The new NBA Draft Age Limit

Today I was reading a Salt Lake Tribune article by Gordon Monson that was condemning the age restriction placed in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement which prevents anyone younger than 19 years of age on the day of the NBA Draft from being drafted. Mr. Monson claims that it is unfair to prevent young men from being drafted in the NBA when they can join the military. I'm tired of this comparison. For anyone out there who is confused, people in the NBA play basketball. People in the military have a number of jobs that could fall under the umbrella of national defense. No one is pretending that the NBA is more difficult or more important than the military. On that same note, you can't assume that a rule that works for the United States Military is in any way relavent to the rules that apply to the NBA. Not only does the United States military take people at age 18, they also take women. Should the NBA also take women?

You know what else the military does? It takes these very young people and it sends them to school to learn what they need to know. The military, unlike the people who think high school kids are ready for the NBA, knows that you can't teach someone how to do something in the line of fire without a good number of them failing. Fortunately in the NBA failure does not mean death, as it could in the military. You know who else has realized that a great majority of high school kids aren't ready for professional sports? Every other major sport. Major League Baseball, The National Football League, and the National Hockey League. Every once in a while, they get a phenom (just like the NBA has Lebron), but 99% of their young players go into the minor leagues, or in football's case, they aren't drafted until they're not that young anymore.

The NBA is a business. Every single franchise is an independant entity that has the right and ability to make an ass of themselves by drafting on raw potential. But are also linked to each other, and for one franchise to do well, the others have to do well also. Realizing this the NBA has hired a commissioner, David Stern. It is David Stern's job to keep teams from ruining the league. Monson claims that the new age limit is just to protect teams from themselves. Maybe it is, but SO WHAT? Does everyone not realize that if scores and player ability keep going down, that the NBA isn't permanent. It is a product that has to be continually sold. If the level of play goes down for any significant period of time, as it has been for the past few years, then that hurts the league. David Stern is here to protect the league, and he has. The only thing more that I wish he had done was make the age limit higher.

Vigilante Steve's 2005 Mock Draft

My buddy Steve has taken it upon himself to become an NBA draft expert. He knows what Chad Ford is going to say before he says it. Since I only pay attention to people who the Utah Jazz might pick up, I figured I'd turn over our 2005 Mock Draft to Steve. I took the liberty of highlighting some picks I particularly liked and one player that I publicly hate.

2005 NBA Mock Draft
Updated: Jun. 18

1. Milwaukee Bucks: Marvin Williams
2. Atlanta Hawks: Andrew Bogut
3. Portland Trailblazers: Gerald Green
4. New Orleans Hornets: Danny Granger
5. Charlotte Bobcats: Chris Paul
6. Utah Jazz: Deron Williams
7. Toronto Raptors: Raymond Felton
8. New York Knicks: Channing Frye
9. Golden State Warriors: Ike Diogu
10. Los Angeles Lakers: Fran Vazquez
11. Orlando Magic: Antoine Wright
12. Los Angeles Clippers: Yaroslav Korolev
13. Charlotte Bobcats: Joey Graham
14. Minnesota Timberwolves: Rashad McCants
15. New Jersey Nets: Hakim Warrick
16. Toronto Raptors: Charlie Villanuena
17. Indiana Pacers: Martell Webster
18. Boston Celtics: Sean May
19. Memphis Grizzlies: Jarrett Jack
20. Denver Nuggets: Erasn Ilyasova
21. Phoenix Suns: Francisco Garcia
22. Denver Nuggets: Wayne Simien
23. Sacramento Kings: Chris Taft
24. Houston Rockets: Johan Petro
25. Seattle Supersonics: Roko Ukic
26. Detroit Pistons: Ryan Gomes
27. Utah Jazz: Ronny Turiaf
28. San Antonio Spurs: Mickael Gelabale
29. Miami Heat: Matt Walsh
30. New York Knicks: Andray Blatche

Others that may slip into the first round: David Lee, Andrew Bynum, Luther Head, Mile Ilic, Randolph Morris