Ex-Rebels thrive in D-League, but NBA shot isn’t guaranteed
Roscoe Smith knows the names, knows the history, knows that Wesley Matthews and Anthony Morrow and so many others also went undrafted, that Chris Copeland spent five years overseas in places such as Spain and Germany and Belgium, that it doesn’t mean your dream dies when one door closes.
Not if you want it bad enough. Not if you work hard enough.
Dave Rice has this theory: That once you get past the elite players in the NBA, the absolute best of the best, you could replace all remaining bodies with those from the Development League and the quality of play wouldn’t suffer.
The UNLV basketball coach makes a great point.
I believe Smith is good enough to eventually find an NBA home. I also believe Khem Birch is. There is a bench somewhere they could come off and contribute. But it’s impossible to guarantee either will, because what the former UNLV players are discovering is that making it is as much about timing and opportunity as skill and upside.
Each enjoyed a successful initial D-League season, with Smith of the Los Angeles D-Fenders last week being named Rookie of the Year by RidiculousUpside.com, a leading media outlet that covers the league.
Birch, who averaged 11.2 points, 9.7 rebounds, 1.8 blocks and shot 70 percent for Sioux Falls, was runner-up for the award.
Each went undrafted upon departing UNLV with eligibility remaining, each wanting to start his earnings clock and fulfill that dream. But it’s a D-League road paved with salaries from $18,000 to $30,000 a year, with mostly empty gyms, the pursuit of a goal that will become tougher to achieve with each passing NBA Draft.
“From a team perspective, we didn’t make the playoffs or have the record we wanted,” said Smith, who averaged 18.0 points and 11.0 rebounds for the D-Fenders, who had a 17-33 record. “But I was able to work on my game and improve and be around a professional atmosphere and hopefully open some eyes.
“I knew my entire life how hard it would be to make (the NBA). I have played with guys who went five years in the D-League before ever getting called up. Some never do. You have to be ready at all times. You never know when that door might open.”
Connecticut women’s coach Geno Auriemma called the men’s college game ugly. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said it was horrible and ridiculous. They agreed it’s almost impossible to create continuity with so many players departing school early.
Rice researched the numbers recently and thought they would land around 13 or 14 of 24 names. He was a Rhodes Scholar candidate in college. His math figures to check out.
The list was of those players who competed in the 2014 McDonald’s All-American high school game and how many would now opt to enter the NBA Draft after one season of college.
It’s looking like, um, 13 or 14.
Rashad Vaughn was on that list, and the UNLV guard made official last week that he will, indeed, depart college for the dream of playing in the league. He was always going to play just one year for the Rebels.
It was always the plan.
He is projected to be drafted in the second round, and you would think at this point the best-case scenario for him might be an agent negotiating some guaranteed money while Vaughn spends his first season between the D-League and NBA. He’s good enough to make a team. A lot of guys are good enough. It’s cutthroat.
“The difficult part is that the NBA is getting younger and younger, which means there are fewer and fewer spots,” Rice said. “You have more and more international players coming each year. It’s supply and demand. Basically, there are just so many spots in the NBA. It’s about right place, right time and wrong place, wrong time.
“I think the D-League is great for guys who have exhausted their college eligibility or for guys who get drafted and have guaranteed money. But college is still a great option for all facets of playing and education if you still have eligibility.”
Smith and Birch had some left. They still chose to leave. It’s not certain that things will work out for either in making the NBA, that having such solid first seasons in the D-League will ultimately translate into anything other than, well, more seasons in the D-League or perhaps eventually Europe.
But it’s not certain things won’t work, either.
The timing might soon be right.
“Just keep working and praying and being the best I can be,” Smith said. “Just keep trying to survive. Not making (the NBA) hasn’t crossed my mind. I’m positive that door will open.”
He knows the names, knows the history, knows it’s possible for him and Birch and Vaughn and countless others.
Unless it’s impossible.
Time will tell.
Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on “Gridlock,” ESPN 1100 and 100.9 FM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.
