A club made up of American prospects in Euroleague?

[Limguogolo]

In view of the possible and future difficulties of the American men's teams during international compe ions, would it not be in the interest of Team USA and the NBA to create an Euroleague club? This will offer the experience to around fifteen of the best American prospects previously drafted in a tough championship, playing under FIBA ​​rules during a season.

Some of the best American prospects have already played at youth level in FIBA ​​compe ions, but the level in Euroleague is even tougher and more specific, like the basketball played in FIBA international compe ions.

In a context where American players have not won the MVP le for years, it would be idiotic for the NBA and Team USA, jointly, to think about implementing innovative measures to confirm the domination of US basketball in the world.

A long time ago, Brandon Jennings chose to spend a year in Europe instead of finishing his NCAA years, believing that he would gain more experience against adults. The best female American players often came to Europe in addition to their WNBA season because the contracts there were interesting for her. And accordingly, their knowledge of the FIBA ​​game was always much better than that of their male alter ego.

On the other hand, Team USA never involved American Euroleague players believing that the level of NBA stars should be sufficient to win medals.

We saw also that during these Olympic Games, many American NBA players did not understand the refereeing decisions, the staff even sometimes showed signs of arrogance regarding certain decisions. Players frequently spent their time calling for fouls. Either they don't know the rules well, or it's a sign that they lack a FIBA ​​game culture, known to be rougher than the more permissive NBA game. Having a year in Euroleague for future generations would help them gain this experience. We saw this in particular, for example, in defense: all the teams in the tournament had strategies of attacking guards, it's a typical Euroleague game, but Team USA has never used this option; the same goes for the intentional fouls with the aim of stopping rapid plays.

However, with the end of the “Avergers” generation, we are already talking about greater difficulty for Team USA to win in future international compe ions. In this context, knowing that many prospects come too early in the NBA with limited playing time, would it not be in the NBA's interest to see its best prospects evolve for a year in Euroleague?

Next year in Euroleague, a club in Dubai will be created from nothing. Dubai is not even in Europe. If the NBA and Team USA put in enough money, nothing prohibits the possibility of such a club. Would you find this necessary, and if so under what conditions?

Quite often, clubs in a domestic league have a maximum number of American players, but I don't seem to have any restrictions for Euroleague. Team USA and the NBA could thus (in theory) create a team composed solely of young American players from the previous draft.

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We could imagine similar rules for the NBA with the G-League, but more for two-way contracts, for American players in the first and second round of the draft. It's hard to imagine the players' union agreeing to a full year in Europe for its future stars, but something like three mandatory months spent at this club with the possibility of being selected for the All Star game in February would seem reasonable.

Three months to discover participating in first confrontations with some of the best clubs in Europe, this can already serve as good experiences so that future players of Team USA do not arrive completely helpless during their first FIBA ​​compe ion. And depending on the needs or availability in the franchises, some could leave a player for a full year in Euroleague.

If players return during the season to join the NBA roster, this would free up a place for the roster of this Euroleague team. It would then be the order of the draft, which would decide which franchise would have the right to send a new player. Over a year, you can have around thirty American players from the two draft rounds who would gain experience not by going through games in the NBA or G-league, but in Euroleague.

This could even reveal new strategies during the draft: choosing an American player who will be sent to Europe or another who perhaps already has Euroleague experience.

We saw that the creation of the Ignite in the G-League had not been a great success. Perhaps the solution for the development of American players would be to send them to Europe…

[Pauleta14]

In therory I like the idea, it makes a lot of sense.

I see mostly a cultural opposition to this idea bc of the importance of College basketball (especially with the recent NIL "revolution" that allows the best propects to make more money that they would in europe)

Also the fact that an experience with FIBA rules would only benefit an extreme minority that could end up being selected by USNT

I don't see that happening

(Not even talking about the diff regulations among euro countries, taxes disparities etc that would make it a nightmare to put in place)

[exstatic]

How much would a European team pay a raw undeveloped prospect? A two way contract is $578K per year.

[Allan Rowe vs Wade]

they should do this and then ban nba players from competing in olympics

then we'll see how 'globally compe ive' basketball is

[Limguogolo]

This would not change anything a priori in the NCAA compe ions. The players would be drafted and if the franchises wish they will send their player to Europe. 15 players are needed, and the roster would be evolving, but unlike two-way contracts, once recalled, the player would remain in his franchise. It would be unlikely that this would affect more than a third of the players drafted.

Concerning contracts, unless Euroleague soon imposes a salary cap, it would be the current rookie salaries which would be taken into account. If we estimate that there are at least three mandatory months for lottery picks, with 15 players, over the entire year, this leaves relatively few places for those drafted in the second round to go to Europe (they would continue to go to the G-League). The idea is to bring FIBA/Euroleague experience to the best American players, not average ones.

We can imagine a base in London or Paris.

But I suppose that before coming to imagine such improbable measures, Team USA will have to find difficulties in the future, which remains to be proven.

[Mal]

How much would a European team pay a raw undeveloped prospect? A two way contract is $578K per year.

Not even close to that, Paul Scruggs fresh out of Xavier, first season is Europe, made 40-45k in polish league.
Established vet Geoffrey Grosselle is making 250k.

Polish league is bad overall, but many players made jump from here.

[CGD]

It seems like an incredibly smart business opportunity for a euro team to be an “incubator” for a bunch of second round picks. Develop them, and sell them back at higher prices (via the buyout tool) to NBA teams (or bigger euro club). This is pretty much the whole point of the Dutch soccer league.

On the player side, all it takes is for a few higher profile guys to talk about how awesome Paris, Barcelona, Rome are. Reverse MLS. And, if some European countries would stop with the racial slurs at games, that would help a lot too.

[scott]

I like this idea, though I'd prefer it be more like the G-League Ignite team, filled with draft prospects. I wouldn't expect them to be winning (or even be all that compe ive) in EuroLeague, but it would be much more valuable experience than the Ignite was. It would need a real coach who ran a real professional organization though - not the Ignite hero ball structure. I would have imagined Holland, Buzelis and Tyler Smith being much more flushed out and valuable prospects going this route.

[exstatic]

I like this idea, though I'd prefer it be more like the G-League Ignite team, filled with draft prospects. I wouldn't expect them to be winning (or even be all that compe ive) in EuroLeague, but it would be much more valuable experience than the Ignite was. It would need a real coach who ran a real professional organization though - not the Ignite hero ball structure. I would have imagined Holland, Buzelis and Tyler Smith being much more flushed out and valuable prospects going this route.

The gleague ignite went 2-22 last year against gleaguers. This team wouldn’t win a game in the EuroLeague, and probably not in Euro cup. If it’s a development project, put it in a lower level league more suitable to teaching.

[Limguogolo]

There are still quite a few strange consequences of seeing such a team develop. Which coach to put in place could indeed pose a problem. The franchises would necessarily want to dictate a predefined playing time or an orientation in the development of their player(s). But agreeing to completely deliver a highly drafted player at least for three months, if everyone recognizes that this would ultimately benefit Team USA in international compe ions, we can always dream that the franchises agree to let a coach manage their “prospect” for a few months.

We could even say that to follow through with the logic of immersion, it is necessary to take a European coach and for there to be a real desire to win matches. At least, at the start of the compe ion, because if we imagine that the best prospects quickly join their franchise before the All Star Game, the team would hypothetically weaken when the compe ion is most intense. Or maybe not... if we believe that the least prominent prospects have the ambition to prove their value in the Euroleague to ensure a better return to their franchise. Having a compe ive team that isn't solely focused on player development would also help to see an audience travel to see the games. The goal is to learn how to play the FIBA ​​game, so it wouldn't make sense to use the team as a development league.

One likely positive effect would be these American prospects learning to play together and getting to know each other. We are far from the rivalries between players in the 80s, all the players are relatively close today, but participating, at least for the same generation, in such an experience could build profitable relationships for Team USA.

There remains one detail that is not necessarily so trivial. The Euroleague is not quite a FIBA ​​compe ion. Some rules differ slightly, and above all the referees are much better than in international FIBA ​​compe ion. (But after all, learning to adapt to a type of referees can be part of the learning…)

[exstatic]

The change needs to happen long before the pre-draft year or years. The entire AAU system needs to be scrapped and replaced by something much more organized.

[Limguogolo]

If the amateur model is based on the same principles as amateur sport in England, that is not a good sign. The limits of a very liberal system where “federal” authorities in sport are non-existent because they lack public aid, perhaps. In France, it seems to me that 0.8% of GDP is used for sports policy. Federations often have more weight than clubs in largely amateur sports. Only in football is it a business (and again, the French football federation has a certain weight, but we are talking about a sport where the major compe ion is a compe ion between nations, which could explain this).