OT: Jalen Green spurning Memphis, heading to G-League

[BlueMAB]

If you think Duke wasn’t good for Zions brand idk what to tell you. He wasn’t even the top recruit going to Duke out of that class.

There's a difference between "good for his brand" and "has no leverage". HUGE difference.

Yes, kids will get shoe contracts still, and yes they will get their salary from the G League, but in order for them to get a contract like a Zion, the GLeague really is going to have to put some kind of plan in place to show these kids marketability.

Based on what exactly?

Kids are getting a couple hundred thousand dollars from sneaker companies while in HS to push them to certain schools. Why in the world would they "need" the G League to prove their marketability?

Provide some evidence or rationale rather than just making blanket proclamations.

Lebron was a Household name, cover of SI and everything before entering the league.

The viral thunder-dunks delivered by Zion Williamson don't merely demoralize opponents. They have made him better known than any prep star ever. (Yes, including LeBron.)

Edit: to answer your initial question... yes. He 100% isn’t getting that same contract w/out the exposure he got at Puke

You don't know that. It's a supposition that you'll never be able to prove (nor would I ever be able to disprove it). But let's play this silly game anyway.

You're moving the goalposts. You didn't say "he wouldn't have gotten as much without Duke".

You said this:
"While 500k for a season is nice. A kid like Zion, if he takes that deal, also isn’t in a position with leverage to sign the 80+ million dollar endorsement deal"

What does $500k have to do with an $80 million contract? You think Nike is going to say (internally) "Well we were going to give him $80MM, but he's getting $500k from the G League, so let's offer up $10MM, he's got no leverage now"

His value to the G League, and his value to the sneaker company, are entirely different. And they don't factor in his NBA salary in their valuation of his worth to them.

How many of his sneakers they can sell, has nothing to do with how much the G league pays him, and therefore doesn't impact his leverage in any way.

Explain your argument instead of just repeating the same statements.

 

[husky429]

Dunno. The average fan cares about the jersey more than the player. Basketball hardos might show up.

Older people, yes. The kids I coach follow HS players/college players/NBA players much more than they do any team. If Zion had gone to a g-league game HS kids would have filled up the gym every away game he played

 

[bendm]

UK recruits Greg Brown and Moussa Cisse contacted by G-League

The G-League means business when it comes to getting the top high school talent.

www.aseaofblue.com

love it. after penny paid for cisse to move to memphis he's just gonna go g league anyways

 

[HooperScooper]

This kid spurned the G League for college. Should be interesting to see how many kids do that.

“I didn’t want to [go the pro route] because personally I want to compete to win a National Championship and learn under a program and a system that will help me mentally and physically to prepare me for that next level,” Burnett told Stockrisers.com.

G-League offered Nimari Burnett, he declined and will compete for nat’l title

Nimari Burnett, without a doubt, was one of the top-rated guards nationally regardless of his class. Was set to compete in the McDonald’s All-American game as well as several other major games. Bur…

stockrisers.com

 

[MDHuskFan]

There's a difference between "good for his brand" and "has no leverage". HUGE difference.


Based on what exactly?

Kids are getting a couple hundred thousand dollars from sneaker companies while in HS to push them to certain schools. Why in the world would they "need" the G League to prove their marketability?

Provide some evidence or rationale rather than just making blanket proclamations.


The viral thunder-dunks delivered by Zion Williamson don't merely demoralize opponents. They have made him better known than any prep star ever. (Yes, including LeBron.)



You don't know that. It's a supposition that you'll never be able to prove (nor would I ever be able to disprove it). But let's play this silly game anyway.

You're moving the goalposts. You didn't say "he wouldn't have gotten as much without Duke".

You said this:
"While 500k for a season is nice. A kid like Zion, if he takes that deal, also isn’t in a position with leverage to sign the 80+ million dollar endorsement deal"

What does $500k have to do with an $80 million contract? You think Nike is going to say (internally) "Well we were going to give him $80MM, but he's getting $500k from the G League, so let's offer up $10MM, he's got no leverage now"

His value to the G League, and his value to the sneaker company, are entirely different. And they don't factor in his NBA salary in their valuation of his worth to them.

How many of his sneakers they can sell, has nothing to do with how much the G league pays him, and therefore doesn't impact his leverage in any way.

Explain your argument instead of just repeating the same statements.

I’m not saying that they’re going to offer him less cause he got the 500k. What I am saying though is that the GLeague does need to have some kind of a plan on how to market these kids.
How many GLeague games have you seen on ESPN or anywhere for that matter? How many Duke and other big programs have you seen on TV? If you think that Zion would have got the same contract w/ or w/out going to Duke, please just say that.
24/7 composite had him at 5, 24/7 had him at 7, ESPN had him at 2. He wasn’t the top player even projected from his class.
To clarify, my position is not that sneaker companies are going to offer less money because they took the $500k bag, but more that these kids build valuable brands at blue blood programs. I’m curious how the GLeague creates a similar value off the court for these kids.

The Biggest Rookie Sneaker Deals in NBA History

Where to buy The Biggest Rookie Sneaker Deals in NBA History shoes. Nice Kicks has release dates, prices, and where to find The Biggest Rookie Sneaker Deals in NBA History for sale.

www.nicekicks.com

2 High school kids in this list. We can make the what if argument on some of the 1 & done rule wasn’t in place, but we also don’t see any euro league players or others on this list.

Lastly, to go back to Zion, Duke grew his brand. The Viral/IG argument is valid, but even with that, going to Duke saw his followers increase by over 1 million followers in months.

How Zion Williamson Has Helped Duke Dominate College Sports On Twitter, Instagram And Facebook

Zion Williamson's presence at Duke has helped the school dominate college sports on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Duke leads all college athletics programs with a combined 4 million followers across Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

www.google.com

Instead of derailing the whole thread, I’ll try and clarify the point I was trying to make.
College is exposure. Exposure for these kids to build and strengthen their individual brands. If someone decides to take the initial 500k check, good for them. But I’m just interested in seeing what/how the GLeague is going to get these kids exposure to where they are in the houses of people nationwide.

 

[Palatine]

Which begs the question. High school kids now have the option to make money if they want. They also have the option of getting a free education if they prefer.

So, why should colleges pay kids?

 

[Robertelamin]

Because they don’t want to

 

[Chief00]

This G-League rule is going to kill the college game.

 

[Robertelamin]

Why is that? The one and done rule is ending in a few years anyway

 

[huskypantz]

The big risk to the college game is really that the G-league becomes a revenue-positive source for the NBA. They start with 10 kids and a $5m payroll bump. After a year or two, NBA will decide that they should have two tiers - 10 $1m spots and 10 $500k spots. Kids refocus their goals from Duke or Kentucky to "G-league roster spot".

 

[pj]

The big risk to the college game is really that the G-league becomes a revenue-positive source for the NBA. They start with 10 kids and a $5m payroll bump. After a year or two, NBA will decide that they should have two tiers - 10 $1m spots and 10 $500k spots. Kids refocus their goals from Duke or Kentucky to "G-league roster spot".

The big risk isn't 10 $1m spots, it's 200 $50k spots. If the top 200 high school players skip college to start in the pros every year -- and why wouldn't they if they get year-round professional coaching from NBA staffs? -- then the quality of college ball goes way down.

I doubt even Jim Calhoun could generate a lot of fan excitement with a starting 5 of Craig Austrie, Terence Samuel, Brendan Adams, Charles Okwandu, Tyler Olander. Most of whom were top 200 recruits. That's what the best college teams might start looking like.

 

[Robertelamin]

The big risk to the college game is really that the G-league becomes a revenue-positive source for the NBA. They start with 10 kids and a $5m payroll bump. After a year or two, NBA will decide that they should have two tiers - 10 $1m spots and 10 $500k spots. Kids refocus their goals from Duke or Kentucky to "G-league roster spot".

That’s true, the NBA could dump more money into the league if they wanted

 

[Kenny11]

The big risk isn't 10 $1m spots, it's 200 $50k spots. If the top 200 high school players skip college to start in the pros every year -- and why wouldn't they if they get year-round professional coaching from NBA staffs? -- then the quality of college ball goes way down.

I doubt even Jim Calhoun could generate a lot of fan excitement with a starting 5 of Craig Austrie, Terence Samuel, Brendan Adams, Charles Okwandu, Tyler Olander. Most of whom were top 200 recruits. That's what the best college teams might start looking like.

there are so few spots in the nba and even the g league. Most of the top 200 high school players wouldn’t be good enough to make a g league roster and about 150 of them will never have a real shot at the nba regardless of the path they take.

 

[pj]

there are so few spots in the nba and even the g league. Most of the top 200 high school players wouldn’t be good enough to make a g league roster and about 150 of them will never have a real shot at the nba regardless of the path they take.

Yes, the question is whether the G league can become a profitable spectator sport replacing college basketball. If you pay $50k each to the top 200 players every year, keep them in the G league 4 years on average, the total payroll is $40 million. With 800 players, 16 players per team, you have a 50-team national league. That's about the same size as the P5 college leagues.

NCAA gets $1 billion per year just for the tourney. That's more than enough to profitably fund a payroll of $40m for players plus coaches/staff. Add in gate revenue etc and why wouldn't the NBA do this? It's only antitrust concerns because it would put D1 college athletics out of business.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

This G-League rule is going to kill the college game.

It'll hurt a handful of schools and have no effect on a vast majority of college basketball.

As a college basketball fan, how many games have I watched where I was completely blown away from the "top level talent"? Washington didn't do much for me this year. Georgia sucked. Arizona wasn't great. Kentucky might have been a top-25 team...

Almost always the interesting teams are upper-classman leaden teams. This year, Baylor, Gonzaga, Dayton, San Diego State, Michigan State, Florida State...

With the Big East teams, you had Seton Hall, Creighton, Marquette, Xavier...really fun teams to watch and no big time freshman talent.

 

[Pmurph678]

We root for the Jerseys! Surprised how many people on this board think this will matter at all to college ball.

99% of college programs weren’t getting these players anyway, and the G-League is not going to start getting 200+ kids a year that’s crazy. There sniping top talent not trying to build a league to compete with the NCAA.

 

[Hurleyman216]

Yes, the question is whether the G league can become a profitable spectator sport replacing college basketball. If you pay $50k each to the top 200 players every year, keep them in the G league 4 years on average, the total payroll is $40 million. With 800 players, 16 players per team, you have a 50-team national league. That's about the same size as the P5 college leagues.

NCAA gets $1 billion per year just for the tourney. That's more than enough to profitably fund a payroll of $40m for players plus coaches/staff. Add in gate revenue etc and why wouldn't the NBA do this? It's only antitrust concerns because it would put D1 college athletics out of business.

The G-League doesn’t have the correct geographic footprint in my opinion. When you have teams in Eerie, PA and Southaven, MS it isn’t exactly aligned with big media markets.
All of this is driven by ticket sales but even more by media and advertising. Universities have such great following because they pump out thousands of graduates a year many of which become rabid fans. State schools like UConn, UK, etc. capture a large percentage of their whole state. That isn’t happening out of Eerie, PA. People watch college in part because they are amateurs. Not saying the G-league won’t become more popular, just don’t think they will displace the NCAA anytime soon.

 

[Robertelamin]

Isn’t the point of the G League to have borderline NBA players that can be called up? This wouldn’t serve any purpose.

 

[Stinger92860]

Ehhhh, I don't know. Personally I think I'd still take the $125k from the blue blood school and play in front of a rabid fanbase on TV.

If you are poor, there is big difference between getting 500k above board vs 125k and having to hide it. Plus these guys should be able to pick up local endorsements e.g. car dealerships, restaurants, etc. they can earn extra cash and take care of their families. This is good progress for kids whose career goals don’t include a college education.

 

[the Q]

$500k contract for one year? God bless the kid. Every top HS kid is going to take that offer.

Isaiah Todd is joining the same G-League team, plus it's in SoCal. College hoops teams might as well stop recruiting the top ten HS prospects.

Not to mention a year early on endorsements and shoe deal.

This kid would’ve been the slam dunk top pick in the draft this year without an age limit.

Although full disclose, this is supposed to be the worst draft since 2000.

But Todd won’t get that according to an ESPN article I read. More like 250k. But still also endorsements...

 

[McLovin]

Doesn't anyone care how this will affect poor Kentucky and Duke?

When I first saw this I had the same thought. Cal will actually have to coach and develop players now!

 

[CallMeBruce]

I’m curious if this is actually “good” for ELITE prospects or not. The national exposure from the G League unless they do something different is minimal to say the least. While 500k for a season is nice. A kid like Zion, if he takes that deal, also isn’t in a position with leverage to sign the 80+ million dollar endorsement deal

This is not an unreasonable point. Mitigating factors might be that certain kids carry enough cache straight from high school that it's not an issue, though in Zion's case, he wasn't even the top player in his grad class, so he probably wouldn't have. Perhaps if the top 10 or so players go straight to the G League every year, people might start watching the G League a little bit.

 

[Jbirdp5]

There's a difference between "good for his brand" and "has no leverage". HUGE difference.


Based on what exactly?

Kids are getting a couple hundred thousand dollars from sneaker companies while in HS to push them to certain schools. Why in the world would they "need" the G League to prove their marketability?

Provide some evidence or rationale rather than just making blanket proclamations.


The viral thunder-dunks delivered by Zion Williamson don't merely demoralize opponents. They have made him better known than any prep star ever. (Yes, including LeBron.)



You don't know that. It's a supposition that you'll never be able to prove (nor would I ever be able to disprove it). But let's play this silly game anyway.

You're moving the goalposts. You didn't say "he wouldn't have gotten as much without Duke".

You said this:
"While 500k for a season is nice. A kid like Zion, if he takes that deal, also isn’t in a position with leverage to sign the 80+ million dollar endorsement deal"

What does $500k have to do with an $80 million contract? You think Nike is going to say (internally) "Well we were going to give him $80MM, but he's getting $500k from the G League, so let's offer up $10MM, he's got no leverage now"

His value to the G League, and his value to the sneaker company, are entirely different. And they don't factor in his NBA salary in their valuation of his worth to them.

How many of his sneakers they can sell, has nothing to do with how much the G league pays him, and therefore doesn't impact his leverage in any way.

Explain your argument instead of just repeating the same statements.

Using Zion and Lebron to prove your argument is the problem. You picked the two generational talents from the last 20 years.....I don’t think Jalen green falls in that category. Don’t think this will create a lot more buzz for him. This is a better move for kids who end up flaming out because they get a nice chunk of change in the bank. For the kids you mentioned they could go to college go to Europe go to where ever and they were going to be household names.
this move is smart for people money wise but who knows if it gets them a better shoe deal. That will have to be proven

 

[CallMeBruce]

It'll hurt a handful of schools and have no effect on a vast majority of college basketball.

As a college basketball fan, how many games have I watched where I was completely blown away from the "top level talent"? Washington didn't do much for me this year. Georgia sucked. Arizona wasn't great. Kentucky might have been a top-25 team...

Almost always the interesting teams are upper-classman leaden teams. This year, Baylor, Gonzaga, Dayton, San Diego State, Michigan State, Florida State...

With the Big East teams, you had Seton Hall, Creighton, Marquette, Xavier...really fun teams to watch and no big time freshman talent.

While you're not wrong about this year, this year's freshman class is the weakest we've seen in the one-and-done era, so it makes sense that veteran teams were so dominant this year. In other years, we've had schools like Duke and Kentucky dominate with largely inexperienced rosters. That being said, I think top players going straight to the G-League would make seasons like this one more common, and I'm OK with that.

 

[Jbirdp5]

The big risk isn't 10 $1m spots, it's 200 $50k spots. If the top 200 high school players skip college to start in the pros every year -- and why wouldn't they if they get year-round professional coaching from NBA staffs? -- then the quality of college ball goes way down.

I doubt even Jim Calhoun could generate a lot of fan excitement with a starting 5 of Craig Austrie, Terence Samuel, Brendan Adams, Charles Okwandu, Tyler Olander. Most of whom were top 200 recruits. That's what the best college teams might start looking like.

Is that at all realistic? In 4 years that’s 800 kids. No way the g league has the infrastructure for that or the nba cares to develop it