Players who fail to make an NBA team's roster often bring their talents overseas to secure lucrative contracts. But if you ask New York Knicks superstar Carmelo Anthony, he prefers players not leave for another country and instead play in the D-League.

The problem with that is the D-League does not offer contracts as large as other professional leagues around the world. With its participating teams slated to increase from 19 to 22 this year, Anthony, the NBPA's Vice President, continues to push for all 30 NBA teams to have its own affiliate to create more jobs and to allow them to pay players more domestically.

Per ESPN's Ramona Shelburne:

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“If I had it my way, I'd rebrand the whole D-League. I'd rebrand it so it's not seen as a punishment.

“I'm a big advocate of developing our own players. If you look at soccer, for example, a lot of those clubs have top-notch academies, by me being in soccer now, I've started to understand the dynamics of developing your own players. We've got to keep our players here. We don't want them to have to go overseas.”

The nine-time All-Star now co-owns a soccer team in Puerto Rico which makes him understand the dynamics of the business side of a professional team even more.

For Anthony, strengthening player development will translate to the NBA's popularity to rise even more and attract the best international players to prove their mettle here. He also said he wants a major overhaul of the D-League to happen by having huge investments brought into it.

The D-League has had steady growth the past few years as proven by the increase in the teams participating and with the success of the players who've had call-ups from NBA teams. Not only do these players play on ten-day contracts but also get signed to longer deals. Should there be significant increase in the pay they can offer, it will need a huge boost and support from the NBA's Collective Bargaining Agreement.