Recent reports suggest the NBA and commissioner Adam Silver discussed the possibility of changing the one-and-done rule for the annual NBA Draft.
Many have called for players to again be allowed to come to the NBA straight out of high school, and with the recent season-ending back injury to 2018 top prospect Michael Porter Jr., those beliefs have only grown stronger. Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Tracy McGrady represent success stories.
Of course, for every player like that, there are the likes of Nudbi Ebi, Darius Miles, Jonathan Bender, DaSagana Diop, and Kwame Brown who never came close to panning out.
If the rule is ultimately changed, Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka believes the league is much better suited to help the development of young players, via the Mason and Ireland Show on ESPN LA Radio:
“I think with the onset of all of the teams now almost having a G League team, and there’s going to be such a flow with the two-way contract, it seems like the market is saying that might make sense to do. If guys really don’t want to go to school but they want to start their professional careers, now we have a landing spot to do it with the developmental teams. It seems to be headed in that direction.”
Pelinka added that he doesn’t think the change will make much of an impact on the Lakers:
“It presents some unique challenges, but scouting is a massive undertaking. It’s a global thing now. I don’t think shifting it back one year is going to be that big of a deal for us.”
The Lakers scouting department has been instrumental to recent success. The team has found gems such as Larry Nance Jr., Kyle Kuzma, and Jordan Clarkson in the late-first or second round in the past few years, which is a credit to them.
Kyle Kuzma has already emerged as the unquestioned steal of the 2017 Draft. Scouting high school players is a tough task, but the Lakers have examples to lean on.
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