NBA Draft 2004 Part One - by Apollo

We normally will not post twice on the same day. We want our fans to have at least 24 hours to absorb the brilliance of each post. Having said that, sometimes the world of sports does not give you that luxury and so we have to move on to the coming drafts this week. Wongoz will bring you his view once the draft is over and the picks are done. Before we continue though, Thierry Henry and France rule!

I always look forward to the NBA draft, mainly because it's the shortest of all the professional drafts (only 2 rounds) and unlike the other professional drafts (except the NFL), the players selected are all likely to contribute right away, or at least will be given the opportunity to do so. The nature of running an NBA franchise means that more and more rookies and younger players are being asked to play significant minutes for their teams whether they are ready (Tayshaun Prince, Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade) or not (Kwame Brown, Keith Bogans, Speedy Claxton, Dirk Nowitzki). I know Dirk is a superstar now but his rookie season was ugly. As a fan, the NBA and NFL drafts are fun because you can start plugging players into your team's lineup, as opposed to MLB and NHL drafts where you know you won't likely see any of the draftees for a few years.

This year's NBA Draft is more wide open than ever, due to the lack of a consensus impact player like Lebron, Shaquille O'Neal, or Tim Duncan, as well as the increased presence of high school and European players, who are all being drafted more on their potential as opposed to their ability to contribute right away. Even though the NBA draft remains only 2 rounds long, it seems to be moving towards the MLB and NHL models where players are selected and developed for a few years before they are expected to play significant roles.

This season, our beloved Toronto Raptors select eight overall, which is low enough to still get a quality player but too high to get an impact guy for this season. The Raps will have to pray that Luol Deng, Andre Igoudala, Devin Harris or Shaun Livingston fall to them, otherwise they'll be left to consider Luke Jackson, Josh Childress or Andris Biedrins. Trades could change this entire situation, but I don't think the new Raptors management team has the luxury of waiting for a European or high school player to develop. Look for the Raps to take Childress or perhaps trade down for Jameer Nelson if none of the top players fall to them. Regardless, tonight should be interesting.

The NBA has said it wants to raise the eligible age for players entering the draft to 20 or even higher in order to prevent future high schoolers from declaring early for the draft and skipping college. This issue is also under debate in the NFL, where Maurice Clarett recently lost a court challenge of the age rules in that league. Here's my thoughts:

1. There will always be high schoolers who think they're ready for the pros no matter what the rules are. NBA MVP Kevin Garnett was drafted straight out of high school and few NBA superstars finish college (or even attend college in some cases) before turning pro.

2. The idea that these players would benefit from going to college and getting their degrees in the United States is a farce. These athletes spend far more time on the court than in the classroom and there are likely far more athletes than student-athletes in America's colleges anyway, so they may as well not bother with school.

3. There is no requirement for non-athletes to go to university before they can start working, so why regulate athletes? Anyone can start work after they're done high school, or even during high school. It is true that post secondary education generally increases one's job prospects, but the responsibility is on the individual to be aware of the risks of his decisions, athletic or otherwise.

4. Other sports such as tennis, soccer, hockey and baseball freely allow teenagers to compete, and even encourage it by having minor league and junior team systems in place. In Europe, high school age players can be put into the development system of professional clubs at a very early age.

As far as individual rights go, I don't mind seeing high schoolers come out for professional drafts. I do find it tragic when high schoolers get seduced by the promise of big money and fame and do not realistically evaulate all their options. It doesn't help that the NBA and NFL have no realistic development system in place. At least baseball, hockey and soccer have an abudance of minor league systems to at least allow drafted players the opportunity to earn a living playing their sport while they develop their skills.

From a fan perspective, I would prefer an age requirement only to try and ensure that players coming into the professional leagues have better fundamentals and skills. It's great that Lebron and his fellow high schoolers are athletic and can dunk, but ask them to hit a 15 foot shot or consistenly make their free throws and that gets harder. Unfortunately, there's no guarantee that forcing these players to go through the college system will improve these skills, and until the entire development structure of basketball in North America is evaluated, all we can hope for is that each draftee, regardless of age, is fully educated on the risks of entering a sport where you're always only one injury away from the end of your career.