Two-Way Contracts Have Depleted Available G League Player Pool

[RealGM Wiretap]

The NBA's addition of two-way contracts has had a number of unintended consequences, perhaps most notably the decreased number of viable players available for teams to sign during the season.

"When you talk to league executives, they'll say that the G League has kind of been, because of the Two-Way contracts, has been kind of mined clear of NBA-ready prospects," said Brian Windhorst on The Hoop Collective podcast.

Windhorst's discussion came in relation to the Portland Trail Blazers signing Carmelo Anthony, who hasn't played in the NBA for a year.

"One of the reasons why there's not that many options is even if they wanted to go get a young player, if they don't have him on their roster, there's only a handful of guys that aren't on Two-Way contracts that are NBA-ready, according to people I've talked to. I understand the desperation," added Windhorst.

Via Brian Windhorst/ESPN

[Killboard]

That's why you handle 2 way contracts in the offseason. Who Portland signed?

[Forte IV]

I'm sorry but that's bull. There's plenty of dudes in the g-league that can give you 10 minutes a night in the league. CJ freaking Williams hit a game winner for the Clippers two years back and he's on the Long Island Nets this year.

[Dennis 37]

The G-league should be a real minor league with all players as property of the parent club. Why should one team put money into developing a player for another team to simply snatch him up? If another team wants a player on another NBA team's G-league affiliate, they should make a trade or purchase offer.

To the point of the article there are at least two players, not controlled by the Raptors, on the Raptors905 who could get time on a non-playoff NBA team.

[crows2]

Maybe Portland should actually get their own G-League team like 28 other franchises then. It's their own fault.

[SaveTheHens]

This isn’t a problem. Two ways are a result of the success of the G league, and for a team like the raptors allowed for faster development of key players. Increase amounts of g league teams, even the developmental playing field

[dougthonus]

I'm sorry but that's bull. There's plenty of dudes in the g-league that can give you 10 minutes a night in the league. CJ freaking Williams hit a game winner for the Clippers two years back and he's on the Long Island Nets this year.

If you assume that every team has two two way contracts, that means the top 60 guys in the G-League are no longer available. If you go back 2 years ago and say does the 61st best G-League player have a role in the NBA, the answer would be clearly not.

It's probably not quite that bad because a lot of the two-ways probably focus on young guys and aren't really the best 60 guys, but say the best 30 guys are taken, same argument would apply.

[dougthonus]

This isn’t a problem. Two ways are a result of the success of the G league, and for a team like the raptors allowed for faster development of key players. Increase amounts of g league teams, even the developmental playing field

It's a problem depending on your circumstances. Effectively, you now get control over two prospects you really like which is an advantage. However, in the old system, you basically got to share the field with everyone.

If you're a team that is desperate for a body, and your 2 way guys haven't panned out, you're in a much worse situation. If you're a team loaded with depth and need a place to stash guys then it's working out brilliantly.

In the end, it is para-mutual, the benefit to one team (stashing) comes at the detriment to another team (not being able to get that stashed guy). It may raise the level of G-League a bit overall as well as two way contracts might keep more guys in the G-League that would have otherwise gone to Europe in the short term.

[SaveTheHens]

This isn’t a problem. Two ways are a result of the success of the G league, and for a team like the raptors allowed for faster development of key players. Increase amounts of g league teams, even the developmental playing field

It's a problem depending on your circumstances. Effectively, you now get control over two prospects you really like which is an advantage. However, in the old system, you basically got to share the field with everyone.

If you're a team that is desperate for a body, and your 2 way guys haven't panned out, you're in a much worse situation. If you're a team loaded with depth and need a place to stash guys then it's working out brilliantly.

In the end, it is para-mutual, the benefit to one team (stashing) comes at the detriment to another team (not being able to get that stashed guy). It may raise the level of G-League a bit overall as well as two way contracts might keep more guys in the G-League that would have otherwise gone to Europe in the short term.

Maybe they can introduce some looser rules with cutting guys and signing new two ways. Or encouraging two way + cash trades if a team needs talent and another team isn't utilizing their two way talent & can use some cash.

[DoItALL9]

Joakim Noah, Kenneth Faried, JR Smith, Jordan Crawford, & Jamal Crawford are all out there

Sent from my LM-G710 using RealGM mobile app

[Forte IV]

I'm sorry but that's bull. There's plenty of dudes in the g-league that can give you 10 minutes a night in the league. CJ freaking Williams hit a game winner for the Clippers two years back and he's on the Long Island Nets this year.

If you assume that every team has two two way contracts, that means the top 60 guys in the G-League are no longer available. If you go back 2 years ago and say does the 61st best G-League player have a role in the NBA, the answer would be clearly not.

It's probably not quite that bad because a lot of the two-ways probably focus on young guys and aren't really the best 60 guys, but say the best 30 guys are taken, same argument would apply.

I get where you're coming from, but my original point stands. There are plenty of tough g-league guys not on 2-ways that could easily give you 10 solid minutes a night. Sure the 60 ish "best" g-leaguers are taken, but you aren't looking for a star. You're looking for a fill in guy for a game or two.

[Bentley1225]

Maybe Portland should actually get their own G-League team like 28 other franchises then. It's their own fault.

Exactly and done the right way like the Raptors with 905, it can help create s solid pipeline for, in this case, a small market team like the Blazers build out more proper depth instead of over investing collectively in their top 10 rotation roster.

[dougthonus]

Maybe they can introduce some looser rules with cutting guys and signing new two ways. Or encouraging two way + cash trades if a team needs talent and another team isn't utilizing their two way talent & can use some cash.

Yeah, I'm not sure if that is a possibility now or not. I'm also not complaining about the rule. I like it.

I was just noting that it is fair to say the freely available pool of talent shrinks some.

Though it may be overstating that a bit too because a lot of 2 way guys might have gone to Europe and still not been available (now that I think of it).

Hard to say.

[dougthonus]

Maybe Portland should actually get their own G-League team like 28 other franchises then. It's their own fault.

Exactly and done the right way like the Raptors with 905, it can help create s solid pipeline for, in this case, a small market team like the Blazers build out more proper depth instead of over investing collectively in their top 10 rotation roster.

Having your own G-League team literally does nothing at all to help you develop your own pipeline.

Except for your 2 way guys, anyone in the NBA can take anyone from your G-League team at any time. You don't have exclusive rights to them.

[Lalouie]

why would i want to see g-league players in the nba. there's too many as it is. talk about "watered down"

anyway, in a couple of years the nba will be admitting high school players, so that should add 30 players a year to the g league. maybe the nba will accelerate that.

[YelloC]

If Portland had and ran a G-league team like the Raptors they would have guys able to slot in when needed. The Raptors have a seamless transition from small club to big club because they implement the same principles and terminology across both teams and try to mimic what the Champs do on the 905.
If Portland has a G-league team they would probably start with two similarly skilled combo guards as the base and build the rest of the team around that.

[Buckeye-NBAFan]

why would i want to see g-league players in the nba. there's too many as it is. talk about "watered down"

anyway, in a couple of years the nba will be admitting high school players, so that should add 30 players a year to the g league. maybe the nba will accelerate that.

Portland wouldn't need any G leaguers if their G league center Hassan Whiteside hadn't gotten hurt.

[Rashidi]

Literally the whole point of Two-Way Contracts was to get all the NBA talent in the G-League into the NBA. They created 60 jobs / roster spots.

It's definitely not true that the G-League is depleted because that's the entire point of Exhibit 10 contracts. These guys go to camp with the NBA team and get a bonus for sticking with the G-League team. NBA teams aren't giving out free money for the sake of it. These guys are all serious roster considerations depending on what happens throughout the year.

Utah waived Stanton Kidd and signed Juwan Morgan from their affiliate. It will be far from the only transaction like it this year.

[Dennis 37]

Maybe Portland should actually get their own G-League team like 28 other franchises then. It's their own fault.

Exactly and done the right way like the Raptors with 905, it can help create s solid pipeline for, in this case, a small market team like the Blazers build out more proper depth instead of over investing collectively in their top 10 rotation roster.

Having your own G-League team literally does nothing at all to help you develop your own pipeline.

Except for your 2 way guys, anyone in the NBA can take anyone from your G-League team at any time. You don't have exclusive rights to them.

Yes it does. When you have your own G-league team the two-ways, as well as the 1st and 2nd year players you send down to get extra run, are playing the exact same system as the parent club. When you call them back up they fit in your system.

When they Raptors first drafted Bruno Cabloco, they sent him to the Fort Wayne Mad Hats. Because the Mad Hats were not owned by the Raptors, Bruno got very little floor time. Raptors had little control over how or when he was used. One year later they bought their own G-League team. Bruno is not a Raptor anymore, but because of him the Raptors have had great success in developing players.

I do think the NBA parent club should have the rights of all the players on their G-League affiliate just like MLB and NHL minor leagues.

[crows2]

Exactly and done the right way like the Raptors with 905, it can help create s solid pipeline for, in this case, a small market team like the Blazers build out more proper depth instead of over investing collectively in their top 10 rotation roster.

Having your own G-League team literally does nothing at all to help you develop your own pipeline.

Except for your 2 way guys, anyone in the NBA can take anyone from your G-League team at any time. You don't have exclusive rights to them.

Yes it does. When you have your own G-league team the two-ways, as well as the 1st and 2nd year players you send down to get extra run, are playing the exact same system as the parent club. When you call them back up they fit in your system.

When they Raptors first drafted Bruno Cabloco, they sent him to the Fort Wayne Mad Hats. Because the Mad Hats were not owned by the Raptors, Bruno got very little floor time. Raptors had little control over how or when he was used. One year later they bought their own G-League team. Bruno is not a Raptor anymore, but because of him the Raptors have had great success in developing players.

I do think the NBA parent club should have the rights of all the players on their G-League affiliate just like MLB and NHL minor leagues.

And to cite Portland, they have Jaylen Hoard on their books who could potentially come in and play for them. Unfortunately, without their own G-League team Hoard is forced to play for Dallas’ affiliate in the Mavs system, rather than learning and playing in the Blazers’ system. Dallas aren’t starting him or giving him as many minutes as he deserves because why would they be invested in developing a Trailblazers player?