Want Warriors news in your inbox? Sign up for the free DubsDaily newsletter.
OAKLAND — Even as he experienced roster cuts, signed 10-day contracts that went nowhere and fielded more lucrative overseas offers, Warriors guard Quinn Cook refused to budge on his plans.
If he did, Cook reasoned he would have never played in the NBA.
“It wasn’t about the money. I could’ve been in the D-League playing for free,” Cook told The Bay Area News Group. “It was all about the dream.”
That dream has since become a reality. After signing a two-way contract in October to be with the Warriors and their G-League team in Santa Cruz, Cook cemented himself on Golden State’s playoff roster amid injuries to Stephen Curry (left knee) and Patrick McCaw (spine). Yet, the NBA and its G-League affiliates are mindful that not every player thinks like Cook.
To subscribe to the Planet Dubs podcast, click here.
Therefore, the NBA’s G-League will pay players a base salary of $7,000 a month, totaling $35,000 for the five-month regular season. That hardly compares to the average salary for an NBA player ($5.7 million). Nonetheless, Santa Cruz general manager Kent Lacob argued the increase marks a “big step for the G-League” after its players previously made either $26,000 or $19,000 per season.
“It’s hard and has been hard in the past to try to make a pitch to a guy and try to persuade him to come if it’s not in his best interest,” Lacob said in a phone interview. “For some guys, the risk might’ve been worth it. For some guys, it might not have been. Now I think you can make a more genuine and authentic pitch to a guy believing that risk and believing the tradeoff is going to be in their benefit long term. I think it’s going to help us in terms of recruiting players to the league.”
And to think, a record 53 percent of players on 2017-18 NBA end-of-season rosters have spent time in the NBA G League during their careers. This season, all 30 NBA teams this season had at least six NBA G-League players on its end-of-season roster. Seven NBA teams had at least 10 G-League players. As for the Warriors, they had three. The Warriors signed Cook and Chris Boucher on two-way contracts, while they often sent second-year center Damian Jones to Santa Cruz because of the team’s flooded frontcourt.
Want real-time Warriors news texted to your phone? Sign up for Mark Medina’s private text messaging service.
“More people will want to play here instead of going overseas,” Jones told The Bay Area News Group. “There’s still more players going overseas. But having more money now is something to start with.”
The NBA has already formed other incentives for players to be in the G-League. Since this past season, players on G-League contracts earned an average of $44,000 in NBA affiliate player bonuses based off of call-ups. Players on two-way contracts earned $77,250, which was prorated based on up to 45 days each player could be with an NBA roster for practices and games.
“I think it will keep a couple of guys from going overseas. That could be the key to keep guys here,” Cook said. “It’s always good to reward guys in the G-League because they work so hard. It’s always good to see the leagues get better.”
Cook had already seen the D-League/G-League get better since going undrafted in 2015. When he played for the Cleveland Cavaliers’ D-League/G-League team in Canton both in 2016 and 2017, Cook said former Cavaliers general manager David Griffin often attended games. The Warriors did the same thing when Cook played this season in Santa Cruz.
As much as the Warriors won two NBA titles in the past three years because of their top-heavy talent, they have remained mindful of the importance of developing younger talent for monetary purposes.
“We’re confident in everything we have in place,” Lacob said. “If we can all get more of the guys we’re targeting that we want to come play in Santa Cruz and have them be comfortable with their living situations here, then its’ going to make a huge impact. We feel really good about it.”