The NBA Lockout: In A Perfect World

Today marks the 96th day of the NBA lockout. A day that will probably end in the same position that it began-- with little progress towards an agreement between the owners and the NBPA. As the calendar continuers to flip and players begin signing contracts overseas, we are beginning to see an answer to the question of whether or not we will see professional basketball this year.

With this continued disagreement from both sides, I have decided to take a page out of Mike Greenberg's book, and, just as he paints his picture of a perfect world if he were the MLB Commissioner, I too will paint my perfect world for how to deal with the NBA lockout. So here goes:

In a perfect world, the NBA would allow teams to lend the newly drafted rookies to their respective universities for one more season.

Now, I know what you're thinking: you're crazy, it would never work and the only reason you're proposing this is so the Morris Twins and Josh Selby could return to Kansas-- and my only response to that would be you're absolutely right. But seeing that you've read into it this far already, bare with me for a second.

Allowing the newly drafted rookies to return to their previous universities would prove to be beneficial for a number of reasons. First, players who had forgone their senior year would have the opportunity to receive a college degree-- not that many of them would use them, but some may. Second, the rookies would have the opportunity to continue to advance their fundamental skills at a competitive level, rather than traveling around in what are basically just pick-up leagues. Next, because of the lockout, many of these rookies have yet to receive that big paycheck and are currently facing financial issues and allowing them to return to school would eliminate these issues.

Now for a plan as outrageous as such to work -- and it never would due to contract issues, pay for play, NCAA rules, scholarships, sponsorships, Halloween costumes and for whatever other reason you can think of -- there would need to be an endless/strict set of guidelines. So here's a few:

-NBA teams would lend the newly drafted rookies to their respectable universities for the duration of the lockout, or until they have run out of college eligibility.

-If the lockout were to end mid-NCAA season, players would be required to finish the season with their school, before reporting back to their NBA team.

-Rookies would not be on scholarship, moreover on a contracted loan from their drafted teams of which would cover the fees of living/tuition-- think of it like a non-paid internship.

-Other than the fees that would typically be covered by a scholarship, Rookies would not receive any additional benefits from their NBA teams/sponsors, as they would be required to abide by all NCAA rules and regulations.

Final Fraze

This plan would create absolute haywire. There's no way around it. Even if it were a conceivable solution to the rookie situation in the lockout, there would need to be an overwhelming list of rules and more litigation than owner, school or player would be willing to sign up for. Then again, in a perfect world, maybe they would. #DareToDream