Potential Big Impact on OAD - New NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement

[scottdude8]

You're suggesting that basically ~$5M is worth it to pay for a "practice squad/sparring partners" to develop those high draft picks. I can maybe buy that it's worth some investment, but I would venture to guess there are many reasonably skilled guys willing to get paid a lot less to play basketball semi-professionally...baseball players get paid peanuts in minor leagues (way less than they should IMHO, although I think I recall salaries going up a bit) although there is a more established farm system, so perhaps that's something the NBA is aspiring to re-create, and needs to overpay now to establish it.

I think we're 100% on the same page.

Minor leaguers across sports deserve to get paid much better than they do. Every major league baseball star that team owners are making millions (billions?) off of only got there because they got to develop against really really good (just not extraordinary) baseball players in the minors. The fact that those guys get paid essentially poverty wages and live on "the dream" of making it themselves is insane. They provide value to the MLB product even if they never play an MLB game themselves. I hope some of the recent momentum yields results on that front.

Now, when it comes to basketball, there are some differences that may be contributing to what I agree is currently an overpay. One is that you don't need nearly as many players in basketball, so you can afford to pay more. The other is that there are viable opportunities for really really good (but not extraordinary) basketball players to make good money in the various overseas leagues, so there's some (albeit not all that significant) competition. If you think about NIL, maybe that competition is significant, especially if the #38 recruit could go play at Miami, probably be a starter right away, and potentially get a 6 figure NIL deal.

I also have no inside info on this, but it wouldn't surprise me if Ignite is targeting specific guys for these "complimentary" roles. We scoffed at O'Neal's deal, but one thing that is still at a premium is big bodies that can play... so even though he wasn't a college star, he has value when it comes to player development. I don't know much about this new guy we're talking about, but maybe it's a similar situation. It's also worth noting that the #38 recruit is typically a guy who has a half-decent shot at at least being a second round pick at some point... so there's a youth plus talent combo there that your average G-League vet may not have.

I do think there's probably a lot of behind the scenes thought going into these decisions that would provide a lot of context here that we're not privy to.

[Billy Dat]

A big event that ties into all of these topics is taking place tonight when presumed #1 pick in the 2023 Draft, France's unicorn's unicorn Victor Wembanyama and his French club Metropolitans 92 come to Las Vegas to play against the G-League Ignite and potential #2 pick Scoot Henderson, the Georgia phenom in year 2 with the Ignite

https://sports.yahoo.com/presumptive...120004882.html

10PM EST on ESPN2

[DoubleBlue]

A big event that ties into all of these topics is taking place tonight when presumed #1 pick in the 2023 Draft, France's unicorn's unicorn Victor Wembanyama and his French club Metropolitans 92 come to Las Vegas to play against the G-League Ignite and potential #2 pick Scoot Henderson, the Georgia phenom in year 2 with the Ignite

https://sports.yahoo.com/presumptive...120004882.html

10PM EST on ESPN2

Here's more about game times and viewing options:

https://www.sportingnews.com/ca/nba/...tidsavatqjbld6

When are G League Ignite vs. Metropolitans 92 games?
Date: Tuesday, Oct. 4/Thursday, Oct. 6
Time: 10 p.m. ET/3 p.m. ET

How to watch G League Ignite vs. Metropolitans 92
TV channel: ESPN2
Live stream: NBA app

[House P]

If the NBA pays ~$5M a year (a number I'm pulling from thin air) to players on the G-League Ignite who don't have clear-cut NBA futures, but whose presence helps accelerate the development of projected first round picks, I think that's a really solid investment from the NBA's perspective.

Presumably, all expenses for the G-League Ignite team are split evenly between all 30 teams. If so, I doubt NBA teams are all that concerned about spending $5M total ($167k per team) on salaries for marginal prospects if it allows them to better develop/evaluate the half dozen or so other guys on the team who are legitimate prospects.

I have no idea how much the average NBA team spends on pre-draft scouting, but I assume that $167k is a drop in the bucket.

[Bluedog]

Presumably, all expenses for the G-League Ignite team are split evenly between all 30 teams. If so, I doubt NBA teams are all that concerned about spending $5M total ($167k per team) on salaries for marginal prospects if it allows them to better develop/evaluate the half dozen or so other guys on the team who are legitimate prospects.

I have no idea how much the average NBA team spends on pre-draft scouting, but I assume that $167k is a drop in the bucket.

To be fair, scottdude admitted that he pulled the $5M figure "out of thin air." So no idea how accurate it is. Regardless, I agree with your premise. 😀