Goodbye one-and-done: With scandals rocking youth basketball, NBA readying to step in

A glorified AAU summer league without the college coaches hanging around dangling shoe-contract money to make the scene a sexy scene for mom's and pops and hangers on at some of those summer show case events? Some are going to slip through the cracks of the NBA owners and maybe fall under the spell of some hot-shot college coach. How will the NBA corner that HOT 8th grade prospect who is a "can't miss" star in the making that college coaches are now starting to give the "love" and "attention" to? What on earth are the "local" howard Pulley movers and shakers going to do? How will Hopkins High School corner all their talent in the future? What will the local talk radio people do? Who will the first 6th grade draftee and active G rooster player be? Who will be the first to crack the NBA G League GENDER barrier?
 

The G-League can keep paying low salaries, much like MiLB. Much like baseball, the big money for the top players will be in the signing bonus (slotted, of course) & shoe deal. Change the draft age to 18, mandating all 18 year old draftees play a year in the G-League.

Royce Lewis will be making about $1,000/month playing for either Fort Myers or Cedar Rapids, but he has that $4 million bonus in his pocket.
 

That lucrative market is college basketball. The NBA needs college basketball to succeed and continue to feed them talent and nationally known talent. The only tweak that should be made is that HS kids can go to NBA Draft and if not drafted go to college.

Why does the NBA need college basketball? In the follow-the-money perspective, college basketball is a competitor to the NBA. The NBA can diminish the appeal of the college game by moving the future stars to the NBA's own development leagues (such as hockey does with the Canadian jr leagues), and now the NBA has a lock on the marketing and placement of these rising stars. There's maybe 20 kids from the U.S. that each year make it to the NBA, they don't need a large pool of players like say the NFL does.

Also, in addition to the G League, high school and NCAA players can go play overseas any time. They can sign right out of high school, and (this happened in Florida a few years back) quit in middle of the NCAA season to join a european team. The NFL and MLB needs the NCAA, but the MLS doesn't and I don't really think the NHL or NBA does. Instead those two may think of the NCAA as competition for fans versus partners.
 

Again, you're making my argument for me - the correct argument that I've been making for years. No quality option exists in the U.S. for 18-year-olds to play professional basketball because it isn't a viable and sustainable model. If it were, someone would be doing it and making a lot of money on it. I'm not making any argument that 18-year-olds are or should be playing in the G League - merely countering the incorrect assertion that no option exists in the U.S.

I understood that you were saying the option did exist, but its like saying do you want this 5 star recruit or recruit thats unranked. Because as it stands right now I think there has only been one high school player to go to the G-League, Latavious something can't remember his last name. As I've said in previous posts, the NBA is going in the right direction to make an alternative option for these kids. My apologizes if my argument was worded wrong. There is an option, but its a very low quality option at the moment.
 

Why does the NBA need college basketball? In the follow-the-money perspective, college basketball is a competitor to the NBA. The NBA can diminish the appeal of the college game by moving the future stars to the NBA's own development leagues (such as hockey does with the Canadian jr leagues), and now the NBA has a lock on the marketing and placement of these rising stars. There's maybe 20 kids from the U.S. that each year make it to the NBA, they don't need a large pool of players like say the NFL does.

Also, in addition to the G League, high school and NCAA players can go play overseas any time. They can sign right out of high school, and (this happened in Florida a few years back) quit in middle of the NCAA season to join a european team. The NFL and MLB needs the NCAA, but the MLS doesn't and I don't really think the NHL or NBA does. Instead those two may think of the NCAA as competition for fans versus partners.

Makes sense. NCAA popularity also would not be affected by those 10 players going to G league out of HS each year.
 


A glorified AAU summer league without the college coaches hanging around dangling shoe-contract money to make the scene a sexy scene for mom's and pops and hangers on at some of those summer show case events? Some are going to slip through the cracks of the NBA owners and maybe fall under the spell of some hot-shot college coach. How will the NBA corner that HOT 8th grade prospect who is a "can't miss" star in the making that college coaches are now starting to give the "love" and "attention" to? What on earth are the "local" howard Pulley movers and shakers going to do? How will Hopkins High School corner all their talent in the future? What will the local talk radio people do? Who will the first 6th grade draftee and active G rooster player be? Who will be the first to crack the NBA G League GENDER barrier?

What are you talking about? Usually if you are a top 10 prospect in your recruiting class there is a good chance that you are getting picked somewhere in the first round of the draft. The NBA wouldn't be going out and scouting every high school talent. It is simply just an option for those players like Ayton and Bagley to enter the draft from high school, and begin there pro career. Who knows, maybe the kids wouldn't even want to enter the G-League. If the NBA allowed players to enter out of high school, then maybe they make them play one year for their drafting teams G-League team. Get them acclimated to NBA rules, and the teams system. That way, any player that is drafted is given the contract that they would received had they waited the year. You could see these top guys in the draft fall a little bit because a team might not want to wait a year. The high school players get paid a normal rookie salary if they are drafted or they could choose to go the college route.
 




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