Turning D-League affiliates into an Academy?

[apalisoc_9]

Was just thinking about how some of these great soccer ball clubs operate in terms of player development. Basically, the teams with consistent great youth teams thrive. Obviously rich teams will always have the better facilities, better coaches etc to develop their younger player.

Right now, it's extremely easy to sign a player from any D-league team.

But Imagine if these D-League affiliates offer better pay. Say maybe 100k a year. They dont get paid in college....

Would be a great way to seperate great organization from poor ones. Should eliminate tanking...but obviously the draft too.

[FkLA]

It would eliminate parity, imo. What are the chances kids from large metro areas go to OKC or Minny's academy? The Lakers would have probably had guys like Westbrook, Harden, PG13, Kawhi, Klaynus, Derozan, Love, Chandler on their team at some point under that format.

[spurraider21]

as if there's parity on poorball :lol... look at the spanish league every year

[SpursforSix]

I don't think I will care about this no matter what.

[midnightpulp]

I've been saying for years that the NBA needs to institute a farm system, with multiple lower levels before the big show. Too many kids are drafted on "potential" and then never properly developed because NBA teams simply don't have the time to focus on one player. A proper farm system would actually increase parity and make tanking almost obsolete. With a proper farm system, every team would have a "number 1 pick" level player coming each year. The Spurs have operated a pseudo-farm system for years in the form of draft and stash, and have thus remained contenders for 20 years straight.

D-League is kind of a joke, though. It's glorified AAU, with no defense and 150-140 scorelines.

[Seventyniner]

D-League is kind of a joke, though. It's glorified AAU, with no defense and 150-140 scorelines.

It's a bit better than that. The Rockets used their D-League team as a laboratory for their "only threes, layups, and FTs" offense. However crazy the Rockets' shot selection looks, the Vipers' was even more unbalanced.

The D-League also helped Quin Snyder rehabilitate his career.

I agree that the NBA needs a full minor league system. It would reward smart and forward-thinking FOs even more, and penalize knee-jerk reactions and tanking.