The G League is now providing a viable, albeit non-traditional path to the NBA
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A NEW PATH: The NCAA may have seen its unabated pathway to signing elite basketball prospects cluttered this week when potential 2021 No. 1 overall pick Jalen Green and fellow class of 2020 five-star recruit Isaiah Todd announced they'd be headed to the G League next season, as opposed to taking the college basketball route so many other elite high-school players historically go for.
The motivations of the two young men were simple: The G League is offering them a base salary of roughly around $500,000, plus the ability to earn over a $1 million total with other endorsements, appearances and even college tuition, so they can eventually complete their education if they so choose.
With a package that enticing, it's hard not to see this as just the tipping point, one that could lead to various other elite prospects bypassing college basketball for the G League. At the same time, there's still the allure of playing for a top-notch NCAA program to factor in, along with the fact that – if we can stop being naive here – the dirty business of college basketball means a lot of these prospects are already making a lot of money for signing with certain schools, even if it may not be totally clean.
Regardless, the NBA stepping up and providing another avenue for prep players to make the jump to the big leagues can only be seen as a positive development for the kids, even if it mostly ends up impacting just the players like LaMelo Ball and RJ Hampton who are either ineligible or want to take a non-traditional route to the NBA.
CORONA UPDATES: League commissioner Adam Silver took questions from the press again yesterday and basically said what he did the last time he spoke to the media: He doesn't have any concrete answers yet as far as whether the 2019-20 campaign will be resumed or not. It's those unknowns that NBA agents tell us make this whole situation so frightening.
We did learn from Silver that more players have tested positive for coronavirus than the seven who were reported on already, though the league plans to keep those names private.
DRAFT WATCH: Prospects continue declaring for the 2020 NBA Draft amid the uncertainty that surrounds the basketball world right now, including projected lottery picks Cole Anthony and Deni Avdija.
Speaking of the 2020 draft, Duke prospect Cassius Stanley recently did an interview with our own Bryan Kalbrosky. Stanley said his main goal is to be the future NBA commission, a pretty admirable dream to possess.
DRAMA IN UTAH: Though Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert reportedly spoke recently in an effort to move past their coronavirus-related tiff, people within the Jazz organization still feel there's a "significant issue" there. Could it lead to Utah having to choose between one of their two All-Stars?
FREE AGENT DOWN? Rodney Hood was well on his way to playing himself into a nice little payday this offseason before he blew out his Achilles. Hood has a player option on his deal this summer and judging by his recent comments, it looks like he could be sticking around in Portland for at least another season.
OBVIOUS OUTCOME: In the least shocking bit of news ever, league officials believe Anthony Davis will re-sign with the Lakers this summer.
END OF THE ROAD: Eight-year NBA veteran power forward Trevor Booker announced his retirement this week. Booker was never a star, but he deserves credit for carving out a nice career despite being an undersized power forward without three-point touch.
GOAT STATUS: With the much-anticipated Michael Jordan documentary coming up, we decided to go back and look at the all-time great's playoff career to see how he fared against every opponent he met in the postseason. Spoiler alert: He dominated against all of them.
We also broke down how many points Jordan averaged when he faced off against various NBA legends.
OWNER RANKINGS: We ranked every NBA owner by their win percentage since they took over their teams. The dude who comes in at No. 1 is absolutely shocking.
TRAGIC LOSS: The NBA world was shaken this week when we found out Karl-Anthony Towns' mother Jacqueline Towns had passed away after a long fight with coronavirus. USA Today's Larry Berger, who spent over a year with the Towns family when the All-Star was still in high school, wrote about what made her such a special person here.
FRESH PODS: Our own Alex Kennedy was recently joined by The Athletic's Ethan Strauss to discuss his fascinating upcoming book, "The Victory Machine: The Making and Unmaking of the Warriors Dynasty". The stories in there should be wild.
Kennedy also spoke to Knicks point guard Elfrid Payton about a variety of topics, including what playing in New York City is like and how he's staying in shape amid the season suspension.