The NBA Developmental League started in 2001 under former commissioner David Stern and has continued to grow to the point that in the upcoming season there will be 26 teams, all of which have an affiliation with one team. The league has also changed its name for the upcoming season, it will be known as the G-League after a sponsorship deal with Gatorade. The only four teams not represented in the G-League next year are the Washington Wizards, the New Orleans Pelicans, the Denver Nuggets, and the Portland Trailblazers. However, there are plans in place for some of these teams to have a G-League team in the next few years.
What does this mean? Well, in my estimation the G-League is the perfect place to allow high school graduates the chance to spend their one year out of high school playing basketball. Let me explain my rationale. The NCAA has certain restrictions on what players can and cannot do including how they can make money, how many hours they can practice with coaches, and what grades they have to have in order to play. In addition, if a player decides that he wants to change schools, the school can dictate to that player where they can and cannot go. At the same time, if a coach recruits a player and promises him the world, that coach can decide to leave and the player is left twisting in the wind. It does not make sense. If we are really honest about it, these college teams are feeder systems for the NBA. At least John Calipari is honest about it and people have made him a villain for it. The NCAA and its ridiculousness hurts these kids and while I know some of you are going to say, they give them a free education, just stop okay. Basketball teams at certain universities bring big money to colleges, big money. I guarantee that these players have earned back that scholarship and then some by the time that they leave even if it is one year.
My solution is for players that are good enough to immediately leave high school and go to the G-League. The idea is that you allow any players that want to, to enter their names into the G-League draft. If they are drafted they get paid and get all the coaching that they want for that year as a player for that G-League team. After their year is over, the team that they played for in the G-League has their draft rights and can just put them onto the team without using a draft pick. This still allows players to go to college if they want to, but it also allows players to not have to deal with the exploitation of the NCAA and get paid to play basketball. This will also add excitement to the G-League and can draw more fans if big time players come to their teams instead of going to college. This can also help with the draft problem in the NBA because if a team takes a chance on a kid in the G-League Draft, they can keep that player after the season. However, if a player plays in the league and he is not kept he is allowed to enter the NBA Draft and if he is selected he goes to that team, but if he is not he has the money to go to college if he chooses or can continue a professional career somewhere else.
I love this idea because it puts players that are basically mercenaries in control of what they do with their talent. Sports seem to be the only avenue in our capitalist country where there are restrictions on how you can make money. There is risk for the players and that is why some of them will still go to college, but for the ones that have the talent they have a chance to jump right into a professional league and the benefits for the team are amazing. Marvin Bagley Jr. is a huge recruit that will play for Duke this year, imagine if he had the chance to be drafted by the New York Knicks. The Knicks would have a whole year to get him working with professional coaches and learning the intricacies of their system and allowing him to focus 100% on basketball. That sounds like a win-win for the player and the NBA. At the same time, the NCAA will still make billions of dollars on the tournament, but this gives players a chance to do something with their talent. It makes too much sense and makes great use of the G-League.