The NBA Just Took A Massive Step To Eliminate The One And Done With This New 'Professional Path'

[ESPN] - As part of a newly formed “professional path” starting in the summer of 2019, the G League will offer “Select Contracts” worth $125,000 to elite prospects who are at least 18 years old but not yet eligible for the NBA draft. It will target recent or would-be high school graduates who otherwise would have likely spent just one season playing college basketball, enticing them not only with a six-figure salary but also the opportunity to benefit from NBA infrastructure, as well as a bevy of off-court development programs “geared towards facilitating and accelerating their transition to the pro game,” Turner said.

Uh, holy shit, this is some major news. We’re looking at a $125,000 option to stay home and play professional ball instead of going the college route. That’s absolutely massive. And it’s massive for a few reasons.

First, you have the obvious step of eliminating the one and done. This has been in the works for quite some time with the NBA likely changing their rule for the 2021 Draft. But, what we didn’t know is this new professional path to the G League. If that happens, you’re going to see a massive shift in college hoops. It’s one thing to just open up the idea for the direct entry to the NBA Draft. But, now to make $125,000 and play in the G League for a year? That’s something completely different and now a direct competitor to college hoops.

Speaking of college hoops, this changes the way we could look at college ball. Think about it for a second. Players are going to decide between playing in the G League for $125,000 where games aren’t really televised vs playing on national television 30 times a game for schools like Kentucky, Duke, Kansas, etc. It will likely change how people talk about whether or not these kids are being exploited. Right now they most certainly are. But, now with a $125,000 option it’s a way to say you either value college hoops more than that or you aren’t good enough to be paid $125,000. That’s a huge shift in how we view the sport.

We’ll see what happens when this goes into effect and how many kids decide to go this route. It’s a huge step though and this will be the reason the NCAA changes. The move to just eliminating the one-and-done wasn’t going to do that. We saw college hoops without the one-and-done. We know that world. We don’t know this world.

Again, this is absolutely important and one of the biggest changes we’ll see relative to college hoops.