The two-way contract didn’t exist prior to 2017, but it’s now in its third year of existence and has injected some additional talent into the G League, writes Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report.
“It’s added a lot of depth. The talent and skill level are at a different point than when I first came into the league as a player and as a coach,” South Bay Lakers coach Coby Karl said. “Over the last three years, it’s a completely different experience. … The young, talented guys were going overseas because there wasn’t enough money in the G League.”
While a two-way player still won’t earn as much as an NBA rookie on a standard, minimum-salary contract, that two-way player can earn up to about $411K this season if he maxes out his 45 NBA days, per cap expert Albert Nahmad (Twitter link). It also gives more young players a chance to enter an NBA team’s developmental program.
“I don’t love those contracts. They don’t really do anything for me,” one agent told Pincus. “They’re not very agent-friendly, but they’re a necessary vehicle. … [My clients] are getting in the door with an organization. They’re able to see the floor, to be a priority guy in the G League program while developing.”
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Cole Anthony (UNC) and R.J. Hampton (New Zealand) have fallen out of the top five in ESPN’s latest big board for the 2020 NBA draft, having been displaced by Tyrese Haliburton (Iowa State) at No. 4 and Deni Avdija (Israel) at No. 5.
- In his latest newsletter, Marc Stein of The New York Times hands out his “Best of the Decade” awards, including his pick for Transaction of the Decade: The Lakers‘ aborted trade for Chris Paul way back in 2011.
- David Aldridge of The Athletic explains why he isn’t a fan of the NBA’s proposed midseason tournament or the idea of giving the No. 10 team in each conference a chance to make the postseason via a play-in tournament.
- Former NBA player Al Harrington is advocating for the league to allow players to use CBD, a form of marijuana. Candace Buckner of The Washington Post has the full story on Harrington’s work since he retired as a player, and why he’s pushing for the NBA to relax its anti-drug policy.