Let's say we offer guaranteed money (1rst round amount) to a young center playing in Europe, Africa or China or somewhere. Could you actually do this if the the franchise was willing to buy out the current contract of the foreign player and offer a contract of up to 3-4 years? Because man we might as well grab Martynas Andriuskevicius (mr. unpronounceable) now or Yi Jianlian (if the government will allow it).
That would only work for foreign players over the age of 22 who went undrafted. (At 22 they are automatically put in the draft. Under 22, they have to declare to be drafted.) So we couldn't really get a "young" center and stash him away by avoiding the draft. If they did declare and go undrafted then they are considered a Non-Draft Rookie, and I believe foreign players who are professionals must keep re-entering the draft until they are either drafted or over 22.
Oh okay. I knew there was some rule or everyone would do it. I just wanted someone to explain it. hehe Thx.
Yeah, it's in one of the NBA by-laws, which unfortunately aren't the most accessible documents in the world. Also, it's combined with the Collective Bargaining Agreement to make a very confusing set of rules for undrafted players.
