(02-28-2018 09:53 PM)solohawks Wrote:  

(02-28-2018 01:16 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(02-28-2018 11:44 AM)solohawks Wrote:  

(02-28-2018 10:04 AM)arkstfan Wrote:  

(02-28-2018 08:11 AM)solohawks Wrote:  Even if the G League paid a good enough wage, it would be hard to replicate the media attention a star college athlete currently receives. Intangibles like that are hard to quantify.

Unless fans figure out the next NBA superstar is playing in the G League instead of the next career journeyman. Won't be the same media level but it would do wonders for the G League tv deal.

Maybe. I think a successful minor league with the best talent would still pale in comparison to collegiate sports. G League teams aren't going to get the attendance and passionate fanbases that truly care like collegiate athletics have. You take the current UNC tarheel lineup and put them in Greensboro G League jerseys. They won't draw like the Tar heels do. The jersey matters

Take the UNC Miami game last night. Same rosters same exact game. G League Greensboro losing to G League Tampa doesn't mean squat and no one would care outside basketball diehards

Even if true, that's missing the point of a G League or AAA baseball. The point is to develop potential big-league talent, not to rival the popularity of NBA or MLB games.

Also, if the NBA was serious about a cost-effective minor league, it wouldn't mimic the one team per city approach that minor league baseball has. It should be structured like NBA summer league, with several teams playing against each other in the same city. Have three "G leagues" of 10 teams each, with each league based in a city that doesn't have an NBA team. Las Vegas is the obvious choice for a western league; other cities should be chosen on the basis of having a suitable arena available for the league to use on a regular basis for the entire basketball season. Kansas City could be one such place because it has a large arena that doesn't house an NBA or NHL team.

But how do You get star players to play in the G League over the NCAA without significant financial incentive. And how do you provide that financial incentive without the media money the NCAA schools currently have?

The G League isn't about star players as much as it is about developing reliable role players. I was surprised to learn the league will now have 300+ players this year. If you assume all the one and done players in any given year opt to join the G League, that's still less than 10% of the rosters.

My recommendation to the NBA would be to change their draft rules such that nobody has to "declare" for the draft. Every high school graduate is eligible to be drafted. If you want to draft a player straight out of high school, you must use your first round pick to do it. If he opts to go to college, you retain the right to sign him for three years. If he opts to turn pro, he is assigned to the G League for a minimum of one year, with a salary in the $100K range.

After that initial year, the team that drafted him can sign him to a regular NBA contract if they think he is ready, or give him a two-way contract that allows him to play a certain number of games in the big league.

This way, high school players with unreasonable expectations who don't get drafted can still play in college if they haven't otherwise done something to jeopardize their eligibility. Once in school, they can still be drafted, but again only by using a first round (guaranteed contract) pick if they still have eligibility. If they still opt to stay in school after being drafted, the drafting team retains their rights until their college eligibility is used up.

For its part, the NCAA should relax its rules to allow any player to have an agent/financial adviser as long as he doesn't sign a professional contract, either with the NBA/G League or an overseas team.