closg00 wrote:Slugger - Are you really Hands11?
Clearly the people who own and run NBA teams to do not agree with you, the NBA's goal is for every team to have its own NBDL team.
As to the chart, I'll leave that to TSW and others who know how to evaluate this kind of data. On the surface there appears to be a correlation between assignments/usage, and wins.
~When your FO is unanimous on drafting Jan Vesely, you know you gotta clean-house~
The charts are sorta interesting, but really pretty damn meaningless. The methodology -- as best I can tell from the description -- looks pretty iffy, the correlation looks pretty weak, AND there's no coherent (or testable) theory for how D-League usage CAUSES teams to win or lose more games. I mean, are we really to believe that Houston and OKC won a lot of games during the period selected in part because they had more D-League assignments?
The effort to relate VOLUME of D-League related moves to NBA winning seems weird to me without examining contributions of the specific individual players. Last season, for example, Houston recalled Clint Capela from the D-League four times. He played 90 total minutes (badly) and contributed about a tenth of a win according to my spreadsheet.
The Spurs recalled Kyle Anderson seven times last season. He played 358 basically unproductive minutes, contribution about three-tenths of a win.
Anyway, Slugger raises some good points, but...there's a trade-off for players who aren't in the NBA. Money might be better overseas, but once a player signs, that's where he is until that team's season ends. If he's in the D-League, he's available to NBA teams for call-up any time. Plus, there are guys who prefer to stay in the US -- they don't want to go overseas for various reasons, and they're willing to take less to do so. And, they get to play by NBA rules, which probably doesn't matter much at all.
Slugger's point about quality of play is valid to a point. It is crummy. But, that's true in the NCAA, and sometimes in international ball as well. Nothing is NBA quality. That's the nature of minor league baseball too.
There are issues to be worked out -- overall compensation, two-way contracts, call-up/assignment rules, and the age limit. In time, they'll figure it out. Even with those issues, I'd rather have a D-League team than not. I think it's a good opportunity for player development, and a good place to take chances on guys with ability, but question marks.
The issue of the draft is interesting. I don't really see a need for an expanded draft. Virtually all the league's talent comes from the first two rounds anyway. They should be able to scrounge up a few more guys to fill out a D-League roster.
Bigger issue to me would be to eliminate the "no one under 19" rule. There are kids who don't want to go to college, but aren't ready for the NBA. Let them sign with the D-League and work on what they're interested in, and get paid to do it.
