<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">If you had your television tuned into ESPN last Tuesday night, odds are you were pondering the same question that I was: What in the world has happened to the NBA draft? Gradually, over seemingly the past five years, it has become more watered down than skim milk. Long gone are the days when a lottery pick guaranteed a team of acquiring a player whose impact would be immediately felt during his rookie season. And it?s hardly a secret that only a handful of the scores who declare themselves eligible for the draft early are actually NBA-ready. So many factors have contributed to the erosion of the basketball world?s talent pool, making it difficult to place the blame on any one in particular. The swift ascension to superstardom by the likes of Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady, Amare Stoudemire, etc. has undoubtedly struck fear in the hearts of the franchises that took a pass on them. And as a result, teams -- being motivated by the fear of making the same mistake twice -- are drafting, in mass, high school players, the overwhelming majority of whom are nowhere near ready to don a pro uniform. If you had your television tuned into ESPN last Tuesday night, odds are you were pondering the same question that I was: What in the world has happened to the NBA draft? Gradually, over seemingly the past five years, it has become more watered down than skim milk. Long gone are the days when a lottery pick guaranteed a team of acquiring a player whose impact would be immediately felt during his rookie season. And it?s hardly a secret that only a handful of the scores who declare themselves eligible for the draft early are actually NBA-ready. So many factors have contributed to the erosion of the basketball world?s talent pool, making it difficult to place the blame on any one in particular. The swift ascension to superstardom by the likes of Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady, Amare Stoudemire, etc. has undoubtedly struck fear in the hearts of the franchises that took a pass on them. And as a result, teams -- being motivated by the fear of making the same mistake twice -- are drafting, in mass, high school players, the overwhelming majority of whom are nowhere near ready to don a pro uniform. Meanwhile, names like Korleone Young, Leon Smith, Ousmane Cisse, Lenny Cooke and DeAngelo Collins -- scholastic studs who bypassed college and made the leap of faith only to land flat on their faces -- have fallen off every basketball map, not just the NBA?s. And then there are the foreign players. Scouts and general managers, likewise, don?t want to be the ones to let a Dirk Nowitzki, Peja Stojakovic, Manu Ginobili or Pau Gasol slip through their fingers, so they draft hoping that potential will one day come to fruition. Too bad it rarely ever happens. See Darko Milicic, Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Andris Biedrins and Alex Redojevic -- lottery picks who move as if they have two left feet -- for proof.</div> Source
