so, what you’d get is teams bidding against each other for the services of a rookie. In the case of a rookie slot, I’d support capping the value of the slot if the team is over the cap, where such teams would be able to offer less money than a more fiscally well behaved organization, and the more you’re over the cap, the less you’d be able to offer. The only concession I’d make for being a rookie is to limit each contract to 3 years, for a premium slot player, and maybe 2 years for other rookie players.

In that case, rookies would have to choose between teams who can pay them, can offer them a lower value premium slot, or a minimum salary contract with the team of their choice, providing, of course, that team wants to sign them.

Even if you gave each team an unlimited number of premium slots, they still couldn’t sign all the players they wanted, for the same reason teams can’t do that with regular players: the salary cap, playing time, playing styles, etc….

Furthermore, I don’t believe in age limits, especially for the purpose of supporting the NCAA. LeBron was good enough at 18 to play in the NBA, and if any other players come along, who are capable of doing the same thing, they should be allowed to play without restriction.

In no other country do they have such a system. All soccer players in Europe, for instance, sign with a team, as a junior player. They either play in the 2nd team (equivalent of the NBA’s D league), or they play for the main team.

You mention the Sonics and the Blazers. But the Blazers have historically been a good organization, and have consistently, over time, made the playoffs, and deep runs into the playoffs including a few finals appearances. As for the Thunder, well I’m not sure how encouraged they should be about a 23 & 59 record.

What I want to stop happening is for good talent to be exiled to bad organizations such as the Timberwolves, Clippers or Memphis, organizations that have barely touched the playoffs, over the course of their existence, and are mediocre/bad, year in and year out.

Agreed. There is probably no good alternative.

The draft, per se does nothing. It’s the players who make the difference, and those players would still be available in what I’m proposing. Actually, I’d add a rule to prevent teams from signing rookies (and doing other transactions) until the season is over.

So, instead of a draft, you’d have an auction, except that teams would be limited by the salary cap, and rookies would choose what offers to accept or decline. Basically, free-agency with some restrictions.

Does it really matter, except sentimentally, that LeBron signed with Cleveland instead of the Knicks, for instance? Don’t you think he should have been allowed to earn a full salary, back then? especially with all the people (David Stern, cough) who used him to make money.

I suppose so—I have hardly paid enough attention to boy bands to know. He needs a blasted haircut, but at least he shaves..

Oh…until now, I had no idea Rubio was in a boy band.