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Unquestionably, it’s great that a former NBA playoffs starter made his NBL debut on Sunday and that another player with (pre-season) NBA links did so too.
Sam Young at the Sydney Kings and Mustapha Farrakhan at the Melbourne Tigers have now officially joined the NBA-drafted James Ennis at the Perth Wildcats in making the move to Australia.
Young and Ennis even lined up on each other, and while the game did not correspond with the hype it received the simple fact both men were on an NBL court was a nice moment for the league.
It’s great that these sort of players are here. Ennis is doing wonders for the NBL highlights reel. Young promises to once settled.
The more players along the lines of Ennis and Young, it stands to reason, the better.
But with some careful consideration, this writer can’t help but asking a question – would it be too much to ask for one of them to leave?
As in, leave us behind and head to the NBA?
Okay, okay. We all want them to stay.
Some of us are even fearful of the NBA scouts watching over our league’s shoulder.
But while it may seem counter-intuitive to hope for their departure, we need to step back and accept that if it really is the case of ‘the more the better’, we may just have to let some go.
After all, isn’t the ability to sell the message to potential future signings that the NBL can legitimately be used as a path to the NBA a good thing?
For the current stream of well-credentialed imports – which really started with Jonny Flynn last year – to be more than a fad, we’re going to have to demonstrate that the Flynn and Young types can achieve what they come here to do, which is get back to the NBA.
There are a number of selling points our clubs can offer, primarily lifestyle-based ones. We speak English. It’s a summer season.
But these factors are not new. What has changed recently, at least with Melbourne and Sydney, is that they’ve been able to sell the tutelage of former NBA players Chris Anstey and Shane Heal to potential recruits.
This implies that a key motivator for the Flynn and Young types in deciding where to go is how a destination fits into the eventual goal of playing in the NBA.
Money has always been assumed as the biggest factor. That’s why the NBL is heavily considering a marquee player rule as we speak.
But any NBA player with a half-decent agent would have had it drilled into them to live below the size of their pay packet. They should be able to ‘afford’ a season in Australia, so to speak, particularly if that season is geared towards achieving a higher level of future income (by returning to the NBA).
We can’t dismiss the money factor, it’s obviously important. Ennis has admitted that the NBL salary being far superior to that of the D-League was a significant part of his decision.
It’s just that building a reputation for being a legitimate stepping stone to the NBA could have a massive influence in its own right.
That doesn’t just go for imports, either – it could also send a message to Aussie guys that have done their time abroad or even those starting their careers.
The unfortunate thing is that the only way to build such a reputation is for guys to leave the NBL to join the NBA.
And the reality is that having that happen is far, far easier said than done.
So we should at least put aside the idea that losing one of these players is something to be feared.
Miami calling up Ennis, or another team trading for his rights to call him up, would be actually be a great thing for the NBL. Ditto if Young works out and gets picked up by an NBA team.
Let’s not fear the NBA call-up. Let’s embrace it.