Class of 2022 PG Dior Johnson (NY / CA)

[orangefog]

I think what most people love about college basketball is the association with the colleges. It has grown in to this enormous monster with boundless corruption. But, things like the G league might help us get back to the core of college basketball...at least until the Kentuckys of the world figure out how to cheat in that system as well.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

i have also heard from a source in position to know that the nba has it's eyes on aau basketball as well, hoping to eventually supplant it via the junior nba programs

if they pull all this off, the nba could dominate the american basketball scene from top to bottom

As well they should.

 

[hoopsupstate]

The NBA wants to cash in on some of the college basketball revenue. Why not take their best players and form another option for tv revenue. This wouldn’t surprise me in the least. Pro sports are all about money, PERIOD.

 

[maxxyz]

If the NBA wanted to they could transform the G League into a formidable competitor to NCAA Hoops, significantly expand the number of teams and effectively emulate/replace March Madness with their own version. It would take some time for people to initially warm up to it but it's feasible.

College Basketball could be in deep trouble in a few years with current trends. Especially if we end up without a season this year.

Why would would the NBA want to replace the NCAA? They really only want to control the top 10 prospects each year. They still want the free marketing for basketball that colleges provide.

Think of it like Las Vegas. They don’t think of small casinos as competition; they see it as a training grounds to get people interested to come play in Vegas.

Like a meth dealer giving you a taste for free.

 

[Orangezoo]

Why would they need more teams in order to do that?

The thought would be more players = more teams.

 

[Orangezoo]

Why would would the NBA want to replace the NCAA? They really only want to control the top 10 prospects each year. They still want the free marketing for basketball that colleges provide.

Think of it like Las Vegas. They don’t think of small casinos as competition; they see it as a training grounds to get people interested to come play in Vegas.

Like a meth dealer giving you a taste for free.

Maybe. There would be ample tv revenue to usurp if they wanted it. Also if you take the top 100 players vs the top 10 you effectively own the reason most people watch college hoops.

 

[MSOrange]

Maybe. There would be ample tv revenue to usurp if they wanted it. Also if you take the top 100 players vs the top 10 you effectively own the reason most people watch college hoops.

Not really for me. I watch college basketball because I'm interested in the schools. I'll watch Syracuse no matter who is playing.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

If the NBA wanted to they could transform the G League into a formidable competitor to NCAA Hoops, significantly expand the number of teams and effectively emulate/replace March Madness with their own version. It would take some time for people to initially warm up to it but it's feasible.

College Basketball could be in deep trouble in a few years with current trends. Especially if we end up without a season this year.

I kinda wonder about that. Like, how many people follow a college team because they are an alum or are local to that town, versus just choosing a team based on some other factor? And how long do those allegiances last, if it's just a random selection? I mean, before i decided to go to Syracuse, i liked Georgetown's Ewing team, and Houston's Phi Slamma Jamma. But, that was only for one or two years. Fleeting.

I don't think the G-League is the kind of thing you adopt like your hometown's major sports franchise. The G is like Minor League Baseball. Are there intense fans of the Pawsox or the Trenton Thunder?

The G-League could certainly be expanded in appeal and could grow with more high-profile High schoolers. But, they'd be playing against guys with a lot more experience and stronger physiques—the kinds of guys who were on the cusp of the first round. And they might not then be the instant stars of those G teams. So, those high schoolers might not shine like they would in the NCAA. And for 'fans of the G-League,' who wants to watch teams of guys who 'just aren't yet good enough' for the NBA? In cheesy arenas, with a small number of fans who don't really give that much of a damn?

 

[Ggaenzle]

 

[calorange]

Zion actually wasn't viewed as the likely #1 pick going into college. The general consensus was that RJ Barrett was the #1 prospect. Most people had Zion as the 3rd best NBA prospect on that Duke team. DraftExpress for example didn't even have Zion in the top 5 of their mock before he showed up at Duke. They had him going 7th.

Coming out of high school Zion was known to hard core basketball fans as an elite recruit. After his year in college, he was nearly a household name throughout the country.
I don't think a G league or other kind of NBA minor league could ever create that kind of celebrity for an 18/19-year old kid. The dollar value of that exposure disparity is enormous to a talent like Zion.

I hope Dior, if he has the same kind of potential, sees this.

 

[jgeorge322]

Coming out of high school Zion was known to hard core basketball fans as an elite recruit. After his year in college, he was nearly a household name throughout the country.
I don't think a G league or other kind of NBA minor league could ever create that kind of celebrity for an 18/19-year old kid. The dollar value of that exposure disparity is enormous to a talent like Zion.

I hope Dior, if he has the same kind of potential, sees this.

yea but if someone is offering you $500k plus shoe money before all that happens, does zion take it?

 

[kidorange]

yea but if someone is offering you $500k plus shoe money before all that happens, does zion take it?

Good question and it's an interesting discussion. These aren't 1 year shoe contracts and they won't be renegotiated. Another option is to take the $500,000 from the G League and wait on the shoe deal.

Either way, you're betting on yourself. I think the potential to excel and make a name for yourself is better in the NCAA. You could get bullied in G League and lose big. On the other hand, you could get injured (or hit by a truck) in college and have nothing to show for it.

 

[jordville]

HS kid doing a sneaker/money giveaway? Now I've seen it all...

 

[310Pigpen]

 

[orangefog]

View attachment 179981

That sure is pretty.

 

[Orangefan1]

This kid is a stud...period. BTW how many guys left early or went from High School that lost twice as much money as what was offered these guys in the G league? We have a laundry list of players who lost money by leaving early to is my point. Had Grant stayed (and obviously he is a special talent) he may have been mid first round the following year and made a ton of more money for the overall trajectory of his career. Yes it worked out for him and I'm happy for him, but it still should be talked about.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

This kid is a stud...period. BTW how many guys left early or went from High School that lost twice as much money as what was offered these guys in the G league? We have a laundry list of players who lost money by leaving early to is my point. Had Grant stayed (and obviously he is a special talent) he may have been mid first round the following year and made a ton of more money for the overall trajectory of his career. Yes it worked out for him and I'm happy for him, but it still should be talked about.

John Wallace stayed and probably lost money. Lots of guys stay too long and lose money, probably more than those who lose money by leaving early.
No way to know if Grant developed like that when he is limited to 20 hours per week for basketball.
Tyus may have cost himself money staying, and Richardson and Lydon probably would have as well.

 

[Melancer46]

This kid is a stud...period. BTW how many guys left early or went from High School that lost twice as much money as what was offered these guys in the G league? We have a laundry list of players who lost money by leaving early to is my point. Had Grant stayed (and obviously he is a special talent) he may have been mid first round the following year and made a ton of more money for the overall trajectory of his career. Yes it worked out for him and I'm happy for him, but it still should be talked about.

Grant is pretty much the only recent player that this applies for IMO (maybe Brissett though I think he was a poor NBA prospect regardless) and even then it's hard to say for sure that he would have improved his draft stock by staying another year. At the end of the day, he was always going to be looked at as a tweener forward that couldn't shoot in college. Leaving after two years instead of three probably allowed teams to think there was more hope of improvement in that regard. He ended up in some great situations for himself in the NBA too; I don't think things could have panned out any better for Grant. We'll see with Brissett, but again, I think he was always a long shot to get drafted.

I think the vast majority of our recent players have maximized their money by leaving early.

 

[General20]

Despite all this...

I wouldn't count Dior to SU as out now.

Dior loves SU. He sees himself not only as the next Melo but also the first Dior. He wants a chip. The money will still be there the following year.. and probably more of it.

Here is a quote in the tweet you shared ...
"The NBA is the best development system in the world, and those players shouldn't have to go somewhere else (abroad) to develop for a year. They should be in our development system."

I know he was comparing the G league to going overseas in his quote, but I think the same applies for colleges. What this ultimately comes down to is that the NBA doesn't think colleges and AAU are doing a very good job developing players and they think they can do it better themselves.

They are dipping a toe in the water now, but if they are successful they will almost definitely expand, and it would not shock me to see D1 college end up something similar to what D2 is now, and the G league becoming a better version of what D1 is now.

This is a very limited sample so take it with a grain of salt, but I watched Darius Bazely play in high school and I watched him play in the pros, and he developed a LOT in that year in between, so the NBA might be on to something.

 

[Gabjon]

Here is a quote in the tweet you shared ...
"The NBA is the best development system in the world, and those players shouldn't have to go somewhere else (abroad) to develop for a year. They should be in our development system."

I know he was comparing the G league to going overseas in his quote, but I think the same applies for colleges. What this ultimately comes down to is that the NBA doesn't think colleges and AAU are doing a very good job developing players and they think they can do it better themselves.

They are dipping a toe in the water now, but if they are successful they will almost definitely expand, and it would not shock me to see D1 college end up something similar to what D2 is now, and the G league becoming a better version of what D1 is now.

This is a very limited sample so take it with a grain of salt, but I watched Darius Bazely play in high school and I watched him play in the pros, and he developed a LOT in that year in between, so the NBA might be on to something.

I will take it a step further, the NBA and College basketball are very different sports because of rules differences.

College basketball is the highest level of basketball that doesn't have a 24sec shot clock, defensive 3 seconds is another huge rule difference.

NBA offensives don't work well in college because there isn't the talent at the 4 and 5 spots to run those offenses.

There are only 30 NBA team and they struggle to find 4s and 5s who can play with space and pace, there are over 320 D1 teams.

So you have college bigs trying to play like guards instead of using their size to dominate because they are trying to prove they can play in the NBA.

Small ball college teams are now beating the traditional powers at a much higher rate because guards are better at playing like guards than bigs are.

Villanova won 2 national championships in the last 4 years playing small.

 

[JrodCuse]

They need to just let kids get in college sign sneaker and other endorsement deals...stop with this silly "amatuer" crap. That went away a long time ago for FB & BB.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Good question and it's an interesting discussion. These aren't 1 year shoe contracts and they won't be renegotiated. Another option is to take the $500,000 from the G League and wait on the shoe deal.

Either way, you're betting on yourself. I think the potential to excel and make a name for yourself is better in the NCAA. You could get bullied in G League and lose big. On the other hand, you could get injured (or hit by a truck) in college and have nothing to show for it.

What if you get shoe money, booster money, TV exposure, frat parties and lots of college girls?

 

[UpstateSM]

What if you get shoe money, booster money, TV exposure, frat parties and lots of college girls?

This is why I’m saving my last two years of eligibility in case NIL changes

 

[Sherman20]

I hate the NBA for doing this.
I actually don't understand how it thinks it will better build player brand equity in the G-League versus in big time college basketball. Who the hell ever cared a whit about what happened in the G-League? Are they thinking someday the G-League championship will be bigger than NCAA conference championships or March Madness?

I also find it sad that the NBA isn't somehow trying to encourage more education. Even if it is one year. It's experientially valuable, and it's significant symbolically.

100 percent agree.

 

[Sherman20]

NBA continues to undermine it's college feeder system. But honestly, it would be better for us (and most of CBB) if the one-and-dones were taken out of college. We don't get them. It would improve overall competitiveness instead of having a handful of elite programs getting all of them each year anyway.

No, Kentucky and Duke and UNC will just get the next tier of prospects and we’ll be stuck with the ones after that.