G-League ups base salary to 35k for 5 month season, free housing, bonuses

[bthaunert]

I haven’t tead the entire thread, but I still believe that this will become a legit option for top teir players out of high school. It’s not so much the salary increase but the ability for these guys to also make money through other sources while playing. Adidas was funneling money for freaking Brian Bowen.

As for the agent, something tells me agents will invest in players through this process just like they do with guys who are in that 3 month limbo phase between the end of the college season and the draft. It’s investing in future earnings, provide loans, etc.

The earning potential begins for these guys the moment they finish their high school season. People are being short sighted if they think this is solely about 35k. This is about tapping into your earning potential as early as possible. The landscape of college basketball has shifted drastically over the past couple of years and guys are going to take advantage of opportunities sooner and sooner.

 

[ram1955]

Granted, I'm not a big cbb fan but from my perspective, if any person can make $35K with expenses paid for doing playing a game he loves..even for a year or two...that's a great opportunity and something most of us never have . On the other hand, again, without regard to the welfare of cbb, a kid that has the opportunity to get a free ride and earn a degree would be wise to compare his future earning opportunities before making the decision to go G league.

I'm for kids having choices and hope that they put some thought into their long-range goals, what's going to be good for themselves and their families for years to come. Unfortunately, I don't believe most college coaches, agents or nba scouts put the welfare of the kid first and should not be trusted for guidance.

 

[JC CATS]

This is very helpful to those who are stuck in the G-League.

However, I don't see this as being a great temptation for elite players to bypass college in order to spend a year making $35k, riding a bus from Fort Wayne to play in front of 1,500 fans in Sioux Falls.

U6 pays better

 

[bthaunert]

again you most think the folks at nike, gatorade need college to find guys. pretty easy to spot marquee players. sign them up early and they will do all the marketing and build a brand and you would get paid for it right away. unlike college where you dont make jack while building your brand. the notion that brand is dependent on college visibility is silly and short sighted.

Ding Ding Ding

I said it in my other post. If Adidas is willing to funnel 100k to a guy like Brian Bowen, imagine what they are willing to pay to a guy like RJ Barrett or Zion Williamson.

 

[kb22stang]

But it’s not annualized because it’s not for 1 year. It’s for 5 months. Minus taxes , minus agent fees...

If many are trying to get to the NBA they will definitely have agents/ fees etc.

I definitely get the allure , but in many cases it would 100000% be better to go to a UK, KU, Duke, MSU (top tier school) for a year or 2 than play for an obscure G league team, riding in C- level busses and being “housed” in apartments similar to something you’d find on new cut road

So, its 35K a year with 7 months vacation vs playing and going to school for free.

I'm not arguing it's a smart option, I'm arguing that kids like say a Briscoe or Diallo, who have no interest in class, will take a hard look at this.

 

[kb22stang]

again you most think the folks at nike, gatorade need college to find guys. pretty easy to spot marquee players. sign them up early and they will do all the marketing and build a brand and you would get paid for it right away. unlike college where you dont make jack while building your brand. the notion that brand is dependent on college visibility is silly and short sighted.

Exactly, well said.

 

[JDHoss]

Ding Ding Ding

I said it in my other post. If Adidas is willing to funnel 100k to a guy like Brian Bowen, imagine what they are willing to pay to a guy like RJ Barrett or Zion Williamson.

Yep...and it's done above board with the G League. This is going to be a legitimate option for kids who want to get paid right away and have no interest in attending classes. Will there be kids who will regret doing it? Sure, but they will be the same kids who would have left after one year of college anyway and wound up in the same boat.

 

[~Keyser Soze~]

So, its 35K a year with 7 months vacation vs playing and going to school for free.

I'm not arguing it's a smart option, I'm arguing that kids like say a Briscoe or Diallo, who have no interest in class, will take a hard look at this.

For free? Free besides what they get paid.

 

[kb22stang]

For free? Free besides what they get paid.

Exactly how are they paid? Scholarship? Worthless because they don't value education. Room and board, provided by the G League as well.

 

[BostonCat2001]

Exactly how are they paid? Scholarship? Worthless because they don't value education. Room and board, provided by the G League as well.

they get $900 a month too. killing it!!!

 

[ruppcat]

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You'd be better off to stay in college.....get your degree.

 

[~Keyser Soze~]

Exactly how are they paid? Scholarship? Worthless because they don't value education. Room and board, provided by the G League as well.

They get a check every month at most schools, about $900 a month at UK. Depends on the cost of attendance at the school. They can also get almost $6,000 in Pell Grant money if they qualify and get a $500 from the clothing fund if the get a Pell Geant. If they don't live on campus they get room and board money paid to them. Almost all UK football players get their own apartment after their freshman year. If they make the Final Four they get $3,000 for family travel, and extra $1,000 if they make the championship. They get paid to work camps and clinics where they dont really work, Cal, Stoops and coaches all over the country dont have multiple camps and clinics because they dont have anything better to do, they do it so their players can get paid. They not only have their health insurance paid for, schools can also pay the premiums for athletes who insure themselves against injury and loss of future income. FSU paid Jameis Winston's $60,000 premium.

All this is on top of scholarship, elite coaching, elite training, elite training facilities, every meal taken care of, including a nutritionist planning your meals, a chef preparing your meals, media training, 4 star hotels on the road, flying on chartered planes, and all the exposure from playing all your games on national tv.

Where exactly did you get nothing?

 

[~Keyser Soze~]

they get $900 a month too. killing it!!!

You go from saying they get 0 to sarcastically saying killing it. Educate yourself and you wont have to use sarcasm to deflect from being wrong.

 

[UKnCincy]

You'd be better off to stay in college.....get your degree.

You’re assuming that the degree is worth more than the paper is printed on. Unfortunately for DI revenue sport athletes, that’s often not the case.

Couple that with the fact that the college game is in many ways fundamentally different than the NBA, you get situations where athletes get a second rate education and worthless player development. College players come into the NBA with lots of gaps because of how college coaches approach things. So they frequently don’t know how to do basic things like defend in space or ice a ball screen. Things that are table stakes in the NBA.

For some players, particularly elite ones, bypassing college is potentially the wise move for them. I think the people who believe otherwise don’t understand the direction that the G League is moving and the NBA’s strategic intent here.

 

[~Keyser Soze~]

Funny how people attitudes change when Wendell Carters mom says it.

 

[~Keyser Soze~]

Ding Ding Ding

I said it in my other post. If Adidas is willing to funnel 100k to a guy like Brian Bowen, imagine what they are willing to pay to a guy like RJ Barrett or Zion Williamson.

They can get than money right now, they just cant play college ball and get that money. Also, Nike already bought both of those guys.