I'd stipulate that any player who desires to be draft eligible directly out of high school, they must meet four criteria:
- You must be eligible as a freshman to play at the NCAA D1 level
- this ensures the academic side of things, and it provides incentive for a safety net for the athlete should he not get drafted
- this includes all rules involving maintaining amateur status (more on how the NBA would handle that later)
- You must be committed to and sign an NLI
- This allows colleges to recruit mostly normal and doesn't create a vortex of late summer decisions based on whether or not a player is drafted.
- This also puts the onus on programs deciding which players to recruit, knowing the possibility exists.
- (Doesn't address players who might not be close to draft ready but may wish to hold out for HM program who loses out on a kid. Unintended consequence.)
- You must remain in the G League until at least the all-star break of your rookie year
- This promotes development and forces clubs to get borderline rotation players plenty of opportunities to play, without bringing them back and forth.
- This also throws the NBPA a bone by helping them preserve veteran jobs (at veteran salaries).
- Gives teams a chance to see who really can help them, then decide later who could fit in or truly advance their rotations for the final third of the season.
- (Let's face it, this would give some teams an excuse to tank games.)
- You still must specifically declare for the draft between a certain period of time
- Perhaps the spring signing period is April 1-10
- Deadline to declare for the draft is April 24
Agents (Relative to the NCAA)
- May talk to players who have met the pre-draft requirements (eligible, signed, declared).
- Must register relationship with player to NBA so he can sponsor their trips to camps and workouts as part of the draft process
- If player is not drafted, player is not liable to expenses incurred during draft process
- If player is not drafted, player is not bound by any verbal agreement
- If player is drafted, player is also not bound by any verbal agreement
- Once player signs with an agent, his college eligibility is forfeited
- Should an agent or representative of an agent violate communication and registration rules, they face penalties from the NBA relative to their certification.
- First penalty - forfeiture of the ability to represent that client through his first contract
- Second penalty - loss of NBA certification for two years
- Third penalty - loss of NBA certification for life and agency loss of certification for one year
- Should an agency have multiple agents going beyond first or second penalties, possible loss of agency certification for life
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