The NBA draft mix concludes this weekend, and the draft is subsequent month. Nonetheless, earlier than I dive into what sort of participant the Los Angeles Lakers ought to pursue, I have to remind you of three important financial shifts.
The primary started in 1994 when Glenn “Huge Canine” Robinson requested the Milwaukee Bucks for a $100-million contract after the group made him the No. 1 choose. Robinson ultimately signed a 10-year, $68-million contract (the richest ever for a rookie), however the next yr the league stated goodbye to open-ended contracts for rookies. Immediately rookie offers are 4 years max.
Subsequent, in 2006, the NBA modified eligibility guidelines requiring gamers to be at the least 19 or one yr faraway from highschool earlier than getting into the draft. This was due to the glut of highschool phenoms who was professional duds.
And eventually, in July 2021, the NCAA’s “identify, picture, likeness” coverage went into impact. Meaning any senior on this yr’s draft is a part of the primary full class of ball gamers who might monetize their complete faculty enjoying profession.
All of which impacts the reply to the urgent query: What sort of participant ought to the Lakers pursue in subsequent month’s draft?
The type who had entry to extra on a university campus for 4 years and proved they will deal with the temptations that cash and fame can carry. The type that already had alternatives to make emotional or infantile errors on the court docket or maybe in a social media put up and realized from them. The sort of participant who didn’t get an actual senior yr in highschool however made the very best out of the playing cards they have been dealt. Resiliency isn’t one thing that may be measured on the mix, which is ironic as a result of with out it, all of the measurable qualities add as much as nothing.
The league’s financial shifts made a “excessive ceiling” — which means plenty of potential, however not a confirmed monitor document — essentially the most sought-after high quality within the NBA draft. Because of this, gamers who can legally drink fell out of favor with scouts.
Take into account, Michael Jordan was drafted in 1984 on the age of 21. On the time he was a relative teenager: The typical age within the draft was 22.3. Earlier than the eligibility rule change, Kobe Bryant was drafted at 17, and the common age had dipped to 22. When Lebron James was 18 in 2003, the common was 21.5. Final yr the common was down to twenty.
How has this affected the school sport? In 2012, Kentucky gained the NCAA title with a roster that was about 19.7 years previous. In 2021, Baylor College gained with gamers who averaged 22.3 in age.
Whereas the Lakers roster is in determined want of a giant man — one thing that was made painfully clear on this yr’s first-round playoffs loss — they seemingly gained’t discover the subsequent Shaq with their No. 55 choose. However they might discover the subsequent Austin Reaves, who went undrafted as a 23-year-old senior in 2021.
That’s to not say youth isn’t factor. Solely that with the development of know-how and diet, “youth” has been tremendously prolonged for skilled athletes. Gamers of their late 20s are prone to nonetheless be of their prime efficiency years, not getting old out. And LeBron James and the NHL’s Alex Ovechkin aren’t the one 40-year-old world-class examples to level to. Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn got here out of retirement final fall and at 40 positioned second in an occasion in March. What was thought-about previous for an athlete when Jordan was drafted shouldn’t be relevant right this moment.
My hope is the Lakers comb by way of the whole NCAA spectrum and draft a 24-year-old faculty graduate who has NIL cash within the financial institution and head on his shoulders. Critics of NIL complain that the brand new system makes it laborious to construct faculty program as a result of gamers are continually chasing cash and haven’t any group loyalty. I say it’s higher to be taught the teachings that may come from that whereas on a university campus than within the higher-stakes world of professional sports activities.
Again within the day, gifted however uncooked faculty gamers felt pressured to earn cash and would enter the league too early. Typically it was to guard their prospects of being drafted primarily based on potential, earlier than that they had sufficient of a document that they’d be judged on their accomplishments as a substitute. Now, within the period of NIL money and transferring amongst faculties, a promising 18-year-old could make a case to complete his diploma earlier than attempting to go professional — maturing as a participant, a pupil and a businessman with out giving up his dream of being within the NBA.
Little question the Lakers want a giant man.
In the event that they maintain on to the choose, they need to remember to draft a grown-up as nicely.
