Yeah GLeague for sure. I think the first year they did this new initiative they didn’t even get anyone. Looks like with worldwide uncertainty they may start getting some.
But even out of the forgo college group I think he’s the biggest. With Jennings probably 2nd. I don’t count Lamelo just cause he was never gonna be eligible.
Technically Latavious Williams was the first to go from HS to the G-League and then the draft, back in 2009.
What will they make in the G League?
There’s certainly a chance that students won’t be back for the fall semester. If that’s the case according to this article our best case scenario would be a college basketball season starting next January.
Another example I can think of is PJ Hairston getting kicked out of school and then doing the G-League for a year pre-draft. I don’t think anyone has chosen the G League out of high school though
We were talking about Jalen Green and the G League yesterday. He’s expected to get 3 or 4x what has been advertised as the G League Select deal (125k). It also sounds like Todd could go this route and get more than 125k.
So Green could make 375 to 500K? For that money he has to jump, especially if he was thinking one and doing no matter what.
Not in a while. Latavious Williams did it back in 2009. The D-League back then!
Yes – sounds like the higher end of that range.
The 125k wasn’t enough to competitive with college or overseas options, seems like the NBA is adjusting the comp for top targets.
With the season in flux I wonder if anyone not signed yet is starting to think about that route. That’s a lot to pass up.
I was listening to a Memphis podcast and they said from what they were hearing rod Strickland and former Memphis assistant/nba head coach sam Mitchell are heading up this program and are aggressively pursuing a lot of top guys and now have significantly more $ to offer the kids. They also said the long term goal is to sort of build a g league select team of top high school prospects that would all train together and play exhibition games against g league teams for one year. I think this is the nba trying to bring relevancy and eyeballs to the g league as the owners have invested a ton in it. I also think its them trying to find a solution to the one and done rule, truth is a ton of nba people(especially owners and front office) still like the one and done rules. Making this a viable path allow them to keep it and please the people who want more player rights.
I like the G-League select team idea much more than randomly throwing these 18 year old kids on a roster full of guys trying to keep their place in the league.
Yeah it didnt sound like they would play a full schedule either, so it’d probably allow them to offer better housing and travel which is one of the major advantages colleges have. The more I think I about it, I think its a pretty brilliant idea.
I’m sure the current G-League players will love the select team getting paid more money and having better accommodations while playing fewer games haha. That’s business though I suppose
It’s probably worth a shot for the NBA but I’m still very skeptical of the worthiness of it from an economics perspective for the league. IMO, everyone going to college for one year (and no one going overseas) is probably the NBA’s “best interest”, so best case scenario for them is that the NCAA allows players to get paid in some way.
I also think that this could put pressure on the NCAA to give in. They are gonna take a hit if the talent level of college hoops keeps precipitously dropping.
This sounds like what hockey has been doing for years with USA hockey select teams. Kids on those hockey teams though are still in high school and will attend college in most cases so they don’t have to pay them large sums of money. I can see the appeal from a development standpoint of putting all the guys together and playing against grown men who are trying to make the league. I’ll be curious if financially this works out for the NBA/G-League. I know there are diehard basketball fans who will watch but I can’t see myself or many casual fans tuning in. Is there an example of a minor league in any sport around the world where large numbers of people are tuned in and watching and talking about it? I’m not talking about 8000 fans attending a game for entertainment purposes, I mean millions of people interested in the sport. From a branding stand point (IE Josh Christopher), college basketball still remains the best way to become a household name. I have to think a guy like Zion spending one year in college was more beneficial for him getting a $75 million deal from Nike than if he had played in the G-League or overseas for a year.
The NCAA has already given in on NIL. At this point they’re just figuring out the details. As far as the schools paying players competitive salaries, I can’t see that ever happening.
I thought about this too, one idea I thought of is maybe you could structure it like college coaching contracts. Players get the g league base but the select team has shoe sponsorship, tv and/or radio show etc. that pays the remaining amount of money.
Blood in the water