The NBA long ago decided that jumping from high school to the professional ranks wasn’t working for them. For every Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and LeBron James there were countless stories of players flaming out and simply not being ready, physically or mentally, for the game.
Instead, it decided arbitrarily that being 19-year-old and one year removed from the completion of high school would suffice. Hence the one-and-done scenario that has plagued college basketball fans for the last couple decades.
However, some players have decided that college wasn’t for them and went the D-League or overseas contract route before being NBA draft-eligible.
On Thursday, the NBA gave itself a whole different set of problems by ruling 19-year-old seven-footer Thon Maker eligible for the upcoming draft after one year of prep school.
The biggest rub is that now prep school or high school is what counts under the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement and Maker’s eligibility gives future draft picks a whole different route to look at. Graduate high school, take a year at college prep school and then boom, you’re in.
No worries about staying NCAA compliant or having to attend classes for a grade that really counts. Instead, you can go to a prep school and virtually hideout until you are draft-eligible a year later.
But why is Maker the test case and what is the big deal about him instead of others?
For starters, there aren’t many 19-year-old seven-footers around. In fact, Maker is actually measured out at 7-foot-1 and has a wingspan in excess of 9 feet. He’s got the ability to hit a jumper and his raw potential is off the charts.
He also had plenty of issues coming out of high school that may have prevented him from being NCAA eligible in the first place. So going the prep route and taking his chances with the NBA draft appears to be have been the route needed to get him in to the league anyway.
Is Maker a “can’t-miss” type of prospect? According to NBA draft gurus, the feeling is mixed. Some believe he has lottery potential and others have him around the second round. ESPN has him ranked as the No. 20 player on its big board headed into the draft combine.
What we do know is that Maker is a guinea pig for a system full of loopholes. You can expect plenty of players who could care less about good grades to check out this route to the NBA.