Should the NBDL expand?

[Cable]

This has probably been discussed before, but anyway ...

Should the NBDL expand to include a 'farm team' for each NBA team? I'd love to see it like the NHL or MLB where a team can send players back and forth with minimal or no effort. That way players can have more time to develop, or recover from injuries. The other thing I thought was that if this happens, they should expand the draft to maybe 4 or 5 rounds. What do you guys think, good idea or bad idea?

Another reason to expand could be revenue or popularity. Maybe put a team in OKC or Vancouver. It works elsewhere; a city not really big enough or with enough support to have an NBA team, but a minor league team does really well. I don't know the attendance figures of the existing NBDL teams, but I think they're in places like that where an NBA team would do poorly but a minor league team prospers. There's loads of cities that could support a minor league team where they could make a profit. On top of that, minor league teams can become a city's main focus; and example is the OHL (Ontario Hockey League), kind of like the minor-minor league for the NHL. People in OHL cities love their teams, and if they grow up watching them, most times they'll have season-tickets to the games. Maybe move the Hawks away and replace them with an NBDL team?

EDIT: Added my second paragraph.

[Jing]

hm i would like to see something like this expand.

[Buckley]

itd be nice, but keep the draft the same. i dont want an 8 hour draft.

[Andrew]

Disagree as far as the draft is concerned. Back in the day when they had 8, 10 rounds, it just meant a bunch of players who never made the league. So many second rounders don't get much of a chance as it is anyway. An expanded D-League offers another route to the NBA anyway, so expanding the draft wouldn't be necessary.

If it's feasible to do so, I think the NBA should expand the D-League and it would seem that giving each NBA franchise a farm team is on David Stern's agenda; at least, it's been suggested a few times. It gives aspiring basketball players the opportunity to experience a professional league while giving them a more direct opportunity of being called up to the NBA, more teams means more opportunities for more players and the NBA teams can benefit from it as well. No reason not to, unless it's financially unfeasible.

[Cable]

Disagree as far as the draft is concerned. Back in the day when they had 8, 10 rounds, it just meant a bunch of players who never made the league. So many second rounders don't get much of a chance as it is anyway. An expanded D-League offers another route to the NBA anyway, so expanding the draft wouldn't be necessary.

Well, the way the NHL or MLB works is the pro team will draft a player and then send him to the minors until he's ready to contribute. I guess there's two ways to go on that, either draft them into your system (and this puts pressure on the GMs to make good draft choices for the future), or sign them afterwards to your team. Personally, I like drafting them, probably because that's what I'm used to.

[Andrew]

That's true, having that larger minor league does open up more opportunities for players drafted late. But historically it's meant a whole host of players who just aren't good enough for the league. If the draft was to expand, I think one additional round would be sufficient.

[Abctest123]

what has been said by both of you, Cable Guy and Andrew are very true. one point i like to bring up is that for a basketball team, there are only 15 players on the roster compared to a NHL or MLB team. Therefore, increasing the number of rounds in the draft would not be a good idea.

[Andrew]

That's why I think expanding past three rounds (if the draft was to extend at all, which isn't necessary just yet) would be fruitless and lengthen the proceedings unnecessarily. With so many second rounders being longshots to make the NBA and/or warming the bench, there's little hope for someone going past a third round. There is the pride of being drafted but since their route to the league is through undrafted free agency/the D-League it's not a necessary step. Plus there's the issue of teams then holding their draft rights. If a player misses the draft, he's free to try his luck with any team in the league.

[Jing]

yea i was just thinking about that, if there were more teams, who would fill them? yeah. i guess they could try to drive out the cba or aba.. but i dont think the nba would wanna be assoicated with those assocations.

[Fresh8]

A minor league would be a decent idea with players on the IR Plus others on contract with a team playing... However, I'm not sure that would work financially... maybe games could be played as curtain raisers?

[Laxation]

in AFL football, each team has another team in the VFL (victorian league)
they are able to choose players at will from the VFL, and it basically allows them to develope younger players and have backups because of injury.

Something like this could be implemented in Basketball, but a major difference is the fact a basketball bench obviously consists of 11 players, with only 5 on court. in AFL there is 18 players on the field, with only 4 on the bench.

IF AFL had 36 players on the bench (about the same ratio) it would not only give no need for the second team, but would mean ALOT of players dont get to play at all.

Since in basketball there is such a relatively big bench (seems to work well, considering) it wouldnt make sence to have a separate team in the NBDL for each team in the NBA for the 3 players on the IR list, and getting more players on the team for the sole purpose of having an NBDL team seems ridiculous, as they will be highly unlikely to ever be good enough to play in the NBA.

[Fresh8]

Having 8 man rosters for NBDL teams? Choosing players they want to develop?

[cklitsie]

This'd be awesome really. Many more kids would realize their dreams by making a pro league.
I'd LOOOVE to play in the NBDL without ever making it onto an NBA roster.

[peaches]

Sarcasm again..?

[cklitsie]

Not really actually, the NBDL is awesome IMO.

[Cable]

I think some of you guys are missing the point that a minor-league team can be just as popular as an NBA team. I'll bring up the hockey thing again; a farm team for the pros in a smaller market (basketball-wise, maybe Kansas City) can become a city's passion. City's that can't support a pro team could maybe support a minor league team financially and they would have a large enough fan-base. The current NBDL teams are good examples, they get fairly good attendance and I assume are popular in their hometown.

Second issue, I definately think they would expand the draft, though how much, I'm not sure.

Since in basketball there is such a relatively big bench (seems to work well, considering) it wouldnt make sence to have a separate team in the NBDL for each team in the NBA for the 3 players on the IR list, and getting more players on the team for the sole purpose of having an NBDL team seems ridiculous, as they will be highly unlikely to ever be good enough to play in the NBA.

I don't agree. Look at hockey, they have 6 players out at a time and 13 (+ whoever's sitting out) on the bench, and they have many minor leagues. The minors are a great way to develop players so they could play pro, and it gives the players a better chance to make the pros too. Currently, if they don't get drafted, they go play in Europe or another league and hope next year they will make the NBA. If they could sign with a team and play in the minors, they have a chance to get called up at any point during the season (kind of like a 10-day contract) and make a good impression on the coaches. Like CK said, I'd love to play in the NBDL because I'd be that much closer to the NBA than if I was in Europe.

The bonus to having a farm team is that you can use it as a recovery system. Say, Phoenix could send Amare down to the minors for a couple games to get back up to full strength, then call him up when he's ready. I see a lot of positive things that come from a minor-league system.

[Andrew]

That's a good point too, whether you should change the rules for the D-League should it expand to a farm/minor league with all 30 NBA teams represented by one D-League club. As it stands today, Amare would be ineligible.

The question is, would it really be appropriate to send an All-Star calibre player to the D-League? I see what you're saying about having a recovery system but he'd obviously be the undisputed star of the Suns' D-League affiliate, demanding minutes and touches that could go to young players who are trying to crack the big time.

[Cable]

I see what you're saying about having a recovery system but he'd obviously be the undisputed star of the Suns' D-League affiliate, demanding minutes and touches that could go to young players who are trying to crack the big time.

I guess that could happen, but from experience watching the NHL or MLB, the star player will go down to the minors and play a few games, but he wouldn't be playing major minutes. It'd be like a transition period; he needs court time to get back into a rhythm, but the pro team doesn't have to spare those minutes and can keep going ahead at full steam with a player who, at this point, can contribute more than the recovering star, and the star can get his 'groove' back.

The perfect example is what happened to Amare. With a minor league team he could have slowly got playing again in a real game, but in a game where those minutes aren't needed to make a playoff push or something. It also probably would have saved him from re-injury; the Suns wouldn't have brought him back until he was in top shape, and they could have kept their momentum and not gone into a slump trying to ease Amare back.

[Andrew]

But either way, he's seeing action in a professional basketball game. The level of play is unquestionably higher in the NBA but whether he's playing 15 minutes in the NBA or 15 minutes in the D-League, he's still out there playing basketball risking re-injury and putting strain on an area that hasn't fully healed. The grind might be a bit easier given the level of play in the D-League compared to the NBA but he's still subjecting himself to the same risks, even if the intensity isn't the same.

[Cable]

Yes, but he could play at 80% in the D-League and not hamper his team's chemistty or play-off run. Do you think Amare at 100% and fully back to normal would have caused the Suns to drop 2 in a row? There's always risks, but there's more risks if he recovers in the NBA compared to the minors.

[Andrew]

He could also continue to sit out, not hampering the Suns' chemistry/playoff run and preventing the risk of re-injury as well. That would be the safest option of all. Personally I don't think his presence alone is responsible for the Suns dropping two in a row, he's played sparingly and Nash struggled in the Nets game as well. He has to return to the Suns at some point. If that's before the playoffs this year, the fewer games they play together before the postseason the worse off they are, so there's no real reason to send him to the minors (if indeed it were possible).

[Blacknack]

The system of having minor teams is also used in Europe in soccer or basketball and it was created before here than in the USA. Only players younger than 24 can play on that teams, which are managed by the clubs. This players are allowed to play with 1st and 2nd team. Sometimes the minor teams have older players, but they can't play with 1st team. If somebody has FIFA 06 can play with Real Madrid and 2nd division team Real Madrid Castilla or with Málaga CF and Málaga CF "B" (2nd Team).

The other thing are cities. I think is better to put D-League teams in the biggest cities without NBA franchises because I'm sure that Stern won't allow until one or two teams, no more. So it would be interesting to put teams on cities like Las Vegas, Vancouver, Cincinatti, St. Louis, Kansas City, San Jose, San Diego, San Francisco, Baltimore, Buffalo, Columbus, Oklahoma... What do you think about this?

[Buckley]

Theres been news about high schoolers being eligible to play in the d-league....

however, i would believe most of them would take the route to college....