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The NBA is attempting to make the G-League a more attractive option for players to join.
That includes players who are ready to come straight out of high school and attempt to make a living in the G-League. That will become easier next season, as the G-League is getting a salary bump.
According to the New York Times, the G-League is giving players an annual pay bump to $35,000.
Effective next season, players signed to G-League contracts will earn $35,000 — or $7,000 per month — in addition to housing and insurance benefits over the course of the league’s five-month regular season, according to the people, who were not authorized to discuss the plans before they are announced publicly.
Players under G-League contracts previously earned either $26,000 or $19,000. The increase will represent a pay raise of 35 percent or 84 percent, depending on the player’s classification.
I don’t know about you, but an extra $9,000 per year sounds like pennies at Louisville is a nice chunk of change for someone that has never made a real living. Most high school athletes don’t have jobs or have very minimum-paying jobs. A lot of them also come from rough upbringings that have then needing money ASAP.
Getting as much as $35,000 from the G-League right away is going to make it a little more intriguing for players who want to go straight there and skip college, ala Darius Bazley.
This will also make it easier for fringe NBA prospects in college to make the jump to the pros, especially with an incentive for players that get training camp invites.
Players also will remain eligible to earn affiliate player bonuses worth as much as $50,000, which are triggered when a player goes to training camp with an NBA team and then plays for that team’s G-League affiliate.
So that’s around $85,000 a player could earn, in theory, if he makes an NBA training camp and then spends the season with said team’s G-League squad.
Not bad.