that would mean dozens of guys going that route each year, right?
UNCENSORED VERSION:
Fine if they want to skim off the top 5, but top 50? I mean, the NCAA is an exploitative organization and should stop being what it is at its very core, but at that number the NBA will be doing that.
Doing this and getting rid of the one and done rule makes no sense to me. You need the one and done rule to stock those teams with talent.
Strong dislike. And that’s just greedy. Half of those guys won’t even make it to the NBA. That will just be a money grab at that point if it gets that far.
I think one prevailing thought is that this ramped up G League program might be instead of removing the one and done rule.
In 2005, 14 high school players flirted with early entry for the NBA draft, 11 stayed in, and 9 got drafted.
Not sure if there will be enough demand to fill 4-5 teams.
I mean if they get a similar deal to Green they are getting college paid for and making $$. Where is the money grab?
From my observation it seems to me like they are trying use the league path as a compromise for one and done and if it goes well they will keep one and down in place.
Exactly, that’s what I was trying to say if that was unclear.
If they do that it will certainly get those games on TV more. Having all the top prospects in the G League would be a huge draw for views and money I’d imagine. That would make a lot more than the entire actual G League itself.
If there were a single team that pooled all the HS guys that would make sense to me. For some reason this proposal of multiple rosters really irritates me.
I don’t know if it’s a money grab but it’s certainly doing something that’s bad for college basketball.
I think I agree that it will get those games on TV more, for a bit, but I don’t knoew for how long and how much of a draw it would be. You’re not going to build fanbases and sell merchandise for freshly created franchises/teams whose rosters turn over every year. The quality of basketball isn’t likely to be high either because players will be incentivized to draw attention to themselves. At least at the one-and-done factories that are the University of Kentucky and Duke, the coaches do an amazing job at getting those players to buy in - Zion didn’t have to come back after his injury, for example. Could have done with the top football prospects do when they skip the bowl game.
I don’t know who wins in this scenario save for the 30 NBA owners who can shave $50k off their scouting budgets annually and the handful of players who make it to the NBA. The ones that don’t certainly won’t have an alumni network to fall back on. Mitch McGary flamed out, and seems to have gone in his own direction, but if he had done this instead and flamed out, he sure wouldn’t have the Michigan alumni network and Ann Arbor to tap if he ever was looking to. He’d just be a nobody that everyone forgot about.
My current apartment is a couple blocks from where the Pistons are building an arena for their G-League team, so I’m all for a greater focus on developing this product. I’ll walk down and watch some basketball. I’m a degenerate.
I’d go. I’m always on the lookout for cheap games to take my kids to. Here in the DMV, to be honest, Howard U games are the best option. Why? Because the people who go to games are in there and loud. And the band is fantastic. That’s just me personally, but I think a hyped up environment is a part of what draws people, and there’s nothing that gets them going more than other people who are hyped up and in the crowd. Organic passion is always better than manufactured passion. So, good luck, g-league, but it’s hard to see that happening.
I’m with you @hack in regards to the hunt for fun cheap basketball. I try and get to as many Eastern Michigan games as I can over the season. They’ve got cheap tickets that are GA which always means pretty good seats.
I love NBA Summer League games. Everyone plays HARD. And I usually check out the Pistons draft picks and any UM players that get drafted. Even though the games are meaningless, I’m still drawn to rooting for specific players.
I think the G-League will be like that for me. Last G-League game I appointment watched was Brandon Jennings’ comeback game.
Now that’s a program that just can’t get it together, which is so unfortunate. It feels like their football program is in better shape these days, which is stunning.
It seems like every year they finish at the same spot, right around .500, regardless of talent on the team. Their 2018 team was insanely unlucky to miss out on a chance at the MAC Tournament finals. I’m excited to check them out this year (knock on wood that there’ll be a this year) because they should be an interesting team to see if they’ve improved at all from last year to this year.
100%. I haven’t been to Howard (sounds fantastic), but I’ve found it’s more fun to go to a DeMatha-Gonazaga game than a Wizards-Pistons game. Why? Passion. (No commercial breaks helps too.)