The G League, is it working, is it worth it? It enters its 20th year in existence, not having produced a single bonafide NBA star. Yes, 50 percent of the players in the NBA have done stints down at the developmental level, including the likes of Rudy Gobert and Fred VanVleet, to mention just two, but not a single player who was started down at the G level has ever been called up and became a star. Nope, not one.
So, what do we do with this league, do we keep it around? Do we keep sending our second-round draft choices down there, hoping they will someday develop into rotational players?
Consider Georges Niang, who as a college player at Iowa State once was on a 35-man watch list for player of the year. And, as a 2016 draftee and summer league player, he drew praise from Larry Bird. The Jazz ended up picking him up, and assigning him to the Salt Lake City Stars affiliate, where he became a first-team G Leaguer. Nothing wrong with how that turned out. Niang went on win a full-time Jazz contract, and earn a starter's position.
That's about as far as a G Leaguer can be expected to go in the NBA. Is it enough? I'd say, yes and no. If the G League can produce enough stories like that of Niang, keep it. Still, though, you'd wish it to produce more, and you'd like to see a few G Leaguers becoming stars in the NBA.
Look at the list of G League MVPs through the 19 seasons. How many do you even recognize? We'll start with last year and go backwards to 2001: Frank Mason III, Chris Boucher, Lorenzo Brown, Vander Blue, Jarnell Stokes, Tim Frazier, Othyus Jeffers, Andrew Goudelock, Justin Dentmon, Curtis Stinson, Mike Harris, Courtney Sims, Kasib Powell, Randy Livingston, Marcus Fizer, Matt Carroll, Tierre Brown, Devin Brown, and Ansu Sesay.
And, therein might lie the secret to what most needs to be done. You need to give it some star power. If we can read through the list of MVPs and not recognize but a name or two, clearly the league and its players are lacking media attention.
A couple years ago, the NBA announced it would take players fresh out of high school, offering them $125,000 to come straight to the G League and play there instead of playing in college. How can you beat that? Get paid $125,000 or play in college for a year and not receive a dime, which will it be? But, the high school players were too smart. They didn't take the bait. They realized they would be playing in anonymity in the G League, whereas they would gain exposure under the bright lights and cameras of college ball.
So, if you are going to fix the league, the first thing you should do is grab it some more exposure. For one thing, you've got to get the highlights every night on Sports Center. There is talent down at the G level. Consider that Jimmer Fredette played there and only ranked as a second-team all star in 2016 (although he was MVP at the all-star game). Start with giving the league some hype, some pizzazz, and see if that helps.
Most of the players play for only $35,000 for a five-month season. That's clearly a problem. How are you going to keep your players from jumping overseas where they command much more than that? The best G Leaguers do exactly that -- They jump to the Euro League of somewhere overseas, Jimmer Fredette being an example. However, if you developed enough hype for the G League and marketed it well, it might become a money-maker and you could afford to pay the players well. Start with the marketing, and you'll turn the league around. The G League players come in having starred at their previous levels. How are you not able to market that? How are you not able to whip up enough frenzy so this league can pay its own way?
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