G League General Thread, 2025-26 – (Off-season)

[Clav]

Some GL teams are hosting open tryouts, which I always think is such a cool idea for local players that may have not received any hype or draft consideration, or SL consideration. Put oneself on the NBA teams' radar near you!

If you can ball, that is. I last played in High School as a rarely used bench PF that cannot shoot or run fast. Not much has changed since then so you won't see me at a tryout.

[Clav]

A new GL Season kicks off, and they have released some interesting news in regards for the playoffs. Four teams have rebranded. Let's get into it!



Rebrands:


Indiana Mad Ants are NO LONGER the Mad Ants. That franchise has moved locations within Indiana and is now called the Noblesville Boom. They remain the Pacers GL affiliate.



The Salt Lake City Stars have also rebranded their logo, staying in the same location and remaining the Utah Jazz affiliate.



Osceola Magic have made slight changes to its logo. Cool design to me.


...As have the Cleveland Charge, I like the flag and text quite a lot. Good effort all around.





[Per NBA.gleague.com]

Key dates during the 2025-26 season include:

Nov. 7 – The Noblesville Boom (Indiana Pacers) play their first game as the Boom when the team travels to Michigan to play the Grand Rapids Gold (Denver Nuggets).

Nov. 8 – The 2024-25 NBA G League Champion Stockton Kings (Sacramento Kings) begin defense of their title when the team hosts the San Diego Clippers (LA Clippers) at Stockton Arena.

Nov. 8 – The Boom hosts their first game at The Arena at Innovation Mile against the Gold.

Additionally, the 2025-26 NBA G League calendar features several league-wide Social Impact & Inclusion initiatives, including Hoops for Troops in November, NBA Cares Season of Giving and World Basketball Day in December, Martin Luther King Jr. Day games in January, Black History Month in February and Women’s History Month in March.



Winter-Showcase/Tip-Off Tournament

Dec. 19-22 – The 2025 NBA G League Winter Showcase takes place at the Hyatt Regency Orlando and the Orlando Convention Center.

All GL teams compete in the first month month-ish of the season, the top 8 teams advance to a single elimination tournament bracket.



Playoffs


At the end of the season, for the first time in GL history, 16 teams will participate in the playoffs, increasing from 12 in prior seasons. This means that the top-8 of each conference will advance to the playoffs which begin on March 31st!

Read on Twitter

The 2025-26 NBA G League broadcast schedule will be announced at a later date.

[Clav]

Also take a trip down memory lane to re-live Stockton Kings winning the GL Title in game 3 last year.

Watch on YouTube

;ab_channel=NBAGLeague

[Parliament10]

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[Parliament10]

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https://hoopswire.com/g-league-expands-playoffs-2025-26-schedule-nba/

The NBA G League is getting bigger in more ways than one.

For the first time, eight teams from each conference will qualify for the playoffs, expanding the postseason field from six per side to eight.

That means more teams, more games and more opportunities for prospects to show what they can do in meaningful minutes.

[Parliament10]

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[Clav]

Shackleford is a solid GL level shooter, just undersized and not an NBA defender. He really could play in EU/CN/NBL.

[Parliament10]

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[Clav]

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/46356407/ncaa-rules-former-g-league-player-thierry-darlan-eligible

The NCAA has ruled former G League Ignite player Thierry Darlan eligible to play Division I basketball at Santa Clara, his agent, Todd Ramasar, told ESPN.

Darlan becomes the first player to obtain NCAA eligibility after playing professionally in the G League, where he spent the past two seasons. He will enter college as a junior with two years of eligibility remaining.

Darlan, 21, who hails from the Central African Republic, was a graduate of the NBA Academy Africa program and played the 2023-24 season with Ignite, before the team ceased operations.

The influx of young international pro players onto Division I rosters offered precedent for Darlan's eligibility as a domestic-based professional, with the NCAA loosening its previously strict definitions of amateurism in recent years with the advent of name, image and likeness payments. The NCAA's decision to grant Darlan two years of eligibility was based on his age and years removed from high school at the NBA Academy, according to Ramasar.

After declaring for and withdrawing from the 2025 NBA draft, Darlan maintains the ability to declare again in 2026. He is expected to play a featured role at Santa Clara, which was involved in his original recruitment and has helped send guards Jalen Williams and Brandin Podziemski to the NBA in recent years.

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Quoting here, for pertinence. TY MakeItSplash.

@Parl - this is a pretty interesting development, isn't it ? Amateurism in sports is a very fascinating topic for me right now, will reply in GB and here in some capacity about it.

[Clav]

Darlan was also on the Rip City Remix for the first half of the GL season, and played for Delaware Blue Coats as well -- where he managed 10PPG. For GL Ignite he was a bench player -- two GL years exp.

There's a discussion to be had about the line of professionalism v. amateurism in sport. This is one of the precedent-setting moments that give more power to athletes to be professional and improve their career craft. I'm curious how he plays in NCAA after playing in a professional league... how will other schools react to this ?

In terms of amateur/professional, this is a very interesting facet of modern sport, it fascinates me. Our modern sporting world gives players avenues to make this whole sports thing a career, but it is very rare in general to make it in the NBA. He's young enough to still benefit from education or competition at that level, but not a player that earned a standard NBA deal, or TW, etc. He has more to improve, so I'm not against this decision. GL is professional basketball, but it is also a training ground for prospects. If NCAA takes this as case-by-case, other young players may find it works for them.

[Parliament10]

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/46356407/ncaa-rules-former-g-league-player-thierry-darlan-eligible

The NCAA has ruled former G League Ignite player Thierry Darlan eligible to play Division I basketball at Santa Clara, his agent, Todd Ramasar, told ESPN.

Darlan becomes the first player to obtain NCAA eligibility after playing professionally in the G League, where he spent the past two seasons. He will enter college as a junior with two years of eligibility remaining.

Darlan, 21, who hails from the Central African Republic, was a graduate of the NBA Academy Africa program and played the 2023-24 season with Ignite, before the team ceased operations.

The influx of young international pro players onto Division I rosters offered precedent for Darlan's eligibility as a domestic-based professional, with the NCAA loosening its previously strict definitions of amateurism in recent years with the advent of name, image and likeness payments. The NCAA's decision to grant Darlan two years of eligibility was based on his age and years removed from high school at the NBA Academy, according to Ramasar.

After declaring for and withdrawing from the 2025 NBA draft, Darlan maintains the ability to declare again in 2026. He is expected to play a featured role at Santa Clara, which was involved in his original recruitment and has helped send guards Jalen Williams and Brandin Podziemski to the NBA in recent years.

Read on Twitter

Quoting here, for pertinence. TY MakeItSplash.

@Parl - this is a pretty interesting development, isn't it ? Amateurism in sports is a very fascinating topic for me right now, will reply in GB and here in some capacity about it.

This is interesting. Adds a bit of variety to the levels and avenues of Basketball.