Top Recruit Daishen Nix Spurns UCLA For New LA G-League Team
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – One of the best high school point guards in the nation has decommitted from UCLA and will instead join a new NBA G-League team that will be based in Los Angeles.
Daishen Nix, a five-star recruit from Trinity International School in Las Vegas, announced Tuesday he would be signing a Select Contract with the G-League under the NBA's new professional path initiative.
His one-year contract is expected to be around $300,000, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania.
Last August, Nix had commited to joining UCLA. He's ranked the No. 20 recruit in the nation by ESPN.
He joins fellow high profile prospects Jalen Green and Isaiah Todd in spurning the college game to instead become the first to sign a Select Contract with the G-League under the NBA's new professional path initiative.
Green's contract is for a reported $500,000.
The three won't join an existing G-League team. Instead, they will be part of a new Select Team specifically designed for elite prospects and based in the L.A.-area.
The NBA's professional path initiative, which was first unveiled in October 2018, is offered only to prospects deemed elite who are at least 18 years old, but are not yet eligible to enter the NBA draft. It was specifically designed for players who would like to forego college and get a headstart on their professional careers, but don't want to play overseas.
Players who sign Select Contracts can then enter the NBA Draft the following season.
The NCAA has faced a growing wave of criticism in recent years over its insistence that it not pay its athletes.
Last September, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill which paves the way for NCAA athletes to get paid. It allows them to hire agents, make money from endorsements, and get paid for the use of their likeness or image.
In response to the bill, the NCAA Board of Governors in October voted to start the process of allowing student-athletes to benefit from the use of their name, image or likeness.
Then on Tuesday, the NCAA Board of Governors reported it was moving forward with a plan to allow college athletes to receive compensation for third-party endorsements, personal appearances and business opportunities beginning in the 2021-22 season.
