an announcement except for potential Duke recruits. The amount of money that alumni and boosters contribute to college athletic programs is staggering. There hasn't been a HS player since Lebron who generated significant interest outside of college fans and that is because he was allowed to go directly to the pros and considered a franchise player. Maybe if NBA teams drafted HS players to their affiliated D league teams and had right of first refusal to keep keep them after their 1-year stint, there would be interest for NBA fans. I don't think what minor league team Wiggins and Parker went to would be that big of a deal to anyone. Imo they aren't stars unless they are considering someone's alma mater. If there were money to be made in the D league or any other version of minor league basketball someone would be making it. There's just not that much interest.

[bob blue devil]

The more I think about this, the more I don't like it. Rather than making the D League a more appealing option, this proposal is simply a penalty for going to college - that's it. It may be good for the NBA and D league, but what about an elite player who actually values an education? The NBA just gave you a one year penalty for forgoing a paycheck to go to school (Kentucky notwithstanding - credit above). Further, what about a kid who is not an NBA talent, but thinks he is (because he plays against high school kids)? Well, he's going to the D League to avoid the 1 year penalty for going to college. In the D league he'll languish, never get NBA money, and have simultaneously lost the opportunity for an education. What a shame - there will be plenty of these every year (and I'm talking about kids that can actually handle college academically, not the Tar Heels). Why penalize kids for going to college? If you want them to choose the D League, make it a better alternative (say, via a real financial commitment), don't sabotage the alternatives..

[DavidBenAkiva]

There's a big draw to go to college, and I'm not just talking about future NBA players. I work with high schools, and it's sort of astonishing that almost every higher schooler these days says their main goal is to go to college. That was not the case just 10 years ago when it was more like 75% of the students. The "everyone go to college" mantra has pervaded all settings - suburbs, cities, and rural America.

Now, a lot of the kids don't have a really good concept of what college means. Just a month ago, President Obama announced a major initiative to help students conceptualize college. What do I mean by this? Ask some students where they want to apply, and they will name Harvard, Yale, and the community college down the street. That's right - their concept of college is so limited that they don't even understand the full breadth of choices available to them. It's the big names and then whatever is closest. This leads to a lot of under matching where students that are academically good go to non-selective schools. This problem highlights a major issue we have in this country - we have sold the concept of college to everyone, but we haven't figured out how to help people make good choices.

How does this fit in with the NBA's tinkering with a 2-year rule? If you dangle any length of college scholarship in front of a student and their family, they will value that so much more than the opportunity to be paid $40,000 a year playing nearly every night in the D-League in Ft. Worth, TX. The concept of college is worth that much to people. It's also a fairly good deal for the family.

With a scholarship, you get tuition, and you and I might see the value in that. However, we are also talking about paid room and board, excellent health care, some outstanding athletic facilities, the allure of being on tv and being the big man on campus, and everything else that goes along with college. On top of all that, your son may get a college degree out of all of this - for free! Now if I'm a parent who, like all parents, has been pushing the concept of college down the throats of my kids before they were born, would I want them to go to the D-League?

This option may appeal to the 5-10 elite recruits per year, the Kwame Browns, Eddy Curry's, Tyson Chandlers, and more of the world (Bulls fan, so that draft class sticks out in my head). But the Justise Winslows, Rasheed Sulaimons, and Amile Jeffersons of the world -the top 20 types - would take the college route 99% of the time. As others have pointed out on this thread, kids can be the next Brandon Jennings right now, but they won't. The reason why is the real and perceived value of going to college. It's just a better brand than the D-League or Euro ball, and it will be for the foreseeable future.

[sagegrouse]

To put a slightly finer point on it, Silver works for the owners and his moves are always going to be designed for their benefit.

It may be more complicated than responding to the directives of the owners. There are 30 NBA owners, and they agree on very little. It is up to the Commissioner to try and forge consensus and find a common interest among the owners. That's leadership, not subordination, and is the harder part of the job. Representing the owners' interests is probably the easier part of the job.

[Henderson]

Silver received a nice review from a local Las Vegas sports writer this morning. Link.