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NBA age minimum not likely
Sports Illustrated college basketball writer Seth Davis spoke with CNNSI.com about the early entry pool of next month's draft, with the NBA draft lottery taking place this Sunday: CNNSI.com: David Stern doesn't want young players, high schoolers, in his league. Players Association executive director Billy Hunter says the NBA has to take them. How is this going to play out? Seth Davis: Well, if David Stern doesn't want young people in his league, he should tell his general managers to stop drafting them so high because that's what is driving this process. This upcoming draft is no exception. The first round, particularly the top half, will be dominated by high school seniors and collegiate underclassmen, and since that's the case, I don't see the players union going along with any kind of age minimum. Clearly the economic opportunity is there for young basketball players to get to the pros and start making a real serious living. You don't have that concern with young tennis players, young hockey players and young baseball players who are doing the same thing. CNNSI.com: There are at least 34 college underclassmen and six high school seniors in this draft pool. Talk about Kwame Brown, Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry. Could they be the top three picks in the draft? How ready are they? Davis: They're certainly among the top five. In terms of making an immediate impact in the NBA, Eddy Curry, from the Chicago area, is probably the most ready of the high school players because he's so physically big: 6-11, goes about 280, 290, -- depends on when you catch him. I think the most intriguing talent of the high school players is Kwame Brown, from Georgia, who really waited until the last second to enter the draft. But he has the most tantalizing skills a la Kevin Garnett. It'll be a couple of years down the road before he's really ready to contribute at the NBA level. There are a couple of other high school players -- Ousmane Cisse and DeSagana Diop -- who will also probably be first-round picks. Then look to the future: there's a big man in Florida right now, Amare Stoudemire. He's a junior, he gave a verbal commitment to Memphis, but there's no chance he's going to play a second of college basketball. As long as these kids continue to be picked so high in the draft, high school players are going to be more inclined to turn pro in the future. CNNSI.com: But not everyone can be a first-round pick. And a prep star who doesn't get drafted is out of luck in the current system... Davis: I think it's a ludicrous rule for the NCAA not to allow high school seniors who have entered the draft to change their minds and decide to attend college when they extend that privilege to collegiate underclassmen right now. In fact, I think the NCAA should go a step further. If they're really interested in keeping these kids in school, I think they should give second-round draft picks the option of going back to college while allowing the NBA teams to retain their signing rights. That's the way Major League Baseball does it with its draftees and I don't see why that can't work in college basketball. CNNSI.com: North Carolina's Joseph Forte made his decision very late to go pro. There's been some talk that he had an uneasy relationship with coach Matt Doherty. Did that play any part in his decision to enter the draft? Davis: I talked to both Forte and Doherty this week and, yes, they may have had some strife along the way, which is certainly normal in a player-coach relationship. But I didn't get the sense that it was so bad that Joseph Forte would make this decision based primarily on that. This was a business decision. Looking ahead for the Tar Heels, not only are they losing Forte, but also they're potentially losing both Julius Peppers and Ronald Curry full-time to football, which means that people won't be expecting a lot from North Carolina next year. I can tell you that's exactly how Doherty wants it. Low expectations suit him just fine. Sports Illustrated staff writer Seth Davis covers the college basketball beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.
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