Baye Declares for NBA; Retaining Eligibility

[Connell62]

Sure. But it needs to be explicitly stated that he’s not making this life-altering decision based on his earning potential over the next 200 days.

I’m not really sure why we’re zeroing in on GT NIL money in this unique circumstance. I realize NIL is what everyone wants to talk about, but that seems like the easy way out here. This is a basketball decision that changes the trajectory of his career forever. He’s 21. This isn’t like deciding on transferring to another college, where it’s apples to apples and he can just pick the school that’s paying him the most.

You have no idea what factors he is basing his decision on, but get real, $$ is definitely one of them. Especially for a kid that likely hasn't had it his entire life.

It's not a real difficult decision to make. Get paid 6 figures (and still continue to develop your game) or make minimal $$ and get similar development.

The difference in his development between the G-League and at GT (ACC) isn't that much different, if at all.

Anyone advising him with his best interest in mind would tell him to go back to school in that scenario.

 

[forensicbuzz]

You have no idea what factors he is basing his decision on, but get real, $$ is definitely one of them. Especially for a kid that likely hasn't had it his entire life.

It's not a real difficult decision to make. Get paid 6 figures (and still continue to develop your game) or make minimal $$ and get similar development.

The difference in his development between the G-League and at GT (ACC) isn't that much different, if at all.

Anyone advising him with his best interest in mind would tell him to go back to school in that scenario.

While I agree with part of this, if we're really being real, there is a huge difference in G-League and GT. At GT he will be dividing his focus between school and prep, in the G-League, he will be able to focus his efforts 100% on basketball. It will become his total life. What I don't know about the G-League are facilities, dietary considerations, and access to wellness. Is it NBA-lite or AAU+?

 

[MidtownJacket]

I suspect he was "discovered" in his home country of Senegal (one of the 12 teams in the NBA's Basketball Africa League (BAL)) and then attended three basketball academies in the US, being highly recruited as an academy "graduate". It appears he wanted to go to an academic oriented US college, so he committed to Rutgers and then to Georgia Tech. He is in the catbird sear on choices for basketball, and is at the top of the list to go be one of the 480 G-League players on 32 teams for development and pay. Since the NBA owns the BAL, they could send him home to Senegal for further development for pay over a 6 month contract. Either would shortcut his education. I do think that is a consideration for him, or at least his parents.

If he comes back to Tech and graduates, he can still go back home with a highly respected degree, worth much throughout his life. I can assume he is in the Scheller School of business, and he could even take the 5 week course Language for Business and Technology: Senegal and go back to Dakar for the summer. There he could get paid legally for NIL as a non-US citizen. At graduation, he would still be young enough to play in the NBA in the US or even the NBA BAL team in Dakar, Senegal. Most of their players are over 25 years old. I think he will be back at Tech and be coached by two experienced NBA coaches who will appreciate him and look out for him like he deserves. He needs a coaching family, after having 4 different coaches in the past four years. He has pros Damen and Bonzi and Carl Hobbs, the reason he came to Tech last year.

He needs to think where he has the best chance be what he wants to be at age 30 and live happily for the rest of his life, where he wants to be doing what he wants to do. He has the opportunity to have both worlds - The NBA and a Georgia Tech degree. I thing that true tech fans and alumni would invest in that path to make Baye a Yellow Jacket for life. I would think so, that being a sound investment in getting back to where we belong in the national spotlight. I know I sound like a grandpa and that is what I would tell my grandson.

​

I guess I'll sound like a dad and share I agree with all of this, and it's exactly what I would tell my daughter and son as well.

 

[forensicbuzz]

If he goes to the G-League and puts away enough money to cover the cost of education, he can always come back to Tech to earn his degree. It just requires a little maturity. At 21, this is a lot more likely than if he were 18. That being said, he'll have many people advising him, including CDS and CCH.

 

[GaTech4ever]

The difference in his development between the G-League and at GT (ACC) isn't that much different, if at all.

There’s legitimately no way you believe this.

 

[orientalnc]

While I agree with part of this, if we're really being real, there is a huge difference in G-League and GT. At GT he will be dividing his focus between school and prep, in the G-League, he will be able to focus his efforts 100% on basketball. It will become his total life. What I don't know about the G-League are facilities, dietary considerations, and access to wellness. Is it NBA-lite or AAU+?

Unless he is on a 2-way deal, the G League pay is peanuts. When you stop and think about it for a moment, NBA scouts watched him play in college last season. When each voted on the 75 players to include in the combine, he was not among the top 78. When the G League Elite Camp ended, he was not invited to step up to the combine. NBA scouts do not think he deserves another look right now. Quite a few players selected in the draft will not get NBA contracts. Some of them will be in the G League next year or playing overseas. I think he wants have some individual workouts and see what happens before returning.

 

[GaTech4ever]

While I agree with part of this, if we're really being real, there is a huge difference in G-League and GT. At GT he will be dividing his focus between school and prep, in the G-League, he will be able to focus his efforts 100% on basketball. It will become his total life. What I don't know about the G-League are facilities, dietary considerations, and access to wellness. Is it NBA-lite or AAU+?

In 2024, the G-league is NBA-lite. NBA teams rely on their G-league pipeline. Anyone saying otherwise doesn’t know the current landscape of professional basketball.

 

[Tommy_Taylor_1972]

If he goes to the G-League and puts away enough money to cover the cost of education, he can always come back to Tech to earn his degree. It just requires a little maturity. At 21, this is a lot more likely than if he were 18. That being said, he'll have many people advising him, including CDS and CCH.

At 21, we were looking for our first full-time paying jobs. I can see him doing the same at 21, looking for that full-time paying job The opportunities are there for him to be as one of 480 players on 32 G-League teams, one of 450 players on 30 teams in the NBA league, or 180 players on 12 NBA Basketball Africa League teams, all part of the NBA's 1,020 paid players.. Then he can return to school somewhere when he is done with basketball. I just hope basketball is not the only thing on his mind for his future. We all have seen many disappointed young men that went down that one way road, several even Georgia Tech basketball lettermen.

 

[orientalnc]

At 21, we were looking for our first full-time paying jobs. I can see him doing the same at 21, looking for that full-time paying job The opportunities are there for him to be as one of 480 players on 32 G-League teams, one of 450 players on 30 teams in the NBA league, or 180 players on 12 NBA Basketball Africa League teams, all part of the NBA's 1,020 paid players.. Then he can return to school somewhere when he is done with basketball. I just hope basketball is not the only thing on his mind for his future. We all have seen many disappointed young men that went down that one way road, several even Georgia Tech basketball lettermen.

"In 2023, the Basketball Africa League (BAL) has players who earn between $4,000 and $7,000 per month, with the best players making about $35,000 per month." Moses makes $30K per month. The season lasts four months (March-May). I betcha our NIL is quite a bit more than Ndongo can earn in Africa. And, he would have wait almost a year to collect it.

Source - NBA.com

 

[Root4GT]

"In 2023, the Basketball Africa League (BAL) has players who earn between $4,000 and $7,000 per month, with the best players making about $35,000 per month." Moses makes $30K per month. The season lasts four months (March-May). I betcha our NIL is quite a bit more than Ndongo can earn in Africa. And, he would have wait almost a year to collect it.

Source - NBA.com

This is very unknown territory for GT to have players declare for the NBA with options to come back. BY my recall, not very good, Okogie, Jose and Moses all went Pro. Kelly returned. Not good odds based on a very small sample size.

We will be a MUCH better team if he returns. From some film on Ryan Mutombo he does fill some of what Ndongo did on the High Pick and role, just not at the same skill level.

 

[cpf2001]

2-way contract players in the G-league will occasionally fill depth if teams have tons of injuries. But they're often behind the NBA vet minimum signees that fill out the ends of a team's bench at the NBA level, not players that are expected to make meaningful contributions.

Interesting prospects from the late-first-round or 2nd-round will often play significant time in the G-league too.

(Prior to NIL you also had Ignite for straight-out-of-high-school players who wanted to go straight to pro ball, but that's gone now.)

It's true, you'll find a lot of NBA regulars who've played stints in the G-league. But there's not much G-league history for not-drafted-at-all players to leapfrog those first two categories of players.

If you get feedback that you aren't draft-ready, and you have additional college eligibility, that seems like a hard bet to make - take $40K as a non-2-way-contract undrafted G-league player and hope to develop extremely fast there? There's room for late-bloomers in the NBA and other pro leagues so if you take more NIL money to stay in college another year it's not like the G-League or Europe option is going away. And you are in a bit of a de-risked financially + future opportunity environment.

 

[Tommy_Taylor_1972]

This is very unknown territory for GT to have players declare for the NBA with options to come back. BY my recall, not very good, Okogie, Jose and Moses all went Pro. Kelly returned. Not good odds based on a very small sample size.

We will be a MUCH better team if he returns. From some film on Ryan Mutombo he does fill some of what Ndongo did on the High Pick and role, just not at the same skill level.

What are salaries in the G League?​

To make things clear, yes, G League players are paid a salary. As of this season, players have a minimum salary of $40,500 for a total of 50 regular season games. Understandably, some players earn more depending on their performances and more importantly their stock with the NBA team that they’re affiliated. In keeping with that, players who go to the NBA from the G League are paid a prorated salary of the league up to 100 days minimum. The current NBA minimum sits just below $1 million at approximately $953,000.
Source: https://en.as.com/nba/how-much-money-do-nba-g-league-players-make-n-2/

So Baye's monetary choices are monthly minimum salary of G-League $34,000 per season, BAL Africa $40,000 per season, and big NBA $953,000 per month, given a 10 month season.

Or, GT scholarship with room and board and health care and meals, making it worth about $70,000 per year without NIL to hone his basketball skills and get grades. Then add NIL fro GT. According to https://www.on3.com/nil/rankings/player/nil-100/?team-key=17948 , GT top 100 NIL payees are football players, with basketball-er Kowacie Reeves at number 5. No other MBB players listed. Of course, NIL is top secret info and nobody publishes $$ payments. Bottom line is Baye's best $$ value for next year is to keep the GT deal, more than the $$ in G-league or BAL, and and hope he has enough NIL $$ to go to the movies and have a decent car. If he really wanted $$ as a high school age teenager, he should have joined Overtime Elite, Inc. and been paid $100,000 a year to play on 17th Street Midtown. But he chose college as the development route to the NBA.

 

[orientalnc]

The only disagreement I have is that Ndongo is reportedly our #1 NIL basketball player.

 

[Tommy_Taylor_1972]

The only disagreement I have is that Ndongo is reportedly our #1 NIL basketball player.

I did catch it on a Florida web site when Kowacie signed last year that he had $95K in NIL at Florida. According to On3.com, he is the only basketball player at Tech getting NIL. Maybe if one signs up for The Tech Way, it is revealed to them what a player gets. Otherwise we are just stabbing in the dark on anything NIL. How does the collective expect to get more fans to donate if wanna be donors do not know where the money goes and for what. Why is it so hush-hush unless there is not much? I dunno but I hope the players know. Of course if they get none, there may be friction on the team. Most info is gathered off X (Twitter) as best can be gathered. In 2022, UGA someone posted that every UGA player got an average of $26K if I remember correctly from a hard to re-find website. I think under-the-table cash in a wendy's bag may have been better known before NIL. At least it could be used for recruiting. Being a return on investment GT general management major (Randomly changed from IM I know not why), I have been trying to figure out where and how much NIL to invest and to whom. Rumor back in '22 was that every basketball player got $14K that year. All this is x-hand info and not verifiable, just sayin'. With a recent court ruling that former players can get NIL, I figure I was worth at least minimum wage for my 1,300 hours spent in practice and games and travel, so where is my $5K NIL money plus 50 years interest? . I think NIL means no information leaked.

 

[jojatk]

While I agree with part of this, if we're really being real, there is a huge difference in G-League and GT. At GT he will be dividing his focus between school and prep, in the G-League, he will be able to focus his efforts 100% on basketball. It will become his total life. What I don't know about the G-League are facilities, dietary considerations, and access to wellness. Is it NBA-lite or AAU+?

One of the things that athletes consistently say when asked about the difference between college and the pros is all the free time they have on their hands in the pros. It doesn't mean they use all that extra time to focus 100% on their chosen sport. And, in fact, it is a very difficult challenge for some of them who have had their schedule very regimented up until then to be able to do their own time management. You would think it would become their total life. And for some I'm sure it is. But it's not a slam dunk (see what I did there... HAH) that having all that extra time translates to spending it all wisely. Some do and some don't. Some find that transition easier than others. So it's a mixed bag.

 

[Connell62]

In 2024, the G-league is NBA-lite. NBA teams rely on their G-league pipeline. Anyone saying otherwise doesn’t know the current landscape of professional basketball.

The only people making any money in the G League are those on two-way contracts. I bet he would make triple at GT what he makes in the G League.

Could he develop "slightly" faster? Maybe, but that is no guarantee, and we are talking one additional season. I'd be willing to wager that they're pretty similar in the long run.

Gimme examples of people who have been in Baye's shoes, who forgo eligibility to "develop" in the G league, and then go on to make an NBA roster.

Sure there are a some, but there are a lot less that go the other way. Moses Wright was ACC POY, 1st team All G League, and it didn't work out for him.

The goal is to make an NBA roster and stick, not get a call-up or 10 day contract, and then bounce back down to the G League.

 

[Connell62]

2-way contract players in the G-league will occasionally fill depth if teams have tons of injuries. But they're often behind the NBA vet minimum signees that fill out the ends of a team's bench at the NBA level, not players that are expected to make meaningful contributions.

Interesting prospects from the late-first-round or 2nd-round will often play significant time in the G-league too.

(Prior to NIL you also had Ignite for straight-out-of-high-school players who wanted to go straight to pro ball, but that's gone now.)

It's true, you'll find a lot of NBA regulars who've played stints in the G-league. But there's not much G-league history for not-drafted-at-all players to leapfrog those first two categories of players.

If you get feedback that you aren't draft-ready, and you have additional college eligibility, that seems like a hard bet to make - take $40K as a non-2-way-contract undrafted G-league player and hope to develop extremely fast there? There's room for late-bloomers in the NBA and other pro leagues so if you take more NIL money to stay in college another year it's not like the G-League or Europe option is going away. And you are in a bit of a de-risked financially + future opportunity environment.

Thank you for saying this much better than I did, but you are spot-on, especially the bolded section above.

 

[YlJacket]

Undrafted G League guys are behind the 2 way players in terms of who gets the opportunity to shine on the court. Plus the guys who came in the last couple of years and have made progress already. That is a tough ladder to climb - sort of like being an undrafted player in the baseball minor leagues. Bonus babies get multiple shots - they don't. They get moved on as the next class of draftees and new guys come in.

It is certainly possible to climb that ladder and Ndongo has the NBA level athleticism to have a shot. But IMHO it is better for him to come back and work on showing he can be an NBA 4 at GT in a featured role and then go back. Now if some team falls in love with him in a workout and pinky swears a 2 way deal then the decision is a lot harder - we will just have to wait and see.