The recent growth of NIL opportunities has been a major incentive for players to stay in college longer and work on their game before pursuing an NBA career. The trend is also providing benefits for players in the G League — the NBA’s North American-based developmental league. The extra money comes in handy, because although some players get Exhibit 10 or two-way contracts, the standard G League salary is only roughly $43,000.
The average G League career is only two-and-a-half seasons, and one of the main reasons players leave before getting a shot in the NBA is that they are able to make significantly more money overseas. But sticking it out in the G League has paid off for some players, including Drew Timme. The former Gonzaga star played more than 40 G League games in the past two seasons. He then earned a call-up with the Nets at the end of the 2024-25 NBA regular season, played well against NBA competition (averaging 12.1 points and 7.2 rebounds in nine games) and earned a two-year contract with Brooklyn this summer.
“Obviously it’s no one’s first choice. But looking back on it, it definitely helped me a lot, and I really did need it,” Timme said of the G League. “It definitely helped me just work on the things I needed to work on to be able to get in the NBA. I don’t think it would have gone well if I didn’t get that. I really needed time to figure things out, and that’s what the G League is for. It’s there to help you get better and take that next step, and it definitely was instrumental for me.”
Jeff Aubry, the Executive Director of the G League players union (Next Gen Basketball Players Union), said the number of NBA players with G League experience keeps rising, which shows the value of investing in it to keep talent around.
“Last year we had 79 call-ups. The year before we had 81,” Aubry said. “Those are the second and third most call-ups in the history of the league, and I think…
..
