NBA's Teenagers Should Go to the Minors

Four of the first five picks in tonight's National Basketball Association Draft are almost certain to be "one-and-dones," 18- and 19-year-olds who played a single year in college. Too often, such youngsters aren't ready to contribute to a winning NBA team, and many spend the next season playing sporadic minutes, slowing their development. The NBA wants to fix this problem by changing the one-and-done rule to "two-and-through" -- requiring that players stay at least two seasons in college before entering the draft.

That would be an improvement, but it's not enough. The real challenge for the NBA is building out its minor league system and creating a culture, like that of baseball, in which the top draftees are expected to apprentice in the minors for one or two seasons before joining the big club. This will take years to accomplish. Yet it should rank among the highest priorities on the NBA's to-do list under Commissioner Adam Silver.