The Untold Story Of the NBA Draft

The 2017 NBA Draft has come and gone. Media focus is on the players who were drafted and giving grades to each team. Trades, unique storylines (Lavar Ball e.g.:), and player's fashion grab viewer's attention.  The untold story is the amount of eligible players who went undrafted. A large percentage of these players declared for the draft early, forfeiting their remaining college eligibility.

NBA rosters are modest in size compared to those in the NFL and MLB. The draft is only 2 rounds.  To put that in perspective, there over 300 Division 1 College Basketball programs. Where do these undrafted players go? NBA teams will sign a few as undrafted free agents. A few of them will try and play overseas. Most of them will never play basketball again and have no plans for their future.

What is the solution? Continue to discuss the small percentage of players who are drafted. Stress the importance of education and getting a degree. Encourage players to exhaust all of their collegiate eligibility, unless they are going to be a lottery pick.

Here's to hoping this trend changes!