Thoughts on the European "Vacation."
With all of the recent NBA emigration, one has to ask what kind of impact this trend will have on the future of the league.
David Stern and the rest of the mainstream have been quick to dismiss the growing number of mid-level NBA and NCAA talent leaving for Europe, but there is certainly relevant information and warning signs that they are either consciously or unconsciously ignoring.
Looking at the list of NBA players who chose the European basketball during this free-agency period, there is one common thread.
Josh Childress, Jannero Pargo, Carlos Delfino, Earl Boykins, Juan Carlos Navarro, Carlos Arroyo, Dan Dickau, Bostjan Nachbar, Taurean Green.
All of these players are versatile perimeter players in some capacity with basketball IQ. They’re solid NBA starters at best and solid bench players at worst. And, the simple reality is that without such players, the NBA fails to function. The San Antonio Spurs, Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, and most NBA Championship rosters rely on roleplayers.
This is where the problem arises. Despite the immense value of these players, the nature of the NBA salary cap system makes it very difficult for teams to pay players the money that they believe that they deserve. The salary cap benefits a star system that a majority of roleplayers are not a part of and rarely get the opportunity to experience. Sizeable contracts or even full mid-level exceptions were not available to Josh Childress and so he went to a team that could pay him a full salary. That team just happened to be Olympiacos in Greece.
Is Ben Gordon making an empty threat when he says that he’d rather sign overseas than a qualifying offer with the Bulls? Considering the overseas success of American coached combo-guards such as Will Solomon, Will Bynum, and Sarunas Jasikevicius, Gordon has the potential to be a tremendous player in Europe. He is the ideal for most European rosters and he will likely see a larger contract than he would in the NBA. Because he has played successfully in the NBA, GMs know how well he is capable of playing and his stock should not drop during his time away.
Aside from the brand name that the NBA brings to the table, what does a 6’3 trigger happy combo-guard like Gordon have to lose by going to Europe?
People will surely argue that such players are easily replaceable and that the NBA will always have access to mid-level players. They will also say that while these established veterans are exceptions to the rule and that young players will never follow suite.
But, the facts suggest otherwise.
Earlier this summer Arizona recruit Brandon Jennings decided to forgo college and spend a year in Europe before he entered the NBA draft. Whether or not this was a good decision is not the point. In past year’s, players who could not qualify for the NCAA colleges spent a year or two at prep schools or junior colleges. But, Jennings’s decision suggests that Europe is becoming a legitimate option.
Then, last year, junior-college star Keith Brumbaugh, who was a one-time Oklahoma State recruit and NBA prospect, decided against conventional wisdom to declare for the NBA draft. When he went undrafted, rather than exploit the draft loophole and go to college as an unrestricted free-agent, he bolted overseas. He spurned the NCAA system for a paycheck and a European pedigree.
More recently, Arkansas sophomore guard Patrick Beverly, who is considered to be a potential NBA prospect, was suspended from his team for a season. He immediately decided to hire an agent and pursue options overseas. In the press release, Beverly stated that he would enter the NBA Draft next year.
While some people will still stand by their dogma that the NBA is the be-all and end-all of the universe, there are a lot of young players who do not think similarly. Young players will begin looking elsewhere for greater contracts, more playing time, and a level of respect that simply does not exist while playing in the NCAA, NBDL, or sitting at the end of an NBA bench.
Whether for rookies or for veterans, a certain reality has emerged pertaining to the NBA. The NBA is no longer an attainable dream for most players. The goal is to make a living playing basketball and more importantly, as entrepreneurs such as LeBron James and Kobe Bryant have taught us, to make a business out of your basketball abilities.
The dream has expanded past the bounds of the NBA. After all, Willie Solomon and Will Bynum were the toast of European basketball. Now, as they’ll find out and basketball enthusiasts will surely witness, they will be roleplayers. International basketball will become a legitimate option because players are beginning to understand the limitations of the NBA or bust mentality and how limited of a future it provides for a majority of players.
The NBA dream has reached its tipping point and there is a strange ethical struggle occurring between two groups of people. The first are the xenophobes of the basketball world who believe that the NBA and NBDL are actually superior in a moral sense as well as a matter of talent. People who prescribe to this group are likely to support any form of domestic basketball from the NBDL to the CBA to the ABA as preferable alternatives to international leagues. A recent college graduate or a high school phenomenon that cannot make grades should stay local, in the eyes of such supposed purists.
But, if there is anything that enthusiasts can learn from recent trends, it is simply that more and more young players are realizing the following statement: “It’s not as if the D-League pays players enough to raise a family.” This second group of basketball mind realizes the limitations of the NBA dream and it’s side-effects: the monopolization of NBA as the only mainstream brand of professional basketball, the destruction of amateur and college basketball, and the corruption of basketball culture and its outlying influences.
This new trend signals a sort of revolution comparable, at least on one level, to politics. Before the age-limit was instituted, the NBA was a two party democracy. High school-aged players and college players were granted admission and international players could sneak in like Ross Perot or Ralph Nader and spoil the party for the big candidates. Once the age limit was established, however, the NBA became a dictatorship, with only one party and one option. Just like that, the dream seemed to be dead. Recent drafts have seen a growing frequency of “experienced” players, and ultimately have condemned the “wait and see” philosophy that made the draft so interesting in the first place.
The reality of the situation is that there is a sense of reality to this situation. There is clearly a desire amongst the mid-level talent in the NBA to play where they will be respected in playing time, contract money, and as human beings. The NBA is quickly becoming a hostile environment for such players and as international economics continue to favor lucrative and untaxed European contracts, it will always be an option for NBA players. The interesting situation that may arise, though, is definitely the possibility that the mid-level emigrants will influence the domestic market to the point where the basketball economy will be more international than ever before and the right to emigrate and immigrate are held to the same standard.
It seems as though it is only a matter of time. Or, it might just be a trend. You decide. We've made our decision.
David Stern and the rest of the mainstream have been quick to dismiss the growing number of mid-level NBA and NCAA talent leaving for Europe, but there is certainly relevant information and warning signs that they are either consciously or unconsciously ignoring.
Looking at the list of NBA players who chose the European basketball during this free-agency period, there is one common thread.
Josh Childress, Jannero Pargo, Carlos Delfino, Earl Boykins, Juan Carlos Navarro, Carlos Arroyo, Dan Dickau, Bostjan Nachbar, Taurean Green.
All of these players are versatile perimeter players in some capacity with basketball IQ. They’re solid NBA starters at best and solid bench players at worst. And, the simple reality is that without such players, the NBA fails to function. The San Antonio Spurs, Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, and most NBA Championship rosters rely on roleplayers.
This is where the problem arises. Despite the immense value of these players, the nature of the NBA salary cap system makes it very difficult for teams to pay players the money that they believe that they deserve. The salary cap benefits a star system that a majority of roleplayers are not a part of and rarely get the opportunity to experience. Sizeable contracts or even full mid-level exceptions were not available to Josh Childress and so he went to a team that could pay him a full salary. That team just happened to be Olympiacos in Greece.
Is Ben Gordon making an empty threat when he says that he’d rather sign overseas than a qualifying offer with the Bulls? Considering the overseas success of American coached combo-guards such as Will Solomon, Will Bynum, and Sarunas Jasikevicius, Gordon has the potential to be a tremendous player in Europe. He is the ideal for most European rosters and he will likely see a larger contract than he would in the NBA. Because he has played successfully in the NBA, GMs know how well he is capable of playing and his stock should not drop during his time away.
Aside from the brand name that the NBA brings to the table, what does a 6’3 trigger happy combo-guard like Gordon have to lose by going to Europe?
People will surely argue that such players are easily replaceable and that the NBA will always have access to mid-level players. They will also say that while these established veterans are exceptions to the rule and that young players will never follow suite.
But, the facts suggest otherwise.
Earlier this summer Arizona recruit Brandon Jennings decided to forgo college and spend a year in Europe before he entered the NBA draft. Whether or not this was a good decision is not the point. In past year’s, players who could not qualify for the NCAA colleges spent a year or two at prep schools or junior colleges. But, Jennings’s decision suggests that Europe is becoming a legitimate option.
Then, last year, junior-college star Keith Brumbaugh, who was a one-time Oklahoma State recruit and NBA prospect, decided against conventional wisdom to declare for the NBA draft. When he went undrafted, rather than exploit the draft loophole and go to college as an unrestricted free-agent, he bolted overseas. He spurned the NCAA system for a paycheck and a European pedigree.
More recently, Arkansas sophomore guard Patrick Beverly, who is considered to be a potential NBA prospect, was suspended from his team for a season. He immediately decided to hire an agent and pursue options overseas. In the press release, Beverly stated that he would enter the NBA Draft next year.
While some people will still stand by their dogma that the NBA is the be-all and end-all of the universe, there are a lot of young players who do not think similarly. Young players will begin looking elsewhere for greater contracts, more playing time, and a level of respect that simply does not exist while playing in the NCAA, NBDL, or sitting at the end of an NBA bench.
Whether for rookies or for veterans, a certain reality has emerged pertaining to the NBA. The NBA is no longer an attainable dream for most players. The goal is to make a living playing basketball and more importantly, as entrepreneurs such as LeBron James and Kobe Bryant have taught us, to make a business out of your basketball abilities.
The dream has expanded past the bounds of the NBA. After all, Willie Solomon and Will Bynum were the toast of European basketball. Now, as they’ll find out and basketball enthusiasts will surely witness, they will be roleplayers. International basketball will become a legitimate option because players are beginning to understand the limitations of the NBA or bust mentality and how limited of a future it provides for a majority of players.
The NBA dream has reached its tipping point and there is a strange ethical struggle occurring between two groups of people. The first are the xenophobes of the basketball world who believe that the NBA and NBDL are actually superior in a moral sense as well as a matter of talent. People who prescribe to this group are likely to support any form of domestic basketball from the NBDL to the CBA to the ABA as preferable alternatives to international leagues. A recent college graduate or a high school phenomenon that cannot make grades should stay local, in the eyes of such supposed purists.
But, if there is anything that enthusiasts can learn from recent trends, it is simply that more and more young players are realizing the following statement: “It’s not as if the D-League pays players enough to raise a family.” This second group of basketball mind realizes the limitations of the NBA dream and it’s side-effects: the monopolization of NBA as the only mainstream brand of professional basketball, the destruction of amateur and college basketball, and the corruption of basketball culture and its outlying influences.
This new trend signals a sort of revolution comparable, at least on one level, to politics. Before the age-limit was instituted, the NBA was a two party democracy. High school-aged players and college players were granted admission and international players could sneak in like Ross Perot or Ralph Nader and spoil the party for the big candidates. Once the age limit was established, however, the NBA became a dictatorship, with only one party and one option. Just like that, the dream seemed to be dead. Recent drafts have seen a growing frequency of “experienced” players, and ultimately have condemned the “wait and see” philosophy that made the draft so interesting in the first place.
The reality of the situation is that there is a sense of reality to this situation. There is clearly a desire amongst the mid-level talent in the NBA to play where they will be respected in playing time, contract money, and as human beings. The NBA is quickly becoming a hostile environment for such players and as international economics continue to favor lucrative and untaxed European contracts, it will always be an option for NBA players. The interesting situation that may arise, though, is definitely the possibility that the mid-level emigrants will influence the domestic market to the point where the basketball economy will be more international than ever before and the right to emigrate and immigrate are held to the same standard.
It seems as though it is only a matter of time. Or, it might just be a trend. You decide. We've made our decision.
posted by Raoul Duke at 4:23 AM
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