The NBA G League is starting to gain some traction as a destination for high school players who may not want to go to college and be subject to the NBA's one-and-done rule.
One of the advocates of high school graduates joining the G League if they go undrafted is Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Billy Donovan, per Marc J. Spears of the The Undefeated.
“Guys should be allowed to come out of high school, because there is this thing that everyone wants to keep hiding behind… ‘Who is going to guide? They are getting misinformation. They are getting the wrong information,’ ” Donovan said. “Well, there are NBA players who go with a financial adviser and sometimes it doesn’t work out well. No one is saying, ‘Who is looking out for them?’ We need to allow these guys to make their own decisions. And if they’re not drafted or are misled, the next step is to go into the G League, in my opinion, to clean up that part of college basketball.”
In the wake of the NCAA scandal that broke last week alleging that many prominent players received money while in school — an NCAA violation of amateurism rules — the conversation has ramped up over whether or not college athletes should be paid.
But the system Donovan is proposing also makes sense. Commissioner Adam Silver has already said there is conversation about what can be done about the one-and-done rule, so there is traction there.
Allowing high schoolers to join the G League if they go undrafted would allow them to make some money while also working their way into the NBA. The solutions for these issues are out there, and Donovan coming up with one certainly helps move things in the right direction.
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