NIL may mean the end of G-League Ignite

The NBA G-League isn’t going anywhere any time soon.

Currently, the NBA’s minor league has 31 teams, with only one NBA franchise — the Phoenix Suns — lacking an G-League affiliate.

The rise of NIL in the realm of NCAA sports, has however, potentially altered the future of G-League Ignite, an NBA created team that was intended to provide “a path for pre-draft eligible players to be paid to play basketball before being eligible to enter the NBA due to the league’s age limit for prospects,” league commissioner Adam Silver told ESPN.

“I think given that that’s (NIL) happened, I think we are in the process of reassessing Team Ignite,” Silver said Saturday night during his All-Star Weekend news conference in Indianapolis. “Because now some of those same players who didn’t want to be one-and-done players because they felt it was unfair and they wanted the ability not just to earn a living playing basketball but to do commercial deals that weren’t available to them at college, to hire professional agents, an opportunity that wasn’t available to them at college, they now — all of those same opportunities have become available to them.”

G-League Ignite has had a notable history, even though it was only created four years ago. That is due mainly because of the players that have gone through the club.

Among those who have played for G-League Ignite are:

• Portland Trail Blazers guard Scoot Henderson (the No. 3 pick in 2023).

• New Orleans Pelicans guard Dyson Daniels (the No. 8 pick in 2022).

• Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green (the No. 3 pick in 2021).

The Ignite have struggled mightily this year, however, and top prospect Ron Holland is going to miss the remainder of the season, Andscape’s Marc Spears reported.

Per Jonathan Givony, ESPN’s NBA draft expert, the poor play of the team this year has actually hurt the draft prospects of multiple players.

“It’s been a difficult season for Ignite,” he wrote on X. “They’ve spent an incredible amount of money, but are currently 6-31 on the season with the worst point-differential in G League history (dating back to 2002). Some of their prospects have hurt their draft standing in the process.”

According to Spotrac, G-League Ignite players have made as much as $1 million in a single season, a significant sum before the adoption of NIL.

Per On3 Sports’ NIL projections in November, at least three current college basketball players make more than that currently:

• USC’s Bronny James ($5.9 million).

• Austin Peay’s Hansel Enmanuel ($1.2 million).

• Duke’s Jared McCain ($1 million).

North Carolina’s Armando Bacot was projected at nearly $1 million, with Kansas’ Hunter Dickinson at over $800K.

Given that college basketball players are now in a similar position or better than G-League Ignite players, at least as far as compensation goes, Silver and NBA are understandably rethinking the experiment.

Said Silver: “I’m not sure what the future of Team Ignite will be, because before there was a hole in the marketplace that we thought we were filling before doing that, and now my focus is turning to earlier development of those players.”