mcornelio
07-12-2005, 02:03 PM
NBA set to focus on farm
By Adam Thompson
Denver Post Staff Writer
Las Vegas - Darko Milicic has something in a summer league he hasn't had in two years in the NBA - guaranteed playing time in a Pistons jersey.
Milicic hasn't made much of an impression so far, probably due in part to his rusting at the end of Detroit's bench. But if nothing else, he's useful as a symbol. Players such as Milicic and former Nugget Nikoloz Tskitishvili are the poster players for the NBA's increased involvement with the National Basketball Development League this fall.
Nuggets second-round draft pick Ricky Sanchez could benefit in a way those others could not. As a result of the NBA's new collective bargaining agreement, teams can send down their first- or second-year players to the development league.
Although the Nuggets haven't yet decided where to place Sanchez, the 18-year-old forward knows he needs time to develop his game and put on weight and recognizes how the minor league could help him.
"You can practice all you want and you can get better," he said. "But the real deal is to play in the game. That's how you prove really that you've improved your game."
That's what players including Milicic and Tskitishvili could have used the past two years, instead of sitting at the end of NBA benches.
Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe said he can envision the NBDL evolving into something similar to the NBA summer leagues, in which young prospects get a minimum of 20 to 25 minutes a game. Teams also would not feel compelled to let foreign players they draft play for European teams that NBA teams have no control over.
"I think it's a very, very good rule," Vandeweghe said. "I think all the (draft) picks will be more valuable."
Many coaches are optimistic the commitment to the NBDL can give the NBA the type of minor-league affiliation that has worked for decades in baseball and hockey.
"It's gonna work, and I love it," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "For a change, now it sounds like we're going to actually have a farm system."
Added Bulls coach Scott Skiles: "In theory, it should be a great tool. You should be able to use it, ultimately have an affiliation with a team, send a younger coach down there, even, teach them all your concepts and everything. If that's the way it ends up working out, I think it'll be a good thing for the league and the players."
But there are plenty of hurdles to clear before all 30 NBA teams have their affiliates. The NBDL has eight franchises this upcoming season - in Albuquerque; Little Rock, Ark.; Austin, Texas;
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Fayetteville, N.C.; Fort Myers, Fla.; Fort Worth, Texas; Roanoke, Va.; and Tulsa, Okla.; which means teams have to share players.NBA senior vice president of operations Stu Jackson said the short-term goal is to get up to 15 teams, with two franchises sharing one team. However, he knows there are questions that still need to be worked out.
"What if you have three teams that are assigned to one NBDL team, and they all have centers?" he said. "Where's the playing time come from?"
Skiles pointed out other potential problems, such as an NBDL coach whose philosophy doesn't mesh with the big club that sent him a player. Also, there are geographical issues. Most of the league is based in the South right now. It would be much easier, Skiles said, for the Bulls' affiliate to be in a place like Rockford, Ill., now home to a Continental Basketball Association team.
And, under current rules, veteran players cannot use the development league for a rehab assignment, either, which is common in baseball.
Then there is the question of how receptive the players will be to being sent down. Newly drafted players such as Sanchez would welcome it, knowing they have no role with the current Nuggets. But anyone with playing time on an NBA team might be hesitant to go down. Vandeweghe guessed those attitudes would eventually change, but even a player such as Nuggets guard Luis Flores, who is flourishing in his expanded role in Las Vegas, would prefer the role of practice guard on the big club to starting guard in the NBDL.
"I would love to stay here even if it was the same situation," he said. "I know there's still a lot of things I could learn."
Clearly it will take time for NBA teams to figure just how to use this new tool.
"There's some schools that think you'd rather keep them (in the NBA) and work them out yourself," Rivers said. "That's where I think we're just going to have to wait and see how it all works out."
Adam Thompson can be reached at 303-820- 5447 or [email protected].
By Adam Thompson
Denver Post Staff Writer
Las Vegas - Darko Milicic has something in a summer league he hasn't had in two years in the NBA - guaranteed playing time in a Pistons jersey.
Milicic hasn't made much of an impression so far, probably due in part to his rusting at the end of Detroit's bench. But if nothing else, he's useful as a symbol. Players such as Milicic and former Nugget Nikoloz Tskitishvili are the poster players for the NBA's increased involvement with the National Basketball Development League this fall.
Nuggets second-round draft pick Ricky Sanchez could benefit in a way those others could not. As a result of the NBA's new collective bargaining agreement, teams can send down their first- or second-year players to the development league.
Although the Nuggets haven't yet decided where to place Sanchez, the 18-year-old forward knows he needs time to develop his game and put on weight and recognizes how the minor league could help him.
"You can practice all you want and you can get better," he said. "But the real deal is to play in the game. That's how you prove really that you've improved your game."
That's what players including Milicic and Tskitishvili could have used the past two years, instead of sitting at the end of NBA benches.
Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe said he can envision the NBDL evolving into something similar to the NBA summer leagues, in which young prospects get a minimum of 20 to 25 minutes a game. Teams also would not feel compelled to let foreign players they draft play for European teams that NBA teams have no control over.
"I think it's a very, very good rule," Vandeweghe said. "I think all the (draft) picks will be more valuable."
Many coaches are optimistic the commitment to the NBDL can give the NBA the type of minor-league affiliation that has worked for decades in baseball and hockey.
"It's gonna work, and I love it," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "For a change, now it sounds like we're going to actually have a farm system."
Added Bulls coach Scott Skiles: "In theory, it should be a great tool. You should be able to use it, ultimately have an affiliation with a team, send a younger coach down there, even, teach them all your concepts and everything. If that's the way it ends up working out, I think it'll be a good thing for the league and the players."
But there are plenty of hurdles to clear before all 30 NBA teams have their affiliates. The NBDL has eight franchises this upcoming season - in Albuquerque; Little Rock, Ark.; Austin, Texas;
Advertisement
Click Here!
Fayetteville, N.C.; Fort Myers, Fla.; Fort Worth, Texas; Roanoke, Va.; and Tulsa, Okla.; which means teams have to share players.NBA senior vice president of operations Stu Jackson said the short-term goal is to get up to 15 teams, with two franchises sharing one team. However, he knows there are questions that still need to be worked out.
"What if you have three teams that are assigned to one NBDL team, and they all have centers?" he said. "Where's the playing time come from?"
Skiles pointed out other potential problems, such as an NBDL coach whose philosophy doesn't mesh with the big club that sent him a player. Also, there are geographical issues. Most of the league is based in the South right now. It would be much easier, Skiles said, for the Bulls' affiliate to be in a place like Rockford, Ill., now home to a Continental Basketball Association team.
And, under current rules, veteran players cannot use the development league for a rehab assignment, either, which is common in baseball.
Then there is the question of how receptive the players will be to being sent down. Newly drafted players such as Sanchez would welcome it, knowing they have no role with the current Nuggets. But anyone with playing time on an NBA team might be hesitant to go down. Vandeweghe guessed those attitudes would eventually change, but even a player such as Nuggets guard Luis Flores, who is flourishing in his expanded role in Las Vegas, would prefer the role of practice guard on the big club to starting guard in the NBDL.
"I would love to stay here even if it was the same situation," he said. "I know there's still a lot of things I could learn."
Clearly it will take time for NBA teams to figure just how to use this new tool.
"There's some schools that think you'd rather keep them (in the NBA) and work them out yourself," Rivers said. "That's where I think we're just going to have to wait and see how it all works out."
Adam Thompson can be reached at 303-820- 5447 or [email protected].