Just ask the National Hockey League?s loyal but long-suffering fan base what their thoughts are of that league?s current labor predicament, and they?ll tell you if they never hear the words ?collective bargaining agreement? again it won?t be soon enough (on Feb. 16 the NHL became the first pro sports league in history to cancel an entire season after the league and its players? association could not come to terms on, among other things, a workable salary cap figure).

 With the NBA?s CBA set to expire on July 1, should basketball fans now be concerned with a possible work stoppage and with it, a potential demise of the sport (as is the case right now with hockey)?

 Hardly.  Both commissioner David Stern and union executive director Billy Hunter remain cautiously optimistic a new labor settlement will be in place by the end of the current campaign.  The Commish has even vowed that he will not allow the NBA to follow in the NHL?s footsteps when it comes to mismanagement and fan alienation.  

 And we believe him.  In fact, the league?s current CBA cannot expire soon enough, for once it does, we can finally rid ourselves of the over-saturation of prep-to-pros infiltrating the NBA.  

 Arguably one of the biggest stumbling blocks in labor talks thus far has been the implementation of a minimum age for the draft.  Stern has been adamant on raising the bar from 18 years of age to 20, which, in most cases, means players will have to play at least two seasons of college ball before they become draft eligible.  

 As is the case in all labor negotiations, where greedy players and frugal owners butt heads over how to pad their respective bank accounts even further, the concept of bumping up the draft age limit would go a long way to improving the actual on-court product.

 Yes, we know that some of the game?s best players today came straight out of high school, including LeBron James, of course, the NBA?s heir apparent, who simply defied logic by living up to all the hype and then some.  

 But for every LeBron and Amare Stoudemire, another Rookie of the Year who took the league by storm, there?s a Kwame Brown and Darius Miles - players who in their fourth and fifth years in the league respectively are still having difficulty adapting, primarily because they just aren?t mature enough.  

 Brown, who became the first high schooler ever to be taken first overall when selected by Washington in 2001, has just been unable to carve his niche in the league, while Miles?well, you just have to ask recently-fired Blazers head coach Mo Cheeks what his thoughts are of the East. St. Louis product and you pretty much get the picture there.  

 Kevin Garnett got the ball rolling back in ?95 when he was selected fifth overall by the Timberwolves and has since emerged into one of the league?s most dynamic players. Since ?95, 30 preps have been drafted by NBA teams.  Out of the 30, six could be classified as franchise players: Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Jermaine O?Neal, Tracy McGrady, Stoudemire and James.

 Bryant needed two seasons before he broke through.  McGrady needed three seasons and a change of scenery.  O?Neal rotted at the end of Portland?s bench for four seasons before Pacers GM Donnie Walsh shrewdly acquired his services in exchange for Dale Davis before the start of the 2000-2001 season.  Who knows where O?Neal?s game would be now if it weren?t for Walsh?

 Franchise players don?t grow on tress, or come straight out of high school, for the most part.  They need time to develop, mature and round their games into form.

 There?s an unwritten consensus that high schoolers need a minimum of three years before they begin to pay dividends for their teams ? a statement which seems to hold water when looking back on the careers of most preps to date.  With the age limit bumped up to, say, 20 or 21, players would be able to develop their games at the collegiate level (the NCAA should first and foremost be considered the primary farm system for the NBA; if college is meant to prepare students for the working world, it should also help athletes prepare for the rigors of pro basketball life) for a couple of seasons and be ready to contribute right away upon their arrival to the pros.  

 Sure, young players will always have a learning curve when they enter the league, but at least under a proposed new system, the athlete has a greater chance of thriving from the get go instead of wallowing in either mediocrity or just plain obscurity.  

 Take the Chicago Bulls as a prime example of how the high school experiment can go awry.  

 On draft night 2001, then-general manager Jerry Krause decided to dive head first into the prep-to-pros pool by not only trading franchise cornerstone Elton Brand, a bona fide 20-10 guy, to the Los Angeles Clippers for the rights to Dominguez HS standout and ?60 Minutes? star Tyson Chandler, who the Clippers selected second overall, but also selected Thornwood HS center Eddy Curry with the fourth pick.  Together, the Bulls had their own version of the twin towers, and Krause had begun to build his next dynasty.

 Not so.  The Curry and Chandler-led Bulls posted 21, 30 and 23-win campaigns in the duo?s first three seasons, leaving Krause to step down following the 2002-03 season.  

 Looking to provide some stability to the franchise upon succeeding Krause in May 2003, John Paxson?s mandate was to build through the draft with proven collegiate commodities and not over-hyped preps.  In his first two drafts, Paxson came away with Kansas senor guard Kirk Hinrich, Connecticut junior guard Ben Gordon and Duke senior guard Chris Duhon.

 As a result, the Bulls are the NBA?s most pleasant surprise of the season, as they currently sit four games above the .500 mark (32-28) and, barring a late-season collapse, are all but assured their first playoff appearance since ?98. Hinrich has emerged into the team?s heart and soul, Gordon is a leading candidate for Rookie of the Year honors thanks to his numerous late-game heroics, while Duhon, quietly, has performed admirably as the Bulls? starting point guard.

 As for Curry and Chandler?  They have gradually improved every season and have been vital cogs for Chicago, but neither may live up to their pre-draft press clippings.  Curry remains an enigma defensively and on the glass, where he is averaging a mere 5.4 rebounds per game, while Chandler provides tenacious rebounding and defense but little scoring.  

 Let?s face it:  however you want to examine it, the NBA draft is a crapshoot and will remain so even if the draft age limit is bumped up a couple of years.  But by doing so, both the athlete and the game itself - which is of paramount importance here ? are benefited in the long run.  

Kostas.Bolos@realgm.com