Hoops

LaMelo and RJ could leave before the end of the season

Sydney stash player is starting, looking very good but as you say will probably put his future ahead of Sydney, ie don’t play with minor injuries or risk any thing that could hurt his nba contract.

Nostraballmus

Has the Hoops oracle some insight into a meteorite striking the Palace of Pine in the southern settlement?

Has it been foretold that the 8000 head finals monster shall be silenced at the midpoint of the final that’s grand?

I just wanted to add an important correction to some of the above.
If an object from outer space crashed into Melbourne Arena and killed everyone in it, it would be a meteorite, not a meteor.

The above discussion on leaving early has another side to it that I haven't seen mentioned.

What are the expectations of the NBA? That they send kids to the "2nd best league in the world" and expect those teams to depend on 18/19 year-olds to win championships or we won't draft you? I don't think so.

They're here to learn how to play with men in a great league. And from how they handle that experience. Will they really be a worthwhile high draft-pick? In fact, leaving a program early may just go against their "character" scores. It may be the worst thing that they can do.

If we are speculating on the whole story here, may as well throw my thoughts in there too!

"I do think there would be a big risk to either of them shutting it down just to protect draft stock. "

Why?

I don't see any risk to them in doing so if they have put up worthy numbers (the only possible 'risk' there is is if they shut it down and their stats aren't good enough to warrant a lottery pick but that's not a risk at all because with the advice they'll get from NBA teams/other people they won't shut it down if that's the case).

NBA teams wouldn't give a hoot if they decided to shut it down and it wouldn't at all affect their stock. It's not going to reflect badly on them and NBA teams won't hold it against them.

Kyrie played 11 games (and started just 8 games) before being taken number 1. Cleveland (and a lot of other teams) didn't care and he didn't affect his stock.

I chuckled at the meteor reply.

I doubt NBL sponsorship deals like ESPN, FBwatch, Slam are contingent on them playing a full season.

Did those two help get those deals? No doubt, they’ve been massive for the NBL value wise already. If they want to pull out towards the end of the season I don’t really see why that would be such a big issue. Disappointing? Perhaps, but the NBL won’t look bad out of it. It’s a professional league, players come and go.

Agents had no hesitation persuading their players to pull out of the US team for the World Cup, even though it left the team high and dry. THEIR NATIONAL TEAM, FFS!!

They’ll have even less hesitation pulling their Next Stars out of the NBL at the first whiff of damaging the image of the goods, whether it’s because the player can’t cope or they didn’t ‘carry’ their team to the finals or there’s too much risk of injury. Contracts and loyalty won’t matter a f@&k! It’s all about the agent maximising their cut and their payday, potentially for the next 15 years.

It all seems like BS to me, surely clubs have there nbl contract to cover the season. In saying all that contracts are not worth much now days. Time will tell.

Not sure this is true when Brian Bowen signed he was required to sign a 2 year deal so the Kings/NBL could get buyout money if signed by an NBA team.

Although not officially a Next Stars player Terrance Ferguson also signed a 2 year deal with the Sixers and the only reason Adelaide didn't get compo money when he was drafted by OKC is because they buggered up the paperwork.

I've never heard of Matt Logue or The Basketball Show but I would be waiting to hear this confirmed from someone higher up the food chain first.

This is a tough one.

If the Hawks or Breakers were to be mathematical impossibilities to make the playoffs, I would understand if Ball or RJ wanted to opt out.

These kids have a much higher goal to achieve, they could one day earn more in a year than the whole NBL salaries combined. Why would they want to risk that chance fora few games without meaning?

If they were bailing out on the eve of a GF series, that's something else entirely.

And if you asked the Hawks if they were getting possibly a top 5 pick in next year's draft, plus all the hype and attention, with this risk in tow, they would take it every day.

If you look at the other side, and told potential Next Stars that the NBL would have full control of when and how much they played, you will find less players would want to come here.

Well written ME.
Why sign future next stars if this could happen.