NBA Draft Should Have 3 Rounds (Idea #3 – NBA)
The NBA Draft is exciting: the potential, the trades and even the suits. In a sport where one player can have so much impact, the NBA Draft means that much more.
In 1989, the NBA voted to reduce the draft from ten rounds to two. The main reason was to allow undrafted players to “try out for any team.” For decades, this system made sense, but it’s time for a change. My sports idea is that the NBA draft should add another round. Here are the main reasons why:
- More Than 90 Quality Players
- Larger Market Advantage
- GLeague Development
- Draft Compensation
There are 60 players drafted each year in the NBA Draft. With the global expansion of basketball and the reach of social media, there are more than 90 players worthy of being drafted every year. Eventually, high school players will once again be able to go straight from high school to the NBA. There are more
worthy players than draft picks to select them.
Larger NBA markets have always had an advantage over the smaller markets when attracting free agents. When the draft is over, larger market teams also have an advantage in persuading undrafted players to sign their offer over that of a small market franchise. By expanding the draft, smaller markets have a chance
to draft players instead of larger markets getting them for free.
There are 30 NBA teams and 26 GLeague teams affiliated with NBA franchises. Expanding the draft would allow NBA teams the chance to develop their GLeague affiliates. The popularity and value of the GLeague would go up significantly if more “parent club” drafted players were taking part in the league.
Many NBA stars used to stay with the franchise that drafted them. That has changed. Player movement is at an all time high. In other professional leagues, teams are given compensatory picks when they lose a good player in free agency. In a 3 round draft format, the 2nd round would act as the compensatory round. We will cover how all that would work in a future idea.
