© Patrick Breen/The Republic
We were all thinking it, and Shams Charania just said it.
It’s about damn time Walnut Creek got a pro basketball team.
The NBA G League has decided on a location for its new Pro Pathway team, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium: Walnut Creek, California.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 3, 2020
The NBA wants to give top high school prospects a route to stay in America and get paid for the year before they’re eligible to get drafted. This new “Pro Pathway” team was created for just that. It won’t be affiliated with any of the 30 NBA teams, but is instead focused on developing young talent.
There is also more money to go around in the new program. Top prospects can make more than $500,000. Previously the max a player could make was $125,000. Jalen Green, the top prospect of the 2020 high school class, has already announced he will be forgoing college basketball and will join the professional pathway program.
Any good ideas for new team names?
The Walnut Creek Walnuts and I won’t accept anything else https://t.co/1IDnV2qxgR
— F.P. Santangelo Jr. (@fp_jr) August 3, 2020