Player Selection: Old School vs. New

Posted by Jared Conger on August 26, 2008

‘Eaton: Back in the day’ (NBAE/Getty Images)

Remember the old days? Gasoline was $0.89, there was an NBA franchise in Seattle, and they used to go 7-rounds deep in the NBA Draft.

The NBA discontinued this format in 1989 and went to the current format of 2-rounds and invitees to your summer leagues.

But which was better? Sure it took two days to complete the draft - much like it does the NFL, and the bulk of players from the latter rounds never panned out, but let me just say one name: Mark Eaton, a fourth round draft choice in 1982. Would we have even invited him to a Summer League roster when we value those positions to people that we drafted in the first two rounds, and other similar “roster hole” fillers? Would we even have had the chance to invite him to our Summer League as another team with a more lucrative name may have invited him to their place with the lure of big contracts and plates of chocolate chip cookies? (OK, how about macadamia nut and white chocolate chip cookies)…

And so I propose this to you Mr. Stern and all of America. Let us re-extend the draft to 6 or 7-rounds so that we may fill our Summer League roster with the faces we want to see, and not the ones that we get stuck with. Furthermore, let us all get the plate of chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, and all the likes, do we not all deserve a fair shot at each and every player that has declared themselves “draft-ready”?

I wonder in these times of conspiracy laden headlines if there were an “Eli Manning” or two amongst those would be draftees that didn’t want to have to chance landing in the Saltiest Lakes of Cities?

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