Should Josh Selby Have Played In The NBA Development League This Season?

Over the weekend, Quickish's Dan Shanoff and Kauffman Sports' Matt Tolnick each wrote about how a new NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement could affect the NBA Development League and the types of players that play in the D-League next season. Shanoff was riffing off of the idea of the one-and-done NCAA players going to the D-League, using Josh Selby as an example, while Tolnick made the case for each NBA team to include one D-League player on its roster.

I don't know how likely Tolnick's scenario is since I highly doubt that NBA veterans (here's to you, Jarron and Jason Collins) would sign off on younger, hungrier players being guaranteed a roster spot -- even if they weren't taking away a veteran NBA player's opportunity -- simply because if a player like Othyus Jeffers is added to your practices, the intensity level is automatically going to rise and the veterans won't have it nearly as easy as they would otherwise.

On the other hand, Shanoff's suggestions are things I've been touting for  years at my various outlets all rolled into one neat and tidy little package after deciding that Selby should have gone the D-League route instead of playing one sub-par year at Kansas.

If you'll remember, I suggested this same thing for Memphis freshman Will Barton this season with suggestions that could have just as well been forwarded to Selby.

In the D-League, as Shanoff notes, players can be paid (legally), sign endorsement deals and be coached by NBA-level coaches while running NBA schemes on offense and defense instead of having to go through the rigmarole that is playing a year in college simply to skirt the NBA's age limit policy (which is, as you should know if you're reading this site, 19 as opposed to the D-League's 18).

Thus far, the only player I'm aware of that skipped college altogether to play in the D-League is Latavious Williams. It worked out pretty well for him as he was drafted in the second round of last year's NBA Draft by the Oklahoma City Thunder.

It isn't clear how playing in the D-League would have affected Selby's draft status, but Draft Express currently has the 6-foot-1 guard slated to be selected with the 25th pick in this year's NBA Draft despite Selby being ranked fourth overall in his high school class.

It will be quite interesting what affects the new NBA CBA has on the D-League, especially if a higher age limit is enforced as some have talked about.