G League To Up Salaries - Spurred By Obama and Rice Commission



  • Thanks to @Woodrow for linking to a tweet about this.

    This is big, imo, and needs it’s own thread.

    The winds of change are howling.

    http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/25015812/g-league-offer-professional-path-elite-prospects-not-wanting-go-one-done-route-ncaa



  • See ya Duke and Kentucky!



  • So is this valid for the 19 class or 20?



  • BeddieKU23 said:

    See ya Duke and Kentucky!

    K’s back is flaring up right now, and Cal might just retire.

    I do think Self genuinely likes coaching and helping kids, maybe I’m naive there but the way he talks about kids like Frank, Jamari, Graham etc…



  • BeddieKU23 said:

    So is this valid for the 19 class or 20?

    The article reads like it will effect the 19 class.

    “Seven of the top 10 high school players in the 2019 ESPN 100 remain uncommitted to college programs, and the G League landing any of them could have huge ramifications – for future paths to the draft for star players, the popularity of the NBA’s development league and the college basketball talent pool.”

    All of a sudden, Braun and McBride additions are looking even better.



  • And if this is good for 2019 kids Matthew Hurt will not be stepping foot on a College Campus (in regards to KU recruiting)



  • BeddieKU23 said:

    And if this is good for 2019 kids Matthew Hurt will not be stepping foot on a College Campus (in regards to KU recruiting)

    Agree and KU should up the ante with Chandler Lawson if this is the case.

    Cassius seems like a candidate as well. But then again I think his dad is pretty smart and sees the value of brand exposure playing for a school like KU. I mean they held Cassius back so he is already old for his class, thus looking better against the competition. The average age of G-league players is 25, and the older guys aren’t making near 125k. This is going to be VERY interesting.



  • BShark said:

    BeddieKU23 said:

    And if this is good for 2019 kids Matthew Hurt will not be stepping foot on a College Campus (in regards to KU recruiting)

    Agree and KU should up the ante with Chandler Lawson if this is the case.

    Nnaji falls outside the “elite barrier”.

    JRE is right on the border of “elite” depending on the site



  • I still think you see most kids in school. $125k is still probably not enough to make up for brand exposure, facilities, social life, and under the table benefits being offered.



  • I’d think that $500k would be the minimum to make this work, imo. $250k signing bonus and $250K salary.



  • @Kcmatt7 this seems to be the sentiment of people that cover college basketball and the NBA on Twitter.

    Almost all have mentioned the grind of the G league and that most kids will be exposed.



  • Kcmatt7 said:

    I still think you see most kids in school. $125k is still probably not enough to make up for brand exposure, facilities, social life, and under the table benefits being offered.

    The salary isnt the thing. They can now train 24/7 in an actual team environment, sign shoe deals, monetize social media, etc. Some will be millionaires.



  • Yeah it will be great for some, but not all. I feel for the absolute top kids it will be a benefit. Those are the kids that didn’t want to be in college anyway, so win/win.





  • If I was the NBA I’d git rid of any age restriction aside from 18. Then I’d remove the 1st round picks must make the roster rule. This is the most ridiculous thing. Most draft picks after top 5 are now all talent they hope to develop. They should be signed to minor league deals. It would make kids actually think about staying in college to develop. It would help the NBA so they dont dump so much money on guys that never develop.



  • It’d be really nice if baseball rules were applied here and kids who don’t go the draft/g league route would need to be on campus for a minimum number of years like 3.



  • @BigBad Lol but they could do that now and nobody budged. If Zion, who could legit be a millionaire right now if he went into the G-League for a year (or didn’t even play for a year) didn’t go why would a $100k increase in salary make a difference?



  • I agree because their flaws will be exposed by grown men.

    I just beleive the NBA is playing a long game here. They want the NCAA to look corrupt. They want the upper echelon kids to feel like they are being exploited. I truly beleive their long game is an academy system like in Europe. They then get these kids at 16 and can train them and weed out the not so great. That makes their product better in the long run.

    Guys will say that they will lose the free marketing the NCAA provides. Maybe but I watched the Mavs last night because I wanted to see Doncic and he never touched an NCAA court.



  • Nothing has changed except the salary increases $100k. That is the only difference in what is being offered and what will be offered. NBA teams won’t put up their family in a house. Won’t give them jobs. Won’t slip them $100k in cash. None of that. Doesn’t even include the difference in a social media presence before and after college.

    James Wiseman currently has 41k instagram followers. Cam Reddish has 200k.

    Matthew Hurt has 7k followers. Nas Little has 133k.

    Mitchell Robinson only has 33k instagram followers after being a 2nd round pick and not playing college ball. Gary Trent Jr. went the pick after him and has 103k.

    I think maybe a couple of guys a year would benefit financially from going straight to the G-League. But not as many as you think.



  • @BigBad Luca Doncic is the exception to the rule not the norm. And he has fans worldwide. Not necessarily the best example, wouldn’t you agree?



  • @BigBad Oh I do think that you may be right about the academy system. Poverty is the only thing that might stop that from being a reality. Well that and cheap ass owners.

    But I think they will force the NCAA’s hand into the Olympic model.







  • “Shoe companies run the show for these top guys. You think they’d rather have them playing for a blueblood on national tv 20 times a year, or for the Maine Red Claws? My guess is very few top players do this. If any.”

    This was in that twitter thread. I thought it was a good point as well.



  • For the Mitchell Robinson’s of the world this will work out fine. Brian Bowen, etc. The shady recruitments or the academically challenged cases…



  • While my comment about Hurt was a bit knee-jerk to seeing the news I still believe the way he’s said he’s OAD no matter where he ended up and his lack of interest in recruiting to date still has me convinced he’d take the G-League route in the summer. We’ll see if that thought holds true



  • https://twitter.com/danwetzel/status/1052987059244331010?s=21

    This seems to be the overwhelming sentiment



  • Yea it just doesn’t make sense to me. Only shot at this working is the FBI verdict coming back guilty and the FBI continuing it’s crackdown on behalf of the NCAA. To the point players are scared to take cash under the table.

    If the verdict is not guilty, holy shit. $125k won’t even be close to enough.





  • https://twitter.com/thesteinline/status/1052991457550917633?s=21

    Also is it possible to post the actual tweet and not just the link?



  • Woodrow said:

    https://twitter.com/thesteinline/status/1052991457550917633?s=21

    Also is it possible to post the actual tweet and not just the link?

    This forum does not support embedding tweets last I knew.



  • This changes everything for college basketball because the money simply will not be there in the future for NCAA basketball.

    The shoe companies aren’t exactly happy that the NCAA is basically hanging them out to dry on the current FBI investigation. That is a story that really isn’t getting much ink, but it exists.

    If the best players start going a different route, the networks aren’t looking to pay big money for a lesser product.

    Coaching salaries are going to have to change. Exploding athletic department budgets are going to have to rein themselves in. This is going to happen.

    I don’t know what that means for KU, but I think looking at how college basketball was in the late 70’s and early 80’s might be a hint.



  • justanotherfan said:

    This changes everything for college basketball because the money simply will not be there in the future for NCAA basketball.

    The shoe companies aren’t exactly happy that the NCAA is basically hanging them out to dry on the current FBI investigation. That is a story that really isn’t getting much ink, but it exists.

    If the best players start going a different route, the networks aren’t looking to pay big money for a lesser product.

    Coaching salaries are going to have to change. Exploding athletic department budgets are going to have to rein themselves in. This is going to happen.

    I don’t know what that means for KU, but I think looking at how college basketball was in the late 70’s and early 80’s might be a hint.

    I’m not convinced things are fully headed in that direction but like I said the winds of change are blowing. I think eventually CBB might not exist like we know it today. But this could take 20+ years.

    The shoe companies aren’t happy now but at the end of the day it’s a symbiotic relationship. Maybe that wins out, we don’t know yet for sure.

    I agree that if it takes off where all the top guys are not going to college eventually what you are describing will happen.



  • @justanotherfan I don’t think so. It would take the NBA stealing away the Top 100 kids to change CBB that much. And they have shown no interest in developing kids ranked 30-100.



  • @Kcmatt7

    This is just the start. Remember, OAD is going away in a few years. College basketball better start preparing now, otherwise they will get caught flat footed.



  • @justanotherfan I’m just saying, there is definitely a floor for how far NCAA BB could fall. They aren’t ever going to nationally televise G-League games. I don’t know I can say that CBB will ever have that issue.



  • As much as organizations like the NCAA try, you can’t legislate away economics.



  • Kcmatt7 said:

    @justanotherfan I’m just saying, there is definitely a floor for how far NCAA BB could fall. They aren’t ever going to nationally televise G-League games. I don’t know I can say that CBB will ever have that issue.

    The G-League already has nationally televised games. Granted, they aren’t on ESPN’s top networks (1 and 2), but they are televised. If the top players start migrating to the G-League rather than the NCAA, I could see cable outlets picking that up.

    I don’t think college basketball will stop being televised, but I do think what that is worth will change. I don’t think the next contract is going to be for $1B to televise the NCAA tournament. I know lots of NBA fans that only watch the NCAA tournament right now. For those fans, the G-League would be an easy substitute. I will grant that there aren’t many primarily NBA fans here in Kansas, but in places like Chicago, LA, NYC, Miami, etc. there are people that have only a casual interest in NCAA hoops. That affects value, even if it doesn’t push CBB off the national television schedule.



  • Almost every single national sports writer or person who covers the game said that this will not entice top players to come to the G League. Players will get exposed and be over matched. They will get no exposure and be trading in chartered flights for long bus rides. I linked multiple people saying such yesterday. When this first came out I thought it was a game changer, but after reading some thoughts from people who cover the game I don’t think this will change college basketball what so ever. I think the only players that would go this route are players that don’t qualify.

    Remember the kid from that was committed to Syracuse and the said he was going to the G league? After consulting people he decided against that. Why? Because he would get destroyed and exposed and his draft stock would plummet.

    @justanotherfan you are grossly over estimating how many kids will use this path.



  • As for the one and done. The NBA said yesterday that the earliest it will change that rule is 2022. So let’s assume they do change it. It was that way before, correct? College basketball was just fine when players could go straight to the league. It will be just fine when they change the rule again. How many kids actually skipped college. 10-15? There will still be stars in college basketball, there will still be great storylines in college basketball, and the tournament will still be a cash cow.



  • Woodrow said:

    @justanotherfan you are grossly over estimating how many kids will use this path.

    For now, maybe. But remember, OAD goes away in a few more years. This is just the precursor to that. The G-League is designing an alternative path, first for a few kids, but once OAD goes away the G-League will have a full developmental program in place.

    This is happening. I have been beating this drum for a few years now, and every time another step is made in that direction someone says I am overstating it. It’s coming. 2023 will get here before you know it.



  • @justanotherfan I just stated my thoughts on OAD. That’s not going to change the game either. It was that way before and CBB was just fine. Sure you will lose 10 or so players a year, but CBB will be just fine.



  • If we do get to the point where 100 guys a year are going straight to the NBA development farm out of HS then things will change but like I said I think that’s far off.



  • @BShark I can’t remeber but how many guys used to go OAD? 10 maybe… he had your obvious talents and then there was always a couple guys that declared that flamed…

    So 10-15 guys a year is not going to affect college basketball.



  • @Woodrow

    My point is that right now it will be a handful. It will be more than that in a few years.

    CBB can certainly survive if the top 3 or 4 players go pro and the rest go to college. CBB can even survive if the top 8 or 10 go.

    But the G-League is developing an interim step where players don’t have to jump directly to the NBA, where they can actually develop while getting paid. You think a guy like Dedric Lawson would be at KU if he could have gone to the G-League last year instead?

    If there’s a step between the NBA that is a true development step connected to NBA teams (each team will have their own G-League affiliate by 2020), it’s more likely that guys with potential will go that route and be developed by an NBA team rather than put into a college system that may not fit their NBA role.

    There are, by my count, six guys on this year’s KU roster that could definitely benefit from this type of setup - Grimes, D. Lawson, K. Lawson, De Sousa, Azuibuke, McCormack. You could add Dotson and Vick to that list if you wanted to. That’s KU’s whole rotation minus Moore, Garrett and Mitch. So think about college basketball with KU now having a team built around Moore and Garrett, with a couple of recruits in the 40-75 range. Agbaji would likely be sixth man.

    I’m not saying KU would be bad, but the overall quality of CBB would drop because that same thing would be true for Duke, UK, UNC, Arizona, etc.

    A guy like Charlie Moore would be a likely conference POY candidate. That’s not a knock on Moore, but it’s a statement of how much different the talent level could be in CBB come 2023 and moving forward.



  • @justanotherfan

    There are only so many players the G=League can absorb every year so it is not like we are going to see the top 100 HS prospects going there. Frankly, I just don’t think it will have that much influence.



  • @justanotherfan what I am telling you is that every single person that covers college basketball said yesterday that top players will NOT use the G League route. It will not benefit them more than going to college. I don’t think that is what you are understanding. I literally did not see one take where someone said this would be a good avenue for players. So assuming people that are in the game, cover the game, coached the game, etc… have a pulse then what you are saying is not going to happen.



  • I did a quick search and it looks like from 1995-2005 39 players who skipped college got drafted. Some not even first round. That’s like 3-4 a year. Again, people over grossly over estimating the impact that will have.



  • @JayHawkFanToo , @Woodrow

    I’m not saying the top 100 players will leave. That’s not going to happen. We agree on that.

    But I can envision a scenario where the top 10 or 12 recruits each year go that route, plus the top 30 or 40 players from the year before also leave for the NBA draft or to go into the G-League.

    Basically, each year, 40-50 of the best players in the country are not on college rosters. Basically, take this list and take the top 35 names off it, plus a handful of others.

    That’s what college basketball would look like. Does that kill the product? No. But it does change it quite a bit. Top guys like Malik Newman and don’t transfer anymore, they just go to the G-League.

    Before OAD, the top incoming freshmen would skip college. A restructured G-League would mean not only that the top freshmen would skip college, but that some of the best returning talent would also leave. That’s the difference here. It’s not just cutting from guys that would never go to college. It also gives guys a reason to leave early and finish their development. College basketball would lose both incoming talent and returning talent. That’s the big difference.

    And that doesn’t even account for the money difference. One of the things likely to come out of this trial is that top players may opt to take paydays from ShoeCos and go to the G-League, supplementing the salary. Because ShoeCos could legally pay those guys to do that, there’s not as much need to push money into college athletics. It doesn’t mean ShoeCos would get out of college athletics completely, but it changes the financial structure.

    That’s the biggest change. It’s the incremental trimming around the edges. A little incoming talent here. A little returning talent there. A little TV money here. A little ShoeCo money there. Change is coming.

    @Woodrow said

    I did a quick search and it looks like from 1995-2005 39 players who skipped college got drafted. Some not even first round. That’s like 3-4 a year. Again, people over grossly over estimating the impact that will have.

    That’s 3 or 4 that were judged to be ready to play in the NBA. So if 3 or 4 per year are ready to play in the NBA, plus another 6 to 8 ready to play in the G-League, plus a couple of projects, plus a slight increase in the number of players leaving college early because they are ready to play in the G-League as well, you get to 40-50 pretty easily.

    The talent and development drop off from not having to be NBA ready immediately makes a huge difference.



  • justanotherfan said:

    But the G-League is developing an interim step where players don’t have to jump directly to the NBA, where they can actually develop while getting paid. You think a guy like Dedric Lawson would be at KU if he could have gone to the G-League last year instead?

    If there’s a step between the NBA that is a true development step connected to NBA teams (each team will have their own G-League affiliate by 2020), it’s more likely that guys with potential will go that route and be developed by an NBA team rather than put into a college system that may not fit their NBA role.

    There are, by my count, six guys on this year’s KU roster that could definitely benefit from this type of setup - Grimes, D. Lawson, K. Lawson, De Sousa, Azuibuke, McCormack. You could add Dotson and Vick to that list if you wanted to. That’s KU’s whole rotation minus Moore, Garrett and Mitch. So think about college basketball with KU now having a team built around Moore and Garrett, with a couple of recruits in the 40-75 range. Agbaji would likely be sixth man.

    I’m not saying KU would be bad, but the overall quality of CBB would drop because that same thing would be true for Duke, UK, UNC, Arizona, etc.

    A guy like Charlie Moore would be a likely conference POY candidate. That’s not a knock on Moore, but it’s a statement of how much different the talent level could be in CBB come 2023 and moving forward.

    Maybe, it depends how much the Lawsons are getting from this. Might be more than a G-League salary that he would have got.

    I think McCormack would still be a college guy, but we will see.