Athletes will be restricted to playing only one season on a G League Select ContractNBAE/getty images
The NBA G League is offering top high school prospects a $125,000 contract in what league President Malcolm Turner described as an "alternative to the one-and-done route," according to Jonathan Givony of ESPN.com. The newly formed "professional path" would start in the summer with the G League offering "Select Contracts" to "elite prospects who are at least 18 years old but not yet eligible" for the NBA Draft. The G League will "target recent or would-be high school graduates who otherwise would have likely spent just one season playing college basketball, enticing them not only with a six-figure salary but also the opportunity to benefit from NBA infrastructure." Players will also be "free to hire agents, profit off their likenesses and pursue marketing deals from sneaker companies and the like, which could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in endorsement opportunities to top prospects." In April, the Commission on College Basketball "recommended that the NCAA and NBA embrace alternative options for one-and-done-caliber prospects." G League President Malcolm Turner said that the G League "will not pursue those players who have already committed to colleges, but the professional path would be an alternative to those prospects who make a choice on their own to decommit." He added that the league will be "selective with the players they look to bring into the program -- with a strong emphasis on character and readiness to join a pro league." Athletes will be "restricted to playing only one season on a G League Select Contract, after which point they will become automatically eligible" for that year's Draft (ESPN.com, 10/18).
HOME-GROWN TALENT: ESPN’s Chauncey Billups said the new G League initiative gives kids an “opportunity to get that money legally now and be able to help your family for that year.” It gives kids a “chance to train, really train like a pro, and play against better talent” than in college. Billups: “It’s a way to keep our guys here and not going overseas to get money.” ESPN’s Tracy McGrady said a lot of kids are “going to take this leap right here to get that money the fast way to take care of their parents, and also get the proper training to get ready for the NBA” (“The Jump,” ESPN, 10/18). But ESPN’s Michael Wilbon added, “Somewhere between a half dozen and 10 kids will do this for the next couple years and then that thing will be gone” (“PTI,” ESPN, 10/18).
TO EACH HIS OWN: Memphis men's basketball coach Penny Hardaway said many parents will "push their kids to go" to the G League. He said the players "might want to stay, but the parents are pretty much pushing the kids to go." Hardaway also said the thing he hears from many kids and parents is "about their image and building the name." Hardaway: "They are going to use that to springboard their kids into the NBA." Grizzlies F Jaren Jackson Jr., the No. 4 pick in this year's NBA Draft after one season at Michigan State, said that while he "still would have chosen to attend college" should the rules been in place two years ago, he "could see why some players might do otherwise." Jackson: "You're going to see a lot of kids doing it because they're in different financial situations. ... If they feel they want to better themselves, that's no knock on them. That's a big-time move" (Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL, 10/19).
PROS & CONS: In DC, Tim Bontemps notes the announcement "left many gray areas." NBA observers "wondered if $125,000 would be enough to entice elite prospects to leave the comforts" of high-level D-I basketball. Trading in a life filled with "charter flights, luxurious facilities and games played in front of tens of thousands of fans and millions more on television for one dominated by bus rides, connecting flights in economy seats and games in half-full arenas that are being streamed online will undoubtedly be a tough pill for many to swallow" (WASHINGTON POST, 10/19). ESPN’s Mike Golic said of prospects choosing the G League over college, “You don’t get big gyms. You don’t get private jets. You don’t get treated like a king like you would on a campus. Let’s be honest, for one year at 18 years old, these guys are going to big-time schools and it is a ball” (“Golic & Wingo,” ESPN Radio, 10/19). ESPN’s Rachel Nichols noted the G League is “not glamorous,” as it is entails “commercial flights and buses and half empty gyms.” But Billups said, “Guess where they’re coming from? They’re coming from taking buses from this side of town to the other side of town for a game so that’s okay” (“The Jump,” ESPN, 10/18).
STILL DETAILS TO BE IRONED OUT: In Indiana, Justin Cohn notes it is "unclear how players on select contracts will be integrated into the G League teams owned and operated by NBA teams." For example, will the Ft. Wayne Mad Ants be "willing to subtract playing time from a Pacers draft pick for a player straight out of high school?" Conversely, having a player on a Select Contract on the roster "could give the Pacers valuable insight" leading into the Draft (JOURNALGAZETTE.net, 10/19).
BIG CHANGES: FS1’s Jason Whitlock said the new G League initiative “could shake up the basketball world.” FS1’s Doug Gottlieb does not think it is a “smart plan for high school players because you’re not playing real NBA basketball or getting the level of attention to detail on how to develop 18 or 19-year-old kids the way you would in college.” Gottlieb: “But I agree that it will do damage to the college system if you take the 10 or 15 prospects off the top” (“Speak For Yourself,” FS1, 10/18). ESPN’s Mike Golic Jr. said he is “excited for competition because the NCAA needs that.” Golic Jr.: “The NCAA doesn’t change anything proactively, it’s always reactive and this is enough for it to have to react to” (“Golic & Wingo,” ESPN Radio, 10/19).
