Where's Our D League Franchise?

[SupremeHustle]

This thread has six pages. If nobody made that Pistons joke already you're all fired.

[Bernman]

I had no idea D league players were making money similar to working at fast food chains. This is crap money.


(there is a lot of D league info at this link)
http://upsidemotor.com/2015/04/29/nba-d-league-salaries-faq-call-ups-assignments-affiliate/

There are three levels for salaries: C-Level: $13,000; B-Level: $19,000; A-Level: $25,500



That is garbage money compared to the 60K to 100K that can be made overseas. Or for a good player in a competitive league 500K or more. But lets just think low average: 60K. Plus the europeans will pay for hotels, apartments, maybe a car allowance and other benefits.

Why the hell go to the D league where you can barely put food on the table? Unless you live with family and don't need to provide or something.

I think even if D League salaries were 30% less than Europe (42K) at least a person could make a living and have the choice to remain stateside. You probably have more exposure in the D league and have an opportunity at a 10 day contract as previously mentioned 60 something players got called up last year. So even at a lower salary than Europe I think D league could keep a lot of talent and help it to be a good feeder system to the NBA.


First I think D league needs to bump it's salaries to levels where people can make a living working in the D league. I know it's not a fair comparison, but NFL practice squad players make 5k or 6K per week, not bad at all.

I'd rather see the salaries at minimum like: C-Level: $25K, B-Level: $35K, A-Level: $45K. Or something like that. Especially considering the cap is weighted to have more C-level players.

Sure, the sensible thing financially has always been to go to Europe straight away if you don't latch on with an NBA team. But you'll seldom see a competitor mistaken for sensible. They're going to have an almost delusional belief in their abilities and think others should see in them what they see in themselves. So they're going to continue chasing the dream and those millions, knowing they are just one phone call away if they stay in the D League as opposed to signing far away in Europe where they're out of the NBA eye and under a long-term contract if they want to get featured.

But when there are affiliates for every NBA team, and players who get demoted on their first contracts are paid less than what they make in the NBA, making this a true minor league system; it'll be better for those chasing the dream in the States and pretty much everybody for that matter besides the Anthony Bennett type phony. The so-called 4A player should make a livable wage to test real prospects and play among more fans. Similar to how mediocre players get propelled by LeBron's wake in the NBA.

[M-C-G]

Partnering with overseas teams as a farm system is the best option in my opinion. You have some influence over the coaching, it broadens overseas interest in the franchise, and having some of your coaches is good from intel/scouting perspective.

[Chuck Diesel]

Overseas teams are not interested in being a farm system for the NBA. Too many barriers there.

[tski1972]

Overseas teams are not interested in being a farm system for the NBA. Too many barriers there.

[Bernman]

Overseas teams are not interested in being a farm system for the NBA. Too many barriers there.

Right, and mobility between the personnel of teams would be a bitch. You could have a couple permanent scouts over there, but members of the big club f.o. would rarely if ever be there in person. And imagine if you needed to make a call-up without much notice. Only have to wait 14 hours for a flight from Istanbul. Not to mention the expense.

It makes a billion times more sense from a logistics and marketing standpoint for teams to have affiliates in within a few hours drive. Frankly you generate more interest in basketball and in turn the NBA in Europe by having independent teams in major cities. Fans can have more pride in that, and then carry over their interest to the much higher quality of play in the NBA.

[FlagsFlyForever]

I had no idea D league players were making money similar to working at fast food chains. This is crap money.


(there is a lot of D league info at this link)
http://upsidemotor.com/2015/04/29/nba-d-league-salaries-faq-call-ups-assignments-affiliate/

There are three levels for salaries: C-Level: $13,000; B-Level: $19,000; A-Level: $25,500



That is garbage money compared to the 60K to 100K that can be made overseas. Or for a good player in a competitive league 500K or more. But lets just think low average: 60K. Plus the europeans will pay for hotels, apartments, maybe a car allowance and other benefits.

Why the hell go to the D league where you can barely put food on the table? Unless you live with family and don't need to provide or something.

I think even if D League salaries were 30% less than Europe (42K) at least a person could make a living and have the choice to remain stateside. You probably have more exposure in the D league and have an opportunity at a 10 day contract as previously mentioned 60 something players got called up last year. So even at a lower salary than Europe I think D league could keep a lot of talent and help it to be a good feeder system to the NBA.


First I think D league needs to bump it's salaries to levels where people can make a living working in the D league. I know it's not a fair comparison, but NFL practice squad players make 5k or 6K per week, not bad at all.

I'd rather see the salaries at minimum like: C-Level: $25K, B-Level: $35K, A-Level: $45K. Or something like that. Especially considering the cap is weighted to have more C-level players.

I feel the same way I do about this as the WNBA salaries. These players don't deserve anything more than what they are worth. And right now I don't think they are worth anything to league. There may be an uptick in the popularity of basketball in Wausau, but is that extra 5k fans really worth spending so much on salaries for players? Why not let them go to Europe and develop for free while making this a global sport? I just don't see the huge value in D-League teams beyone "It would be nice to be able to designate a second pick for a few months under control of our organization." To me, that isn't worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in propping up the league. Who knows, maybe the league can support itself at higher salaries.

I think emunney said it perfectly: you pay for what you get.

[HKPackFan]

I had no idea D league players were making money similar to working at fast food chains. This is crap money.


(there is a lot of D league info at this link)
http://upsidemotor.com/2015/04/29/nba-d-league-salaries-faq-call-ups-assignments-affiliate/

There are three levels for salaries: C-Level: $13,000; B-Level: $19,000; A-Level: $25,500



That is garbage money compared to the 60K to 100K that can be made overseas. Or for a good player in a competitive league 500K or more. But lets just think low average: 60K. Plus the europeans will pay for hotels, apartments, maybe a car allowance and other benefits.

Why the hell go to the D league where you can barely put food on the table? Unless you live with family and don't need to provide or something.

I think even if D League salaries were 30% less than Europe (42K) at least a person could make a living and have the choice to remain stateside. You probably have more exposure in the D league and have an opportunity at a 10 day contract as previously mentioned 60 something players got called up last year. So even at a lower salary than Europe I think D league could keep a lot of talent and help it to be a good feeder system to the NBA.


First I think D league needs to bump it's salaries to levels where people can make a living working in the D league. I know it's not a fair comparison, but NFL practice squad players make 5k or 6K per week, not bad at all.

I'd rather see the salaries at minimum like: C-Level: $25K, B-Level: $35K, A-Level: $45K. Or something like that. Especially considering the cap is weighted to have more C-level players.

I feel the same way I do about this as the WNBA salaries. These players don't deserve anything more than what they are worth. And right now I don't think they are worth anything to league. There may be an uptick in the popularity of basketball in Wausau, but is that extra 5k fans really worth spending so much on salaries for players? Why not let them go to Europe and develop for free while making this a global sport? I just don't see the huge value in D-League teams beyone "It would be nice to be able to designate a second pick for a few months under control of our organization." To me, that isn't worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in propping up the league. Who knows, maybe the league can support itself at higher salaries.

I think emunney said it perfectly: you pay for what you get.

I just think if you pay better you can get better talent to stay in the USA making the D league more talented (if the goal is to build up the D league). Saying a similar thing basically. Paying a crap salary will attract a lower talent level. The better players leave.

[wolfer]

Fox Valley area like Oshkosh? Trying to draw attention from Waupun to Appleton and some GB. GB itself has UWGB, Madison has UW. LaCrosse/Eau Claire area too close to Minneapolis. Or what about Dubuque

La Crosse had two successful CBA franchises in the 80's & 90's:
* Catbirds https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Crosse_Catbirds Flip Saunders was a head coach for several years, before moving upriver to the Wolves.

* Bobcats https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Crosse_Bobcats

The teams were successful till Isaiah Thomas worked his magic touch and bankrupted the league.

La Crosse, Eau Claire, Wausau, Dubuque too, any of the Fox River Valley cities might all be good candidates. People invest interest in the players and their connection to the major league teams they ultimately may go to.

La Crosse came REALLY close to getting a D League team back in 2008. The hang up was the Centers board demands were too high.

[Badgerlander]

Pacers bought the Mad Antz.


So the Bucks can create the new St. Louis Bombers?



St. Louis Spirits?

[Treebeard]

An interesting article on possible futures for the D League by CBS Sports
http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/25304450/how-the-d-league-may-shape-the-future-of-basketball

How the D-League may shape the future of basketball
By Matt Moore | NBA writer

It has been a pretty terrific 10 years for the NBA's D-League ... against all odds. The league has evolved from a fringe minor league that saw teams constantly on the edge of folding to seeing stability and a role only growing larger in the NBA as both a talent pool and a place for its intended goal, development.

Next season the D-League will open with 19 teams, all of which will have a one-to-one relationship with their affiliate. Of the 11 franchises still without a D-League team, several are already in the planning stages of adding their own D-League franchise. The Nets (read more), Hornets (read more), Hawks (read more), Wizards (read more) and Clippers (read more) have all been linked to such efforts. So it's entirely possible that by 2018 (or sooner), we could be finally looking at the one-to-one affiliate ratio the NBA has been pursuing since the D-League's inception.....

AN EXPANDED DRAFT

.....First, let's start here. In an excerpt from David Aldridge's always-excellent column this week, there's a good chance the league could expand the draft in that scenario:

And once every NBA team has its own D-League team, the assumption is there will be a need for more players to fill out those rosters -- and the need to expand the Draft by at least a round, maybe two. "If everybody's going to have a D-League team, that's eight more positions that everybody's going to get," one longtime GM said over the weekend. "Maybe you go to five (rounds) the first year to allow everybody to stock the teams, and then the next year, you go down to four."

A bigger Draft would need the approval of the National Basketball Players' Association, ....

....The D-League would give teams a chance to take a long-term approach to a player who isn't ready yet, and that could be invaluable. Every year a dozen raw prospects go through the draft process and get chewed up by the draft-summer-league-training-camp process. Many are never heard from again. You want to turn raw talent into rotation players to help ease minutes and reduce injuries? It requires raising the costs, level of play and facilities available, but there's already evidence that the D-League can make a difference.....