Hoop Idea: Extend the NBA Draft to three rounds for the D-League

Mandatory Credit: Michael Shroyer-USA TODAY Sports

Would it be beneficial for the NBA, as well as prospects, to increase the draft to three rounds, in order to promote the D-League as a legitimate farm system?

This was a question posted on Reddit last week that caught my eye, and an idea the NBA has allegedly toyed with in the past.

There is a simple way to answer it: No. It wouldn’t work, nor be beneficial, under today’s structure. With 30 teams each carrying 15 players (many roster spots are predetermined before the draft rolls along) there simply aren’t enough opportunities up for grabs to make it a viable option. Players drafted in the second round have a hard enough time cracking rotations as is — of the 2014 class, only K.J. McDaniels, Nick Johnson, Jordan Clarkson and Jerami Grant have come close to sniffing meaningful court time this season. Tack on another 30 players and the possibilities of them landing a guaranteed contract in the long-run are little-to-none.

But for the sake of the question, let’s just assume some changes were made. Instead of 13 teams sharing the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, each NBA franchise has a D-League affiliate close in proximity. To add to that, each NBA roster is able to carry 16 players instead of 15, the extra spot being designated for a D-League prospect.

Now we’re getting somewhere.

Single affiliations

Having single affiliates changes the outlook of the D-League drastically, because NBA teams have a vested interest in all their doings. They choose the coaching staff, have a say in who plays where and, among many other things, decide what system is put in place. If every NBA team was using the D-League to breed potential players in their system, they’d put themselves in good positions to find diamonds in the rough.

A number of teams have already begun reaping the benefits of this approach, one being the Houston Rockets. The Rio Grande Valley Vipers run a system that is a mirror image of theirs, just on steroids. It helped them find Troy Daniels — who, despite moving on to the Minnesota Timberwolves, hit a huge shot for them in the playoffs — and Robert Covington — arguably the Philadelphia 76ers’ most consistent player this season. It also helped them prepare Isaiah Canaan for a backup role, which he looked fit for until an ankle injury set him back.

Because of that success, others teams are starting to catch on and we’re seeing in a vacuum how adding a third round to the draft could succeed.

The rise of the undrafted

A promising sign is the growing number of undrafted players becoming elite D-League prospects. Of the 20 individuals selected to play in the 2014 D-League All-Star Game, 11 failed to hear their name called after declaring for the NBA Draft. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see that number increase this season.

Big time scorers tend not to be the ones who make a smooth transition from the D-League to the NBA. It’s the specialists — ball-hawking defenders like Elijah Millsap or elite rebounders like Willie Reed — that get a knock on their doors, because there’s a much higher demand for niche players. Being able to draft someone in the third round and assign them to their D-League affiliate would allow teams to begin the process of molding prospects into chiselled products.

This is already being done on a smaller scale with the affiliate rule — teams can assign up to four players released during training camp to their D-League club — but it can certainly be improved upon. The Warriors could’ve drafted James Michael McAdoo out of UNC in the third round, for example, and kept him in Santa Cruz, not having to worry about the Memphis Grizzlies swooping in and stealing him away at the last minute.

Extra spot

10-day contracts are like a temporary high. The little money shelled out to test a prospect over the short period of time dulls the pain of fighting in the D-League’s trenches and sheds light on a better life. But once the high is gone, it’s back to reality.

Even last season, which saw an all-time high 49 call-ups from the D-League, only nine players earned guaranteed contracts for the 2015-2016 season. That’s nothing in the big scheme of things, especially when six of the aforementioned players had been previously drafted in the first round. Much is the same this season with 20 players being called-up and only three (Hassan Whiteside, Robert Covington, Elijah Millsap) earning long-term deals.

However, with the likes of Josh Huestis and Thanasis Antetokounmpo forgoing their rookie seasons to better prepare themselves for the NBA, the draft-and-stash approach has gained traction. The Oklahoma City Thunder received a lot of backlash for their arrangement with Huestis but giving teams an extra roster spot would encourage them to invest in the futures of less developed players and prevent them from cheating the system.

Second round players would fulfil the 16th roster spot, while third rounders would join the D-League immediately.

Salaries

The biggest issue at hand is salaries.

D-League players don’t get paid nearly enough — there are currently three salary tiers, valued at $25,000, $19,000 and $13,000, respectively — especially when compared to overseas contracts. If the NBA isn’t a real possibility, the allure of the D-League soon saturates, which is why we see top prospects bolt year after year. Even if all the above were to fall into place, no change in salaries would likely deter many third rounders from sticking around.

The solution as it pertains to this discussion would be creating a fourth tier, the highest accommodating third round picks. It’s far from perfect but it could be just enough for all this to fall into place, at least in the short-term.

Overall

Of course, all of this — increased salaries, 30 affiliates, an extra roster spot — is much easier said than done. There are a lot of hidden costs going into running a D-League team, ones that have scared off plenty of teams in the past and will continue to do so in the future. While intrigued, the remaining 13 teams aren’t likely to all enter single affiliations anytime soon.

The key, though, is that there is potential.

The D-League has grown leaps and bounds over the last five years and the signs are pointing towards it continuing to expand. More and more players are getting call-ups, giving undrafted prospects a realistic chance of making their hardwood dreams come true. If every team were to have a single affiliate and begin to use the D-League as a more traditional farm system, that would have a knock-on effect league-wide. The level of competition would improve, more people would be inclined to go to games, ticket sales would increase, and teams would have more money to offer players.

It’s a very idealistic view, sure, but it’s possible given the trends we are seeing. In which case, why wouldn’t the NBA look into expanding the draft to three rounds?