Is the NBA planning a lockout after this season? We saw how the NFL owners planned ahead in advance with no intentions of coming to a new collective bargaining agreement prior to its expiration, are we so naive to think that the NBA owners would be any different?
We hope so. Could anyone imagine the possibility of both the NBA and the NFL seasons shut down because of labor disputes? The impacts such a thing would have to so many economies and our industry would be immense, in fact it’s something you don’t want to think about.
David Stern has already made it clear that changes need to be made to the way the NBA is right now. Sterns has mentioned countless times that players are overpaid and that the league would consider contraction. The former isn’t exactly something the players want to hear, even though, when you look at the league, it’s true. We hope it doesn’t come to a player’s strike, but there some interesting moves taking place in the college ranks that speaks to the uncertainty of the NBA season.
Over the past years, the trend for young NBA hopeful college players was to do a year of college or professional basketball, forget any additional development on your game and just head straight for the league, and hope to develop there. Give up being the man on campus for the money and playing in the L.
So far for most players, it’s a terrible formula. The NBA is not a development league, and the many players that have used it in that way have slowed their careers, like Shannon Brown from the Lakers. Brown left Tom Izzo and Michigan State way too soon, he and Maurice Ager.
So many players would have been much better off staying in college developing their games, and then coming in as a higher draft pick, rather than bouncing around in the D- league and on the benches of NBA teams; you can put Hasheem Thabeet on that list.
Austin Daye should have stayed in college longer, and Evan Turner probably would have won a National Championship with Ohio State this year if he had stayed for his senior year.
But it seems there’s been a slight change in the trend. A guy like Jared Sullinger, with the year he had, you would expect is going straight to the NBA, not so. Sullinger plans to return to Ohio State. The Tar Heels are known for having whole teams bounce for the NBA and their outstanding freshman swingman Harrison Barnes is also planning on returning to campus.
If Kemba Walker hadn’t won the National Championship, you could probably expect him to be returning, but as it is, his stock is probably way too high. What about Derrick Williams from Arizona? There’s no reason he shouldn’t go to the NBA this year, and in previous years for a player of his calibre and stature it would be a no-brainer.
If you see guys like Williams and Walker pulling their names out of the draft hat it might be time to worry.
