G League to offer $125K to elite prospects as alternative to college one-and-done

[bleedsmaroonandgold]

Yep, I think people are really overlooking the lifestyle factor here.

Which of these options sounds more fun:

A: Big Man on Campus. Spend 8 months on a leafy college campus surrounded by parties and tons of good looking girls while occasionally attending classes. Training and practicing in a modern college facility. Traveling to road games on chartered planes and staying in quality hotels. Gaining tons of exposure by playing all of your games on national TV.

B: Spending a season living in a smaller town on your own. Long bus rides, cramped commercial flights. Spartan training facilities and accommodations. Limited exposure TV wise and ZERO glory or lifelong memories compared to March Madness.

If a majority of the top players still pick option A, some will say that is unfair and somehow the NCAA's fault.

 

[HOOP DREAMS]

If a majority of the top players still pick option A, some will say that is unfair and somehow the NCAA's fault.

For the short term probably. But if some of these current underclassman see some top 10 recruits go G-League, get paid the 125k + potentially a lot more in endorsements, and still get drafted top 10/15 they will follow.

I would expect the 125k to go up every year also.

 

[Zeppelin Gopher]

I guess what I envision is like a G-league/"futures" draft, where the NBA programs pick the players, and then have "rights" to those players and send them to their own G-league teams. Then if/when the player is ready, the parent NBA team can simply call-up the player to the big show (while sending someone else down, or releasing). I guess this is something like the MLB system? Why wouldn't they try to set it up like that??

What you're talking about is root and branch reform of the NBA draft, which is not under discussion in any form and would be decades away (if ever) from taking place. Not relevant to this discussion.

 

[Zeppelin Gopher]

Yea, I don't think it is a stretch to say there is some major under-selling going on there.

1. I see no mention of money. A prospect who signs one of these G-League deals could easily be looking at $1M+ in their first year after you include endorsements, and possibly a heck of a lot more than that in the case of someone like Zion Williamson who already has quite a bit of marketability. The money part is a pretty big deal.

2. In the G-League they are probably going to be playing against/with some guys who have already played minutes in the NBA. It depends what type of experience they want, but I would think at least some prospects would jump at the thought of proving themselves against better competition.

3. This idea that most G-League teams play in tiny, boring cities is completely false. There are a few that wouldn't be the most fun (Oshkosh, WI comes to mind), but most of them play in cities that are fairly large. There are teams in Austin (TX), Long Island, just outside Chicago, El Segundo (basically Santa Monica, just outside LA), and plenty of other places. They aren't stuck playing in Albert Lea all winter. A lot of the cities that have a team aren't really that much different than Lexington, KY or Lawrence, KS.

Sure, they might not take chartered planes or stay at fancy hotels, but if you've never played for a team that does would you really notice the difference?

1. This is a good point. I'd say the a main reason a kid would take this option is to be able to sign a shoe deal and immediately bank 7 figures.

2 and 3. You're underselling how much of a grind the D League lifestyle and season is. I shouldn't have inferred that the entire league is based in backwater towns, fair enough. But the risk will outweigh the reward for most kids who consider this option.

Apparently there is going to be some sort of incentive system for NBA clubs to prioritize developing these "elite prospect" D League players. This will be crucial, because very few of these kids will be ready to contribute to a winning D League team fresh out of high school.

 

[Gophers_4life]

What you're talking about is root and branch reform of the NBA draft, which is not under discussion in any form and would be decades away (if ever) from taking place. Not relevant to this discussion.

Ok fair enough, I figured as much. You seem prone to hyperbole, fighting tooth and nail against losing elite prospects to this new proposal ... so I’m not sure I trust you on “decades if ever”. But do agree I haven’t seen anything of the sort proposed for discussion in the immediate short term.

I think it’s dumb if they dont do this eventually though, for exactly the reason you highlighted.

 

[Gophers_4life]

I guess at the end of the day, the missing unknown factor is if elite high school players will get to play significant or starting roles on Gleague teams or not. Sitting on the bench in the Gleague is obviously not as fast a path to the NBA as doing a one and done at Duke and then getting drafted.

It it might actually prove to be a higher overall success in the NBA path in the long run! We will see.

 

[alchemy2u]

A couple of other points, with college you still have attend classes at most schools and study. “NBA wannabes” may like the idea of getting paid and being able to work on their game full time without the hassle of school. And remember that I am talking about P5 top players, not just the superstar kids. There would be the lure to be professional BB players instead of starving students.


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[Zeppelin Gopher]

Ok fair enough, I figured as much. You seem prone to hyperbole, fighting tooth and nail against losing elite prospects to this new proposal ... so I’m not sure I trust you on “decades if ever”. But do agree I haven’t seen anything of the sort proposed for discussion in the immediate short term.

I think it’s dumb if they dont do this eventually though, for exactly the reason you highlighted.

To be clear, it wouldn't bother me at all for prospects to go this route and I'm sure a few of them will. Kids should be able to turn pro whenever they want to.

I'm just pointing out all the potential flaws and unanswered questions in the proposal, of which there are many.

 

[Gophers_4life]

To be clear, it wouldn't bother me at all for prospects to go this route and I'm sure a few of them will. Kids should be able to turn pro whenever they want to.

I'm just pointing out all the potential flaws and unanswered questions in the proposal, of which there are many.

Absolutely many unanswered questions. The chief among them is immediate playing time, or not, in the G-league for top 10 ranked high school prospects.

If it were a deal that the parent NBA team had rights to the prospect, then they probably would force the G-league team to start him right away. Just don't know how it will actually work out ...

That risk might be enough to deter the top prospects initially, and let it play out for a few years.

 

[HOOP DREAMS]

Absolutely many unanswered questions. The chief among them is immediate playing time, or not, in the G-league for top 10 ranked high school prospects.

Top 10 players... yeah they will play. NBA GMs will want to evaluate them and fans will come to games.