NBA’s new ‘professional path’ likely to be the one less-traveled

The NBA made a splash last week when it introduced a plan to offer a professional path to elite high school prospects to go to the G League for a year.

The debate over the merits of the one-and-done player has been brewing since the NBA closed the draft to high-school prospects in 2006, when it raised the eligibility age for prospects.

Since those rules (see page 295) were implemented, the policy has stated that a player to be eligible for the draft:

(i) The player (A) is or will be at least nineteen (19) years of age during the calendar year in which the Draft is held, and (B) with respect to a player who is not an international player, at least one (1) NBA Season has elapsed since the…