Just about everyone believes that the NBA’s one-and-done policy is bad for the league. Fans hate it, as it keeps players from earning a living despite their clear ability to do so. Players hate it for the same reason.
Seemly the only folks holding on to the one-and-done were the NBA and the NCAA. The Association liked the rule because it allowed teams to get a look at players in a more organized fashion before using draft picks on them. The NBA also liked to say this helped protect players who might flame out and could use a year boosting their draft stock and growing their basketball abilities, a point that is debatable. The NCAA wants to keep the restriction in place because it profits off universities’ ability to unfairly compensate athletes with regard to their market value. Keeping the most exciting players — NBA players — in that cadre is an added benefit.
Now it seems like we are moving toward a point where the one-and-done rule will be gone once again. Speaking on Thursday, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said that he believes the 2022 NBA Draft will be the best place for high school entrants to jump to the league.
Via Washington Post:NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has made clear he thinks the controversial one-and-done rule is no longer good policy, and he said Thursday at an event in Washington that the 2022 draft likely will allow the best high school players to jump straight into the NBA rather than playing a single season of college before turning pro.
“There are a bunch of issues that need to be worked through between us and the players association, so it’s something we’re in active discussions about,” Silver said. “It’s a few years away, I think.”
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“So if the rule were to change, we and our players association, USA Basketball, other groups would be working much more directly with those young players to prepare them for the NBA,” he said.
Silver also said that he felt criminal proceedings, as well as his own understanding surrounding the recruiting of college basketball players, has swayed his opinion on whether the one-and-done rule should be abolished.
It doesn’t seem as though Silver would set a public date in this fashion without it being something that had a likely chance of becoming a reality. But time will tell, and all sides need to come together and make sure it’s beneficial for players and the NBA.
