The NBA G League has named its new star-studded select team Ignite, according to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link).
The new one-year NBA G League development team will pay salaries topping out in the mid-six figures to high-level NBA prospects like guards Jalen Green and Daishen Nix, forwards Jonathan Kuminga and Isaiah Todd and center Kai Sotto. Green, Nix and Kuminga are all expected to be selected within the 2021 NBA draft lottery, per Jonathan Givony’s latest ESPN mock draft.
These Ignite players will bypass college ball in favor of the revamped professional farm system. The team roster will also include veterans tagged to mentor the prospects during the squad’s inaugural 2020/21 season.
Spears goes on to note that the Ignite have already starting training in Walnut Creek, California (in the East Bay region of northern California), under head coach Brian Shaw.
Shaw, a guard in the league for 14 seasons, served as a head coach for the Nuggets from 2013-15, as a lead assistant on the Pacers from 2011-13, and as an assistant on the Lakers under Phil Jackson from 2005-11 (a run that included two championships) and again from 2016-19 under Luke Walton.
The headlines could get creative whenever anybody associated with the team gets fired…
Ignite? Horrible name. They should have chosen Diablos. It fits in with the region.
Because Diablos is just as original? Lmao
The city that they are based in is at the foot of Mt. Diablo. So, it fits in with the region.
Wildfires?
What is your question? None in Walnut Creek, where the team will play.
Does this team belong to a specific city??
Read the article. It tells you.
I see what’s happening here. College ball may not be running at all, so the NBA rather than allow these kids to wallow and lose development of their games will pile them into one team in their G league.
I have been waiting to hear if and how the G league would return. Are they going to put it into a bubble if it comes to that? Does that league generate enough revenue to pull something like that off, can they trust not highly paid pros to be responsible rather than derail the whole project? Are these kids going to be paid like other G leaguers? What about the kids who aren’t considered top prospects… there’s always a guy or three who deserved higher attention at the draft but slips.
I think college ball may go back to being “amateur” if this plan succeeds.
Considering the problems with wildfires in the region, “ignite” is an odd choice. Worse than teams named after tornados… that’s just the air dealing with the ground. I like weather so I make excuses for it’s extremes. But forest fires are ugly and won’t go away and this year is setting destruction records. Ancient redwood stands have been cleared.
That’s why I say they should have named the team Diablos. It is iconic of the region.
Diablo means devil though, still controversial. Moms might keep teenage sons from going there!
When the season goes up in flames, it will give everyone something to chuckle about. Levity, in the times it will be needed.
Tbh Green and Kuminga will be huge and look awesome in the G League and I think Todd will have a great season and boost his draft stock.
This team I don’t think have heaps of success in terms of making the playoffs or winning the leagu or anything but the players will look great at times.
Either that or they will look like a couple of kids that are not ready for the leap they are taking. I don’t root for people to fail except in the case where it may serve to help people in the future. In this case, I hope they fail miserably because I believe that MOST players that make this jump will fail miserably. Or at the very least will be less successful than if they developed more at the college level.
An alternative approach that is more difficult to accept is liking the GL+ by whatever name… if the NCAA is no longer going to suspend the rules to gather the presumed future stars, the system can be made fairer in theory. Also, with the NBA getting their hands on top 18yos, they will leave the rest alone and retain the 19yo rule. If the wildfire league works, maybe the 19 becomes 20. Better than the planned 18 in about 2022.
People talk about market values for the top 18yos, but it’s a mirage. Only the NBA makes millionaires.