Agent: NBA Giving NCAA 'Big Middle Finger' with G League Contracts for Recruits

At least one NBA agent believes the league has had enough with the NCAA.

"I think the NBA is doing it as a big middle finger to the NCAA," the agent said of the program that will pay prospects to play in the G League for a season before heading to the Association, per Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports. "This is how it's going to be, we're going to take control of the development of top players."

The comments came after highly regarded prospect Jalen Green announced he would not enroll in college and instead play in the NBA's G League. 

Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported Green is expected to make around $500,000 with the chance to increase that total with endorsement opportunities. Charania also noted Green is headlining the G League's efforts to launch a team in Southern California.

Green's decision was a blow to college basketball for a number of reasons, including the fact the sport will miss out on a significant talent.

According to 247Sports' composite rankings, Green was a 5-star prospect and the No. 3 overall player in the class of 2020. He told Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports he would have chosen Memphis if he went to college and explained his decision-making behind playing in the G League:

"I wanted to get better overall and prepare myself for the NBA because that's my ultimate goal. Everything was planned out right and set up for me to succeed. I think this was a good decision at the end of the day. I'm still going to be able to go back to college and finish school. So, it's not really that I'm missing out on college because I can go back and finish whenever I need to. School is a big thing in my family."

Thamel explained the Select Contract for Green and similar top prospects in the G League will not follow the same format as a traditional team in the league. Instead, the team will play a number of scrimmage games and resemble "a domestic version of foreign academics where players prepare full-time under high-end coaches for the NBA draft for a year."

Green will not be alone.

Charania reported Isaiah Todd, another highly regarded prospect, decommitted from Michigan and is expected to join Green on the Southern California team. There will surely be a number of other players who take this route with the amount of money available.

"The product in college basketball has been getting worse," a G League head coach said, per Thamel. "And it's going to be worse than it is now. College basketball is already watered down."