Researcher Information

Abstract

From 1997 to 2010, the number of basketball, collegiate athletes to declare early entry into the NBA draft has significantly increased. The National Basketball Association created a rookie pay scale in the year 1995 that established a set amount players can receive during his rookie contract based on draft position. The rookie pay scale helped all1 teams to add new, unproven players at a reasonable price while keeping veteran players content with larger contracts. However, the pay scale not only created a distribution of salary, but also created more of an incentive for collegiate players to declare early entry into the draft to maximize contracts after their rookie year. From this, the number of underclassmen entering the draft spiked and the problem with athletes determining the value in his remaining collegiate eligibility intensified. This article seeks to measure and evaluate the opportunity costs in relation to contract value between the options of early entry into the NBA draft and completion of the undergraduate athletic career through marginal analysis.

Faculty Sponsors

Charles Harrington

Project Type

Event

Location

Alvin Sherman Library

Start Date

4-4-2014 1:00 PM

End Date

4-4-2014 5:30 PM

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Apr 4th, 1:00 PM Apr 4th, 5:30 PM

The NBA Draft: The Opportunity Costs of Early Entry

Alvin Sherman Library

From 1997 to 2010, the number of basketball, collegiate athletes to declare early entry into the NBA draft has significantly increased. The National Basketball Association created a rookie pay scale in the year 1995 that established a set amount players can receive during his rookie contract based on draft position. The rookie pay scale helped all1 teams to add new, unproven players at a reasonable price while keeping veteran players content with larger contracts. However, the pay scale not only created a distribution of salary, but also created more of an incentive for collegiate players to declare early entry into the draft to maximize contracts after their rookie year. From this, the number of underclassmen entering the draft spiked and the problem with athletes determining the value in his remaining collegiate eligibility intensified. This article seeks to measure and evaluate the opportunity costs in relation to contract value between the options of early entry into the NBA draft and completion of the undergraduate athletic career through marginal analysis.