Somebody had noted there was now some changes to the second round which makes it more advantageous for people that are not guaranteed first rounders to still jump to the league in leave. Is it with the level of contract and pay or is it something with the G league?
A few items:
1) The G-League, while not as mature as Silver wants it, is better by leaps and bounds than it was. 38% of NBA players spent some time in the G-League. I believe all teams have a G-League team now, as well.
2) When the new TV deal was signed, it was 3x the previous deal. In negotiations, the players demanded that the jump in salary cap happen all at once and it led to insane deals (Mozgov, etc) with the thought that the projected cap would be on the very high end of the spectrum. That did not occur. So now teams are overextended on deals that were done during that summer and need players that have some talent that are on the low end of the pay spectrum. Insert 2nd rounders here to help with spending.
3) For certain roster spots, there are 2-way contracts for players when they are in the NBA versus the G-League which helps save money and hedge against risk.
4) With a second round pick, you aren't looking for an all star. You are looking for depth and a rotation player. With analytics, scouting, coaching, nutrition, training, etc being smarter than ever, teams believe they can help 2nd round players reach their talent with the resources they have. And, back to money, that helps save them money versus paying a veteran to round out the roster.
