I don't really care about the NBA, but this took way too long to be figured out. You keep hearing about how much the "one-and-done" hurts the college game/business/product, etc., but at the end of the day, I never felt anyone was really trying to find a solution. In fact, I think I'd put a lot of the blame on the NCAA. It was always my belief that their precious NCAA rules is what was the biggest problem, and agents.
I think the NBA Combine idea is a no-brainer and can't believe it took this long to put one together. If an underclassman doesn't get invited to the combine, guess what, you're going back to college. That's a pretty big clue. They said about 60-70 will get invited. This still probably isn't the perfect solution, but it's a great start. This is too big of a decision without providing the right resources for students and their families to make the best decision. There should have always been more communication from the NBA to the potential players in the draft about their draft chances and position.
I never thought the NCAA tried hard to keep their athletes. It's like they wanted them to hire an agent so they could say, "Oh, sorry, you've hired an agent, so your NCAA eligibility is done."
I don't care so much about the age of a player. I just feel the system wasn't set up properly to help kids make a better decision to declare for the NBA. All it took was some guy on the street to say, "Oh yeah, go for it. You're good enough," and then they never ended up being a top pick or even a 1st rounder.
By the way, it doesn't seem to bother anyone when 18-19 year olds are playing professional tennis, golf, baseball, etc. But, if they are in the NBA, different story. "Wait a second, you're too young to be making millions of dollars." But it's okay in other sports...which also happens to be more of a "white" sport. Then again, those sports are performance sports. They get paid because of their performance. That's how all sports should be. Or, everyone should be on a 1-year contract. Good luck with that headache. Then again, that would make trades and especially free agency a lot more interesting.
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If the college game in those other sports mattered people would care.
The combine is probably a good idea, or at least one that won't do any harm, but I wonder how many players declare who have no shot at an NBA roster? I don't follow closely enough to have any idea. I do know the current system isn't really working for anyone. Except Kentucky.
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