NBA commissioner hints 'one-and-done' needs change

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver doesn't necessarily have any immediate solutions, but Thursday night he sure sounded like a guy who wants a change to the current one-and-done rule affecting both the NBA and college basketball.

Twenty so-called "one and dones" will enter the league via the draft this year, comprising likely the vast majority of the lottery picks, but there's a growing feeling among the league's owners AND players that the rule isn't for the greater benefit of the league.

Teenage players are not proving themselves widely ready to compete at that level.

Silver: "My sense is it's not working for anyone ... It's not working for the college coaches and athletic directors I hear from. They're not happy with the current system. And I know our teams aren't happy either, in part because they don't necessarily think the players who are coming into the league are getting the kind of training that they would expect to see."

Some relevant numbers here:

Silver may hear from college coaches and administrators, but the reality is, they have no say in the matter beyond lobbying the NBA Commissioner. Any change is entirely the purview of the league and the NBA players union.

The current rule has been around for roughly a decade. Players need to be 19 years old or one year out of high school before being eligible for the NBA Draft. Only a handful of high schoolers have sought ways around the rule, heading overseas to earn pro paychecks before coming back to the NBA.

"I think we all agree that we need to make a change," Silver said. "As I've said before, our position, at least our formal position, going into bargaining was that we wanted to raise the minimum age from 19 to 20, and of course their formal position was they want to lower the age from 19 to 18.

A popular notion with many college fans is to adopt the college baseball rule where players can go straight to the NBA from high school if they choose, but if they opt for college, they're bound to be there for 3 seasons.

I'm one who believes that a similar rule for just two seasons would be a worthwhile compromise.

Either way - with college basketball's popularity and overall quality waning in part because of the lack of roster continuity from year to year, any improvement benefiting the players and college game would be welcome.