Jalen Green and Isaiah Todd only just became the first two amateur athletes to make the leap to the G League by signing new-and-improved Select Contracts, and already, the NBA is thinking about ways to maximize the concept.
Marc Stein of the New York Times reported on Wednesday morning that “the NBA has long-range hopes of growing” the Select Team into a full division within the G League that would pit multiple teams made up of Select Contract players against one another.
As Stein acknowledges, much of the potential for such a setup would be determined by how the project goes in year one with Green and Todd.
One unknown variable: How close (or, rather, far away) the NBA is from ridding itself of the one-and-done rule. Another: Finding enough G-League veterans interested in launching their pro coaching/personnel careers by filling out these rosters in mentoring roles
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) April 22, 2020
Another concern would be finding enough G League lifers to fill out these rosters, understanding their job would be much different than most G League players. Well-traveled hoops veterans like Jarrett Jack still dot the league, and it wouldn’t be hard to imagine guys like that taking on mentorship roles, provided their compensation was still the same despite the Select Team playing a reduced schedule. At the same time, the opportunity may even be more appealing to certain players who see it as a chance to be in the spotlight far more than they otherwise would.
Before the NBA can even think long-term, though, it still has to figure out what the Select Team’s schedule will look like, who the team will compete against, where they will play and train, who will coach the team, and who will fill out the roster alongside Green and Todd. But if this all works out, the NBA appears to have some lofty aspirations for what this experiment could become.
