duncan228
04-14-2009, 06:11 PM
It's a long, and good, interview that covers a lot of ground. I just posted a couple of the questions, hit the link to read it all.
An Interview with Dan Reed, D-League President (http://www.ridiculousupside.com/2009/4/14/834329/an-interview-with-dan-reed-d)
by Ridiculous Scott
RS: With the hybrid option seemingly becoming official for next season, what do you see as the benefits for the NBA teams? I love it, but without gaining the exclusive rights of the team, wouldn't it seem easier to just buy a team rather than renting it?
DR: The NBA teams that have expressed interest in controlling the basketball operations of their NBA D-League affiliate usually cite three major benefits. One, it allows you to completely control the environment for a top prospect you would like to develop in your system. The Spurs did this for Ian Mahinmi, who would have been Tim Duncan's backup this season had he not been injured. Another example is the Oklahoma City Thunder, who were very happy with the ability to nurtureShaun Livingston into their system via the Tulsa 66ers. Two, it provides for a great opportunity to develop an up-and-coming coach or trainer into their system. Three, it offers scouting benefits, as your own hand-picked coaches are scouting and competing against every prospect in the NBA D-League.
There are also a lot of other ideas and benefits that I've heard from NBA GMs - for example, at least one team is interested in experimenting with different styles of play using their affiliate (for example, would employing a fast paced trapping and pressing defense for an entire game work in the context of NBA rules? By the way, I think Colorado is demonstrating this could in fact work.) The benefit of the "hybrid" concept is that some NBA teams are solely interested in controlling the basketball operations and would prefer to leave the business side of the D-League team to a local owner/operator (which is a model very prevalent in minor league baseball and hockey for example), while others are interested in managing both sides. The hybrid concept provides additional flexibility.
RS: Since the D-League Showcase in Orem, Anthony Tolliver, Chris Alexander,Coby Karl, Andre Brown, Carl Elliott and Smush Parker have went overseas, though most still more than likely had a shot at a 10-day contract with the NBA. How can the D-League change this, as I'd assume salary wasn't the problem with some of these players coming off of NBA contracts?
DR: Actually, we've seen many more players this year choose to sign and stay with in the NBA D-League, versus playing elsewhere. There are two pieces of evidence here. One, we've experienced a 50% reduction in the number of players that leave the NBA D-League in-season to play overseas. Two, there are dramatically more top NBA prospects now choosing to join the D-League versus those leaving the league. For example, in the same period since the Showcase we added Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Shaun Livingston, Quincy Douby, Mouhamed Sene, DeMarcus Nelson, Herbert Hill, Romel Beck, Mickael Gelabale, Jawad Williams, Kasib Powell, Demetrius Nichols, Kevin Burleson, John Lucas, Richie Frahm, DerMarr Johnson, JamesOn Curry, Earl Barron, Justin Reed, Dwayne Jones, Billy Thomas, Steven Hill, and Jared Jordan, to name a few.
This is due to a variety of factors - the biggest being an increasing recognition of our strong track record producing NBA players, some strategic changes we made to increase player exposure to NBA teams and reward longevity in the league, and the tough economy.
An Interview with Dan Reed, D-League President (http://www.ridiculousupside.com/2009/4/14/834329/an-interview-with-dan-reed-d)
by Ridiculous Scott
RS: With the hybrid option seemingly becoming official for next season, what do you see as the benefits for the NBA teams? I love it, but without gaining the exclusive rights of the team, wouldn't it seem easier to just buy a team rather than renting it?
DR: The NBA teams that have expressed interest in controlling the basketball operations of their NBA D-League affiliate usually cite three major benefits. One, it allows you to completely control the environment for a top prospect you would like to develop in your system. The Spurs did this for Ian Mahinmi, who would have been Tim Duncan's backup this season had he not been injured. Another example is the Oklahoma City Thunder, who were very happy with the ability to nurtureShaun Livingston into their system via the Tulsa 66ers. Two, it provides for a great opportunity to develop an up-and-coming coach or trainer into their system. Three, it offers scouting benefits, as your own hand-picked coaches are scouting and competing against every prospect in the NBA D-League.
There are also a lot of other ideas and benefits that I've heard from NBA GMs - for example, at least one team is interested in experimenting with different styles of play using their affiliate (for example, would employing a fast paced trapping and pressing defense for an entire game work in the context of NBA rules? By the way, I think Colorado is demonstrating this could in fact work.) The benefit of the "hybrid" concept is that some NBA teams are solely interested in controlling the basketball operations and would prefer to leave the business side of the D-League team to a local owner/operator (which is a model very prevalent in minor league baseball and hockey for example), while others are interested in managing both sides. The hybrid concept provides additional flexibility.
RS: Since the D-League Showcase in Orem, Anthony Tolliver, Chris Alexander,Coby Karl, Andre Brown, Carl Elliott and Smush Parker have went overseas, though most still more than likely had a shot at a 10-day contract with the NBA. How can the D-League change this, as I'd assume salary wasn't the problem with some of these players coming off of NBA contracts?
DR: Actually, we've seen many more players this year choose to sign and stay with in the NBA D-League, versus playing elsewhere. There are two pieces of evidence here. One, we've experienced a 50% reduction in the number of players that leave the NBA D-League in-season to play overseas. Two, there are dramatically more top NBA prospects now choosing to join the D-League versus those leaving the league. For example, in the same period since the Showcase we added Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Shaun Livingston, Quincy Douby, Mouhamed Sene, DeMarcus Nelson, Herbert Hill, Romel Beck, Mickael Gelabale, Jawad Williams, Kasib Powell, Demetrius Nichols, Kevin Burleson, John Lucas, Richie Frahm, DerMarr Johnson, JamesOn Curry, Earl Barron, Justin Reed, Dwayne Jones, Billy Thomas, Steven Hill, and Jared Jordan, to name a few.
This is due to a variety of factors - the biggest being an increasing recognition of our strong track record producing NBA players, some strategic changes we made to increase player exposure to NBA teams and reward longevity in the league, and the tough economy.