The End of the 1 and Done?

[Xuperman]

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2801613-g-league-offering-professional-path-to-nba-for-prospects-with-125k-contracts

Wow....all of us here should be elated with this, if it comes to fruition. It starts next summer? Sounds too good to be true!!

[sirthought]

As a fan of the NBA I hope they keep the age limit for the actual league up there. It's a quality issue. Even if a kid has skills they still don't always have the maturity or experience to play basketball that level. Plus, a stream of players that aren't ready but are on the bench because of potential means that vets who can actually contribute don't get a chance to stay active.

Getting these younger players in the G-League is fine. If players find teams interested and are satisfied with the G-League benefits I think this is a worthy opportunity. It could develop into a multi-tiered pro system like you find in Europe. And players who get injured or don't move up will just have to pay for school themselves later.

But the emergence of a stronger pipeline to the G-League will impact the quality of higher level D1 college basketball. It has to to a degree. This doesn't worry me too much, as I still think a school's biggest priority should be education. Games are fun to watch at high school, college and pro for different reasons.

But the people at universities in charge of earning revenue for their school might be feeling it down the road. TV networks might start to value G League play over certain college conferences. And fans who aren't hard core alums might get apathetic due to a change in quality.



The best part about this is it would likely kill off that program being run by Big Baller.

[xubrew]

It won't be the end of the 'one-and-done.' Players left after playing one year prior to the NBA's age limit rule. Players who have a big year their freshman year will continue to leave if that rule goes away.

That's the whole misnomer here. People act like no players ever left after playing one year of college basketball before the 'one-and-done' rule. They did. Every year! That will continue to happen even if the rule goes away.

[Xavier]

Saw a tweet saying College is way more glamorous and they still get paid. Don't see this doing much but its a step in the right direction.

[Masterofreality]

Saw a tweet saying College is way more glamorous and they still get paid. Don't see this doing much but its a step in the right direction.

Agree. As the pundit made very clear:
-High profile players are playing in front of full houses & TV in College. GLeague players are in buildings with 1,000 people and on Cable Access Channel 1,096,785.
-High Profile College players travel on first class/charter flights. GLeague are on busses/milk run/red eye connecting flights.
-High Profile College players can show off against same age group guys. GLeague guys are men who'll clean their clocks in a New York minute and expose them quickly.

This will go nowhere. IMO

[STL_XUfan]

This will go nowhere. IMO

That will still be an important data point.

Many of the claims against the NCAA are that these players have value independent from the school and that the NCAA is wrongfully profiting off of that value. While I agree that this position is accurate, I think the amount of the value is greatly overstated. If players want to go and realize their value in the free market, they should be allowed and encouraged to do so. I think many (outside of the generational talents) will quickly see that their value is not as high as they think it is. On the other side of the equation, I think people will still show up to the Crosstown shootout, the UNC/Duke game, and the Border War regardless of if a certain player attends the school or not.

Put more succinctly, if you want to make money grinding through the G league, then more power to you. If you want the experience of college basketball, then you got to accept their rules and deal with it.

[sirthought]

That dynamic could quickly shift, depending on how well organized the G League gets it's system set up. Imagine all the hype that happens over certain players now and then imagine them in the G League. It could very well move a TV audience over there if the networks decide they should be showcasing more G League games.

[XUGRAD80]

The best players in the world play in the NBA, and you know what? I could barely give a s***. Living in a city that has no NBA tram since my senior year in HS, the only time I am even remotely interested is when an ex-Xavier player is involved or it’s the finals. The rest of the time I have no interest. So, I don’t expect that I will be turning into any G-League games to watch the next one annoited the 2nd coming. I suspect that I’m in the majority here too. I watch Xavier basketball because I have a connection with it. I went to school there and have an emotional attachment to the university. I have a similar attachment to a couple of other schools, and to the professional teams in Cincinnati, because I grew up here. I have memories of going to Reds games, Bengal games, and others as a kid, with my kids, and now with my grandkids. If Cincy was to get a G-League team, I might have some interest in it, but it would be far down the pecking order in relationship to interest compared to all the other sports played in the area. I don’t think that these kids get this. When you play for a university you become part of the history of the institution and become part of the extended family, and that doesn’t go away over time unless you do something that makes the rest of the family angry with you, or disown you. You might not be able to spend that, but it’s worth far more than gold.

[Xuperman]

Let's not over think this. It is designed to eliminate corruption., plain and simple. Why would a player/family take illegal payments and then masquerade as a student if $125K can be banked straight out of HS? I don't see any scenario where that make sense with this G league option.

[Lloyd Braun]

There are a lot of really good high school basketball players that have no interest in attending school and would jump at the chance to make $125k. I’m not saying the league will work but it would become more interesting than it is now, which is essentially 0.

Regarding interest in the NBA, I have lived in 4 major cities (Cleveland, Chicago, Cincinnati, LA) and I can safely say the city that had the least amount of interest and knowledge of the NBA is Cincinnati. That is obviously not a surprise since Cincy is the only city I have lived in (small sample size I know) that doesn’t have an NBA team. I don’t think the NBA is targeting the non-NBA city audience or the general population. That’s what the NBA is for. And I don’t think the expectations for the G league is all that high, so just because there may not be interest in the league doesn’t mean it will not achieve the goal intended.

My questions with the projected setup for the G league is not just that it may cause a high schooler to make a poor decision, but what happens to that player once the start playing? And how does the G league team sign this player? Are they drafted? Free agents? Once they start playing do they then assumingly enter the draft after a year if they desire? Do they receive health benefits etc? Do they need to sign with an agent?

[sirthought]

The best players in the world play in the NBA, and you know what? I could barely give a s***. Living in a city that has no NBA tram since my senior year in HS, the only time I am even remotely interested is when an ex-Xavier player is involved or it’s the finals. The rest of the time I have no interest. So, I don’t expect that I will be turning into any G-League games to watch the next one annoited the 2nd coming. I suspect that I’m in the majority here too. I watch Xavier basketball because I have a connection with it. I went to school there and have an emotional attachment to the university. I have a similar attachment to a couple of other schools, and to the professional teams in Cincinnati, because I grew up here. I have memories of going to Reds games, Bengal games, and others as a kid, with my kids, and now with my grandkids. If Cincy was to get a G-League team, I might have some interest in it, but it would be far down the pecking order in relationship to interest compared to all the other sports played in the area. I don’t think that these kids get this. When you play for a university you become part of the history of the institution and become part of the extended family, and that doesn’t go away over time unless you do something that makes the rest of the family angry with you, or disown you. You might not be able to spend that, but it’s worth far more than gold.

Hey it's great you love your school and town. If you follow the trends, basketball is surging, especially with an international audience. The U.S. is definitely expanding it's audience for professional hoops. So maybe you could care less, but a huge number of people are getting more into it. And players want to play for pay. So, it won't shock me if networks pick up more G League games and the spotlight good players see in college will drift over to a minor league system.

It won't be immediate. But once the franchises know how to market the new inflow of talent, the markets where those teams are will begin to have a lot more attention.

[sirthought]

Reminds me that the Pelicans do not have a G League affiliate currently. Maybe Cincinnati should jump in now before things build up.

[JTG]

The G league is just mindless entertainment, like minor league baseball. People go to those sports like people go to movies, as a night out. The NBA just hopes to break even with a vehicle to develop players.

[sirthought]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2017/05/08/minor-league-baseball-better-business-not-bigger-business/101451572/

If they can get near minor league baseball they'll be doing pretty great for most markets, but the game works for TV, which is why its growing.

[Lloyd Braun]

Darius Bazley gets $1 million. (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/22/sports/darius-bazley-g-league-new-balance.html#click=https://t.co/9zu4ypwb7f)

[GoMuskies]

Darius Bazley gets $1 million. (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/22/sports/darius-bazley-g-league-new-balance.html#click=https://t.co/9zu4ypwb7f)

Sure, but now he's stuck with New Balance.