The 2009 NBA draft was the third draft under the league's "one and done" rule, which requires an American player to wait a year following his class's graduation from high school before entering the NBA draft. The 2006 draft, the year Andrea Bargnani was drafted first overall, was the leap year between high school players entering the draft and the first class of "one and done players."
For the NBA it is a business decision that protects its teams from drafting unproven high school players with lots of hype. The NCAA benefits by opening its doors to the best of the best even if it is only for a year.
The rule is ineffective, and NBA General Managers do not make good use of the extra one year of evaluation. Did Greg Oden's one year at Ohio State prove something that his high school career didn't? Either way he was drafted number one, and has had a less than stellar start to his career. The "one and done" year in college has not altered draft stocks at all. Yes, a few players dropped in mock drafts, while others raised, but no player went from being a lottery player his senior year of high school to a "bust" following his freshman year in college. Thus, 샌즈카지노 the one additional year of evaluation that the rule creates is useless.
The 2007 draft is a great example. The RSCI is a composite ranking of all the major scouting sites. It had the high school graduating class of 2006 as follows,
1. Greg Oden
2. Kevin Durant
3. Brandan Wright
4. Spencer Hawes
5. Ty Lawson
The 2007 draft? Oden and Durant were drafted one and two. Wright was picked eight. Hawes tenth, and Lawson stuck around school until leaving following his NCAA title this past year. If anything the "one and done" rule hurt NBA teams that year. Mike Conley road the wave of Greg Oden and Daequan Cook to the NCAA title game. He was drafted fourth. He's a bust, and if the Grizzlies hadn't dissed Spain with their handling of Pau Gasol, Ricky Rubio would be taking Conley's locker next year. The RSCI rankings had Conley at 27 following high school. The "one and done" year just filled Conley's draft stock with air.
The draft class of 2008 shows the same correlation. After graduating high school the RSCI rankings were as follows,
1. O.J. Mayo
2. Kevin Love
3. Eric Gordon
4. Michael Beasley
5. Derrick Rose
The draft had Rose at one, Beasley two, Mayo three, Love five, and Gordon seven. What on earth did NBA scouts learn from the 2007 class's year in college other than Derrick Rose likes candy? College is a level up from high school basketball, and can be a check if a player is simply succeeding based on physical attributes. Kevin Love is an example of this. He is not a awe inspiring athlete, but his year in college helped to confirm his ability was authentic, not just a product of his massive size versus high school sophomores.
As much as Love's year in college validated his ability, the 2009 draft class's one year in college was a giant red flag in reference to the players individual talents. The RSCI for the high school class of 2008 was
1. Brandon Jennings
2. Jrue Holiday
3. Tyreke Evans
4. Samardo Samuels
5. DeMar DeRozan
Evans was drafted fourth, Jennings tenth, Holiday seventeenth, and DeRozan ninth. Samuels stayed in school. His draft stock dropped, but was never very high as his build does not translate well to a faster NBA game. The interesting part of the 2009 draft is that Holiday, and DeRozan had horrible freshman years. DeRozan averaged 13.9 ppg, and Holiday 8.5 ppg. If scouts are not going to pay attention to the player's one year in college then why make them go. Hell, Jennings played in Europe. No one even watched him play. He was drafted off his high school stock. Holiday, and DeRozan were too.
Over the last 3 or 4 years, there have been a few huge trades that have stirred the NBA pot and made things a little more exciting. But that is just it, there were only a few. Shaq went to Heat, Iverson went to the Nuggets and Garnett went to the Celtics. Not only did these trades benefit Miami, Denver and Boston on the court, but their respective pocketbooks received a huge lift as the incoming stars have attracted more and more fans to the arenas. So, if there are so many upsides to high-profile trades, why don't they happen more frequently? The answer? The NBA has a ridiculous trade policy.
Unlike other sports where a team can simply buy out the contract of opposing teams' players, the NBA's trade policy makes things a little more difficult. For instance, when Iverson went to the Nuggets, he went there along with Ivan McFarlin. In return, the 76ers got Andre Miller, Joe Smith and 2 future draft picks. Do you think that the Nuggets necessarily cared about Ivan McFarlin at the the beginning of the trade talks? No Way! So, why was he included? Because according to the NBA trade policy, the salaries of the players being traded must match. That's why Kevin Garnett was traded to the Celtics for 6 players - Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Al Jefferson, Theo Ratliff, Sebastia Telfair and a 2009 Draft Pick. That was half of Boston's team. Now, as the LA Lakers try to trade Kobe Bryant, a player whose salary is equal to the GDP of many small countries, it is going to take a miracle to pull off. The Lakers wanted to trade him to the Bulls, but getting both teams to agree upon which players are equivalent in terms of talent and salaries is a very difficult process. I bet that if the Bulls had the option to pay straight cash for Kobe, they would do it in a heartbeat. However, they cannot. So, at least for now Kobe will remain a Laker.
In my opinion, the NBA should change its rules. Matching salaries is just ridiculous. If a team or player wants to implement a trade, there should be as few obstacles in their way as possible. However, for the time being that is not the case. Consequently, NBA fans may see fewer and fewer trades and more and more disgruntled superstars in the future if things do not change.