Yeah. The NBAs shift from drafting production and having a “prove it” mentality about college kids, to drafting potential in mass (not just a Kobe or KG type) is the biggest downfall of CBB quality. It’s what drives the 1nD era.
They over emphasize those 2-3 extra years of age and act like the upperclassmen are old men with only 1-3 good years left on their bodies. Reality is most the young guys wash out too and you’re just as likely to get a 8-10 year career from Reeves as you are from Edwards…and Reeves is ready to contribute day 1 instead of needing a couple years to develop.
The NBA and CBB would be better off if you reopened the straight from HS portal to allow the freak athletes (Lebron, Kobe, KG, Wall) to go. So say you lose the top 5 high school kids every year and they never play college…but the 5-50 ranked kids still make college rosters; and then the NBA drafts purely on production not hope and wishful thinking…Reed and Rob still go…Anthony Edwards still goes…Wall, Davis, Cuz still do etc….. but none of these their 2 guys make the jump and instead are replaced by guys like Reeves and the rest of the All American upper class list that isn’t highly projected bc “they’re old and maximized their potential”.
“Potential” is largely overplayed outside the top 5 type young guys like Wemby, AD etc. usually the tier 2 young guys w “potential” just end up being about as good as your top tier seniors in colllege…difference is they weren’t ready to immediately contribute to the team that drafted them