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G League Notes: Green, Todd, Nix, Changes

May 4th, 2020 at 10:47am CST by Luke Adams

If five-star recruit Jalen Green hadn’t opted to follow the NBA G League’s revamped professional path, he likely would’ve ended up playing for Penny Hardaway and the Memphis Tigers in college. As such, it’s perhaps unsurprising that Hardaway doesn’t sound thrilled by the NBAGL’s aggressive new approach to courting top high school prospects.

“I didn’t think the G League was built — and I could be wrong — to go and recruit kids that want to go to college out of going to college,” Hardaway told local reporters on Friday, per Jason Munz of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. “I thought they were going to be the organization that was going to be, if you want to go overseas or you absolutely did not want to play college 100 percent, that this would be the best situation for you before you go into the NBA.

“But taking guys out of their commitments (or) they’ve already signed and continuing to talk to their parents, it’s almost like tampering. I really don’t agree with that.”

Unlike Green, who had only talked informally about planning to sign with Memphis, top recruits Isaiah Todd and Daishen Nix opted for the NBAGL path after committing to Michigan and UCLA, respectively. They had to renege on those commitments to sign with the G League.

Here are a few more items on the G League:

Ethan Strauss of The Athletic doesn’t have a problem with the G League actively pursuing top high school players. Strauss suggests it makes sense for the NBA to try to “kneecap” the NCAA, arguing that it’s more of a competing business than a “free farm system.”
Jeremy Woo of SI.com takes a closer look at how the G League’s new Select Team will work and assesses Green, Nix, and Todd as NBA prospects.
While prospects like Green, Todd, and Nix will do well financially as part of the G League’s new program, most of the rest of the league’s players continue to earn modest salaries and aren’t exactly living an NBA-type lifestyle. Shams Charania of The Athletic reports (via Twitter) that the G League will be making some minor upgrades to conditions for players starting in 2020/21, increasing their daily per diem by $15 and ensuring that players get their own hotel rooms on the road, rather than having to share with teammates.

Draft Notes: Smart, Mack, Yurtseven, 2021 Draft

April 27th, 2020 at 7:59pm CST by Luke Adams

As we outlined on Monday morning, this year’s deadline for early entrants to declare for the 2020 NBA draft fell on Sunday night, meaning the league will soon be officially releasing its initial list of early entrants.

As we await that list, we’re still seeing a few more updates trickling in, so we’ll pass along a couple of those in the space below — and take an early look at how this year’s early entry list will impact the 2021 draft class…

LSU sophomore guard Javonte Smart has declared for the draft while maintaining his college eligibility, he announced on Instagram. Smart, who presumably submitted his paperwork by Sunday night, averaged 12.5 PPG, 4.2 APG, and 3.5 RPG on .415/.326/.814 shooting in 31 games (34.2 MPG) for the Tigers.
Sophomore guard Cam Mack, who previously said he was entering the draft, announced on Twitter that he has changed course and has instead decided to transfer. Mack averaged 12.0 PPG and 6.4 APG in 28 games for Nebraska in 2019/20, but won’t be returning to the Cornhuskers, who suspended him indefinitely near the end of the season.
Georgetown big man Omer Yurtseven will enter the draft and won’t return to college, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports tweets. Born in Turkey, Yurtseven averaged 15.5 PPG and 9.8 RPG in 26 games with the Hoyas. The 7-footer also played two seasons with North Carolina State.
ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Insider link) has updated his 2021 mock draft, removing players who have declared for the 2020 draft and listing Cade Cunningham and Jalen Green as the current favorites to go first and second overall. Both Cunningham and Green would likely be No. 1 on big boards in 2020 if they were eligible to be drafted this year, Givony adds.

And-Ones: Holiday Brothers, Green, NBA China

April 17th, 2020 at 3:48pm CST by Luke Adams

Asked in a group interview by Shams Charania of Stadium (video link) about the possibility of playing together in the future, the Holiday brothers expressed interest, even as Pacers guard Aaron Holiday acknowledged that it’s “probably unrealistic” for the time being.

Justin Holiday, who currently plays in Indiana alongside his younger brother on a one-year deal with the Pacers, said that the brothers probably get asked about the idea of teaming up more than they think about it themselves. Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday, meanwhile, said that he thinks the three brothers would “be good together” if they did play on the same team.

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Top high school recruit Jalen Green, who decided to sign with the G League as part of the league’s revamped developmental program, will be provided with a full-ride college scholarship by the NBAGL if he wants to go to school at a later date, he tells Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). “I’m still going to be able to go back to college and finish school,” Green said. “So, it’s not really that I’m missing out on college because I can go back and finish whenever I need to.”
In a conversation at The Athletic, former NBA team executives Seth Partnow and John Hollinger traded some big-picture, outside-the-box suggestions for how to change the league. Among the ideas proposed: Expanding the league to 32 teams, revamping the draft workout process, and introducing a “suck tax,” which would hit the league’s worst teams with financial penalties.
NBA China CEO Derek Chang is stepping down from his position, the league announced on Thursday in a press release. Chang, who assumed the role in June 2018, will officially depart after May 15, as the NBA seeks a new executive for the position. It has presumably been a challenging year for Chang, who had to deal with the rift between the NBA and China as a result of Daryl Morey‘s tweet supporting Hong Kong protestors.

G League Notes: Green, Todd, Los Angeles, Mobley

April 16th, 2020 at 3:04pm CST by Luke Adams

It has been an eventful day for the NBA G League, which revealed that it has significantly revamped its program for top high school prospects who want to take a professional path before entering the draft rather than spending a single season in college.

Jalen Green, arguably the top recruit in the 2020 class, became the first big-name prospect to commit to the new NBAGL program, and will reportedly be joined by Isaiah Todd, who decommitted from Michigan earlier this week.

Here are a few more notes and updates on the new G League program and the prospects who are taking that route:

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link), the compensation packages for high school prospects who sign to play in the G League will vary on a case-by-case basis. However, Green’s total earnings – which will include salary, endorsements, and appearances – are expected to eclipse $1MM.
Green and Todd will join a new G League franchise based in Southern California, Charania reports (Twitter links). That will serve two purposes — it will prevent any NBA team from gaining an upper hand by developing a top prospect at its own G League affiliate and it will allow the new Los Angeles-based team to play a unique schedule of exhibition games that don’t count toward the NBAGL standings, as detailed in an earlier ESPN report.
Evan Mobley, who was ranked second behind Green on ESPN’s list of top 2020 recruits, was approached by the G League as well, a source tells Evan Daniels of 247Sports (Twitter link). While the source described the NBAGL’s offer as “an awesome package,” Mobley preferred to take the college route and will play for USC.

G League Development Program Revamped, Includes $500K Salaries

April 16th, 2020 at 1:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The NBA and G League development program for top high school prospects has been restructured, including salaries and incentives of $500K or more, as well as playing exhibitions rather than regular G League contests, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Adrian Wojnarowski report. Previously, the program offered prospects a $125K salary.

The revamped program helped entice ESPN’s No. 1 high school prospect, Jalen Green, to commit to the G League rather than sign with a college team.

The updated one-year development program will be conducted outside of the G League’s traditional team structure, according to the ESPN duo. Rather than playing regular-season games for a G League affiliate, these top prospects would join some veteran players for exhibition games against G League teams, foreign national teams and NBA academies throughout the world. The exhibitions against G League teams, approximately 10-12 games, wouldn’t count in the standings.

Additionally, the salary bonus structure in a player’s contract will likely include incentives for completing community events and attending life skills program coordinated by the G League, sources tell ESPN.

Previously, top prospects and their advisers had concerns about losing their draft value by being overmatched on G League rosters against more experienced and physically mature players.

The veteran pro players on the team could mentor Green and other prospects while potentially benefiting their own careers. Former NBA coach Sam Mitchell is expected to be a candidate to coach the team, according to the ESPN story.

G League president Shareef Abdur-Rahim believes the updated program will be much more appealing to prospects than going overseas for a year. LaMelo Ball and RJ Hampton, two of the top prep players last year, chose to play in the Australian league.

“We have kids leaving the United States — Texas and California and Georgia — to go around the world to play, and our NBA community has to travel there to scout them. That’s counter-intuitive,” Abdur-Rahim said. “The NBA is the best development system in the world, and those players shouldn’t have to go somewhere else to develop for a year. They should be in our development system.”

The NBA’s negotiations with the NBPA about eliminating the one-and-done rule for the draft remain stalled, per Woj and Givony, so the G League’s program provides a new bridge to the league for players who aren’t interested in going the college route. For now, those players – such as Green – will still become draft-eligible once they’re a year removed from high school.

Top Prep Prospect Jalen Green Headed To G League

April 16th, 2020 at 12:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

12:58pm: Green has officially committed to participating in the G League program, according to an NBAGL press release relayed by Liz Mullen (Twitter link). Todd has also committed to the G League program, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

10:38am: Jalen Green, the top-rated prospect in this year’s high school class, intends to play in the G League next season, Jonathan Givony of ESPN tweets.

Green will make a formal announcement on Thursday regarding his plans but he’s already informing his college suitors that he’ll enter the G League’s professional pathway program, Givony adds.

Green is the first prominent high school player to select the G League, rather than being a one-and-done college player or playing overseas until he’s eligible for the draft. As G League expert Adam Johnson notes, the decision represents a huge coup for the league after all of last year’s high school prospects passed up on the chance to play in the NBA’s developmental program (Twitter link).

Green is a 6’5” shooting guard from Fresno, CA who had a laundry list of suitors. He took official visits to Oregon, Kentucky, Auburn and Memphis.

According to ESPN’s prospect evaluation, Green “is a scoring and play-making guard who is only just beginning to scratch the surface of his potential.” Green played for USA Basketball in the FIBA U17 and U19 World Championships in 2018 and 2019 and won gold medals.

With all the uncertainty created by the coronavirus pandemic, the option of playing in the G League is becoming increasingly attractive to high school prospects, according to Evan Daniels of 247 Sports. Going overseas is much less attractive due to the pandemic and there’s no way of knowing if and when the college season will be played.

When the G League professional pathway program was announced in the fall of 2018, prospects were to be paid up to $125K. The league is now willing to go higher than that, Daniels adds.

Another major prospect, power forward Isaiah Todd, is also seriously considering the G League, Daniels adds. Todd is ranked No. 13 by ESPN.