“Two and through” NBA age limit benefits the game

REGENSBURG (David Hein's Eye on the Future) - Imagine having to wait another year to watch Enes Kanter, Jonas Valanciunas, Bismack Biyombo and Kyrie Irving in the NBA. Of course, the NBA lockout is over. But this column is actually about one of the so-called “B-issues” in the still yet-to-be finalized collective bargaining agreement.
 
The NBA owners and players have yet to figure out what the age limit will be for the NBA Draft. There are three options. Most unlikely is that the age limit – currently at 19 years and one year removed from high school – will be abolished altogether.

The second possibility is keeping it at the current “one and done” rule, referring to players going to college for one year and then going to the NBA.

But the third option – and currently rumored as the most likely one – is what’s being called “Two and Through” meaning an age limit of 20 years and two years removed from high schools so that players would attend two years of college.

There are a lot of benefits to this idea.

One, it’s good for college basketball as players would then stay two years in college, improving the level of play as the players have more time with the coaches, who then in turn are not forced to re-stock or reload their teams as extensively and as often.

College basketball fans would also benefit from the “two and through” rule as they would have another year of watching great players such as Kevin Durant, Greg Oden, Derrick Rose, Kevin Love, Tyreke Evans, John Wall and others who bolted college after their freshman season.

The NBA would also benefit as they would have another year to observe and judge the young elite talent in U.S. colleges and elsewhere in the world.

International players would also be beneficiaries of such a measure – even though it would mean the future emerging superstars such as Kanter and Valanciunas would have to wait one more year before they could make their NBA debut.

But there have not been that many such international cases before Kanter, Valanciunas and Biyombo – though Kostas Koufos, Serge Ibaka, Petteri Koponen and Ryan Richards all would have been impacted.

Another European who would have needed to wait one more year was Ricky Rubio. And that may not have been a bad thing. The Spaniard, who is still just 21 years old, was drafted at 19 years of age in 2009 to much fanfare, media attention and skepticism.

NBA fans with huge expectations of Rubio were kept from seeing him play stateside as he remained in Europe. It was the correct move for him to stay in Spain and develop his game. But detractors began to look for holes in his game as much or more than praising his skills. And more and more people doubted Rubio, who seemed to slowly wilt under the pressure of expectation.

Another year of draft ineligibility would have been invaluable for Rubio to work on his game in peace and quiet while giving experts another year of observations before telling the general public of the latest European to get drafted by an NBA team, giving them perhaps a more mild expectation.

Such a move would definitely have an impact – especially in this day and age where teams value potential almost more than proven talent. One just needs to look at the 2011 NBA Draft. Of the top eight picks, only sophomore Derrick Williams and Jan Vesely would have been draft eligible under the “two and through” rule.

There is another aspect of this up-coming decision which has not been discussed very much thus far.

Should “two and through” become the new rule, then European and international basketball may see more U.S. high school graduates go the route that was started in 2008 by Brandon Jennings – namely deciding against attending college to earn money and play professional basketball abroad.

High school star OJ Mayo was rumored to possibly play in Europe the season before Jennings took the big step.

With a new ruling, some top stars might consider two years of waiting for a basketball paycheck too long and at least two years of free education at a high-level institution of higher learning not rewarding enough, deciding instead to venture into professional hoops in Europe or China or wherever the ball brings them. However, those players who take the Jennings route will be more likely the exception than the rule.

A new NBA Draft age limit of 20 years has many more advantages and pros than disadvantages and cons. And the NBA would do its own league, college basketball and international basketball a favor in instituting a new “two and through” rule.

David Hein
FIBA

FIBA’s columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

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