Filed under: Nets, NBA D-League, Springfield Armor
One step forward, two steps back. That seems to be the M.O. of the New Jersey Nets when it comes to their relation to the D-League. Today the Nets announced that they're sending Terrence Williams on assignment to the D-League. Not because of injury, not because he actually needs the work, not because they don't have room for him on roster. No, they're sending him to the Springfield Armor on assignment as punishment for being habitually late to meetings.They're punishing Terrence Williams for his behavior by sending him to the D-League, and in doing so, are hurting themselves, Williams, and the league at an extremely volatile time.
NBA teams are restricted in assigning players to their D-League affiliate to only being able to do so in the player's first two years in the league. After that, if they want him in the affiliate, they have to waive him and hope he elects to join the D-League. It's a curious and frustrating rule, as many players need more than two years to get their feet under them, or need a rehab assignment in later years. There are several reasons for the restriction, but one is that the player's union in CBA negotiations didn't want teams to simply use the D-League as a punitive system.
Trapping the player in the D-League forces him to deal with the D-League conditions (low travel budgets, lack of staff, lesser accommodations), and that's not supposed to be the intent of the league. The D-League is a place to get players floor time, to work with them on specific parts of their game that they need to improve on in order to become NBA-caliber players, to fix kinks in their game and regain confidence. It's not meant as a lesser environment to send players down to punish them because you don't get along with them.
More Coverage: Williams' Demotion Doesn't Help D-League
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Source: http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/11/26/nets-all-wrong-in-terrence-williams-demotion-to-d-league/
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