G-League is becoming the NBA's minor league system

Soupman · Post #1 » by **Soupman** » Sat Jul 13, 2019 6:02 am

"The NBA G League today announced a Select Contract as part of a comprehensive professional path that will be available, beginning with the 2019-20 season, to elite prospects who are eligible to play in the NBA G League but not yet eligible for the NBA. The contracts, which will include robust programmatic opportunities for development, are for elite players who are at least 18 years old and will pay $125,000 for the five-month season."

https://gleague.nba.com/news/nba-g-league-introduces-professional-path-select-contracts-elite-basketball-prospects/

So now an 18-year-old out of high school could earn a $125,000 contract in the G-League. Will college students opt to sign with a G-League team instead of playing college basketball?

clyde21 · Post #2 » by **clyde21** » Sat Jul 13, 2019 6:03 am

not sure wtf took the NBA so long, **** the NCAA

Ballerhogger · Post #3 » by **Ballerhogger** » Sat Jul 13, 2019 6:20 am

Pretty good stuff

Ballerhogger · Post #4 » by **Ballerhogger** » Sat Jul 13, 2019 6:20 am

clyde21 wrote:not sure wtf took the NBA so long, **** the NCAA

Lot logistics

DoubleLintendre · Post #5 » by **DoubleLintendre** » Sat Jul 13, 2019 6:22 am

It took long enough. The real question now is if the G-League can develop players in a structured way. It was dog eat dog for touches a few years ago.

The Flying Gent · Post #6 » by **The Flying Gent** » Sat Jul 13, 2019 6:38 am

I'm confused. This bypasses the draft?

Middle Child · Post #7 » by **Middle Child** » Sat Jul 13, 2019 7:30 am

The Flying Gent wrote:I'm confused. This bypasses the draft?

No. They spend a year in the G-League then enter the draft if they want.

It’s an alternative to college or Australia.

Pointgod · Post #8 » by **Pointgod** » Sat Jul 13, 2019 7:33 am

I applaud this move. The NCAA needs to be destroyed.

Dez · Post #9 » by **Dez** » Sat Jul 13, 2019 7:54 am

Middle Child wrote:
The Flying Gent wrote:I'm confused. This bypasses the draft?

No. They spend a year in the G-League then enter the draft if they want.

It’s an alternative to college or Australia.

It's a good start but Australia is still a better option IMO.

Currently the G-League is full of guys trying to get into the NBA ASAP, they aren't going to care about the development of what still will be an 18 year old kid. At least in Australia they'll be brought into a team with a focus on structure and development, like I said though it's a good start.

drosereturn · Post #10 » by **drosereturn** » Sat Jul 13, 2019 7:58 am

They should pay min 500k and cut down how much top athletes earn. Way too much discrepancy.

jpengland · Post #11 » by **jpengland** » Sat Jul 13, 2019 8:10 am

Where is the incentive for signibg and developing these guys?

If they are any good, they enter the draft and the team who has developed them gains nothing.

That's the fundamental problem with the G League, it's never a viable option for the development of rotation calibre players for NBA teams as they have no control once they enter the draft process.

It will still remain the arena for NBA teams to rotate undrafted and fringe NBA guys hoping to unearth a worthwhile talent that can be signed cheaply.

Dez · Post #12 » by **Dez** » Sat Jul 13, 2019 8:19 am

Showtime23 wrote:They should pay min 500k and cut down how much top athletes earn. Way too much discrepancy.

So punish the superstars that bring in the massive revenue? Yes that's going to work.

:roll:

Ayt · Post #13 » by **Ayt** » Sat Jul 13, 2019 9:11 am

This was announced in October of last year, so cool story I guess.

Bolivar · Post #14 » by **Bolivar** » Sat Jul 13, 2019 9:29 am

Ayt wrote:This was announced in October of last year, so cool story I guess.

Lol even the link in the OP is from October :lol:

Goes to show that nobody actually gives a crap about what they do in that league.

Picasso · Post #15 » by **Picasso** » Sat Jul 13, 2019 10:08 am

jpengland wrote:Where is the incentive for signibg and developing these guys?

If they are any good, they enter the draft and the team who has developed them gains nothing.

That's the fundamental problem with the G League, it's never a viable option for the development of rotation calibre players for NBA teams as they have no control once they enter the draft process.

It will still remain the arena for NBA teams to rotate undrafted and fringe NBA guys hoping to unearth a worthwhile talent that can be signed cheaply.

TV ratings. Picture at the top of their height coming out of high school, you have lebron James sith a TV deal. A sebastian telfair, oj mayo, Carmelo Anthony, Shabazz Muhammad. That is a money move.

Post #16 » by **NyCeEvO** » Sat Jul 13, 2019 10:21 am

jpengland wrote:Where is the incentive for signibg and developing these guys?

If they are any good, they enter the draft and the team who has developed them gains nothing.

That's the fundamental problem with the G League, it's never a viable option for the development of rotation calibre players for NBA teams as they have no control once they enter the draft process.

It will still remain the arena for NBA teams to rotate undrafted and fringe NBA guys hoping to unearth a worthwhile talent that can be signed cheaply.

This is the exact problem Jeff Van Gundy discusses with Woj on a WojPod. IIRC, he doesn’t think this current system will last more than a few years because teams aren’t going to want to develop a player only for someone else to draft them. There were a few other reasons as well but this point was a major one.

KrAzY3 · Post #17 » by **KrAzY3** » Sat Jul 13, 2019 10:36 am

Soupman wrote:So now an 18-year-old out of high school could earn a $125,000 contract in the G-League. Will college students opt to sign with a G-League team instead of playing college basketball?

Not players who want to build a big brand. Zion guaranteed himself huge exposure and a massive payday by playing for Duke. He got way more exposure than he would have in the G-League.

Now, some people would prefer the 125K guaranteed money, but in a lot of ways there's more risk (higher level of competition) and less reward (far less exposure).

Doug_12 · Post #18 » by **Doug_12** » Sat Jul 13, 2019 10:54 am

I think incentive problem is more on the prospects' side: Why is someone choosing the G-League over college? I get that G-League is paying $125k, whereas the universities only pay scolarships, but:
-Universities have much better established programs and tradition. They're concenctrating on developing players since the '70-es.
-Universities have better personnel and better incentives to keep/get that personnel. Through the NCAA revenues they can offer higher salaries and nationwide recognition to a coach, whereas the G-League can't. This is not a simple coordination problem: ie: if top players choose the G-League then top coaches will go to G-League as well. They won't until the fans value the G-League more than the NCAA where some of their alma maters are participating. If you look at the coaches: In the top programs you have HoF coaches, program directors and assistants who were playing in the NBA and just starting their coaching career. Whereas in the G-League you have Coby Karl level head coaches (who played 2-3 seasons in the NBA struggling to get into a rotation) and then basically former high school coaches and teachers as assitants.
-University is a safer choice for a prospect. Not talking about Lebrons and Wigginses whose career was sure since his teenage years, but about players that are not that safe choice. There are around 500+ 3+ star recruits in a year, among which only 150-200
will have a professional career, only 40-50 will be drafted and around 15-20 will have a meaningful NBA career. The University scholarship provides them a degree with which they can work with if they don't become professional players. In G-League every year you need to prove you can make the roster and when you're cut you have no plan B other than continuing from where you were when you left high school.

G-League would need tremendous money, incentives for coaches and career development for players to be chosen over college and I'm not sure if the NBA has the power or the willingness to do it. I'm not saying the takeover won't happen somewhere in the future,but it will take a lot of dedication to happen.

nikster · Post #19 » by **nikster** » Sat Jul 13, 2019 11:29 am

Dez wrote:
Middle Child wrote:
The Flying Gent wrote:I'm confused. This bypasses the draft?

No. They spend a year in the G-League then enter the draft if they want.

It’s an alternative to college or Australia.

It's a good start but Australia is still a better option IMO.

Currently the G-League is full of guys trying to get into the NBA ASAP, they aren't going to care about the development of what still will be an 18 year old kid. At least in Australia they'll be brought into a team with a focus on structure and development, like I said though it's a good start.

But it’s run by NBA teams who would want to develop these players and see what they can do. What incentive would an Australian team have for long term development

Dez · Post #20 » by **Dez** » Sat Jul 13, 2019 12:07 pm

nikster wrote:
Dez wrote:
Middle Child wrote:
No. They spend a year in the G-League then enter the draft if they want.

It’s an alternative to college or Australia.

It's a good start but Australia is still a better option IMO.

Currently the G-League is full of guys trying to get into the NBA ASAP, they aren't going to care about the development of what still will be an 18 year old kid. At least in Australia they'll be brought into a team with a focus on structure and development, like I said though it's a good start.

But it’s run by NBA teams who would want to develop these players and see what they can do. What incentive would an Australian team have for long term development

It might be run by NBA teams but it's filled with guys trying to get noticed by those teams, it's not really a good mix IMO.