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Common Sense for David Stern

Mr. Stern,

 

I realize you’re having a difficult time keeping your dictatorial hold upon the league as more and more people question your god-given right to rule, but I thought I’d offer up a few thoughts that could help you hold onto power before the revolution hits. So, here goes:

 

  1. Rather than coddling the NCAA and requiring players to be a year removed from high school, allow ANY high school graduate/GED holder to enter the draft. If a player isn’t selected in the draft, the NCAA will still let them play. If they don’t, all those kids will head to Europe to play, and then where would college basketball be?
  2. Allow NBA teams to put more than two players onto an NBDL team’s roster. It takes a while to teach a player, and teams have about two per year added to their rosters. Think of it as a four-year trade school, where you’re paying your students to learn, while at the same time profiting by displaying their developing skills (See NCAA without the attitude).
  3. Change the rules so the players in the NBDL don’t count against the parent team’s roster space. Watch out now, you might actually have a true farm system developing here. This would allow NBA teams to build entire back-up teams and develop numerous players to NBA-level talent without diluting the NBA games.
  4. Get rid of the restriction limiting the seniority of the players that can be sent down. Even veteran players could benefit from rehabbing an injury in the minors. If nothing else it’s a great place to stash malcontent players like Stephon Marbury, or simply being able to use the threat to coerce the desired response. You know how that goes, right?
  5. Increase the number of draft rounds to 3. This will be a big bonus for your attempt to make the league global as more foreign players will be tabbed in the third round to flesh out a team’s NBDL team.

 

These simple steps would allow you to revitalize the NBA by improving the product and at the same time expanding the audience. Now instead of American players going overseas to play in Europe, it will once again be everyone wanting to get drafted by an NBA team. They might not get called up right away to play on the big stage, but that will only increase the relevance and popularity of the NBDL teams and especially the NBA.

 

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