The WNBA should add a developmental league — Coquese Washington talks Rutgers

Longtime readers of The IX know I have argued for quite some time that the WNBA needs a D-League badly, for many reasons. I even outlined what it would look like back in March 2020, remarkably similar to the six-team model we see from the NWSL now.

Five years on, neither my vision of 20 WNBA teams nor a D-League seems all that farfetched, given that Cathy Engelbert is actively discussing whether 16 is enough for expansion and the pool of talent is larger than ever. The only real arguments against it are that a D-League probably wouldn’t, itself, be profitable — something that certainly didn’t stop the NBA nor the NWSL — and overall bandwidth at a moment the league is taking on a ton of infrastructure building. But the rewards?

Well. I spoke to nine WNBA league sources, decision-makers and agents alike, asking a simple question: How big would it be if the WNBA added a D-League?

Three began our discussions with the same exact response: “HUGE.”

Several league sources indicated a preference for additional roster spots before tackling a D-League, but the two make sense in tandem more than it might first appear. One league source put it this way: “We can be getting really good rotation players for our league if we just get those spots. And then… once we have those spots, now who do we send over to that league to continue getting game reps? And then this turns into a really cool thing.”

It’s worth comparing such a scenario — with additional roster spots, flexibility on everything from an injured list to two-way contracts, and a domestic, concurrently-running developmental league — with the current rules, which involves waiting for enough injuries to bring a player in on a hardship contract if she happens to be in the country at the time.

The costs of a D-League are clear. But so too, are the limitations of the current setup. An economic deep dive into the costs of today’s system would be fascinating, and the effect on team-building, product on the floor and talent retention is all hugely significant.

Some of it can’t even be measured — how many stories are there of NBA players who worked within a franchise’s developmental system and turned into stars? The list is seemingly endless, but probably my favorite one, Jeremy Lin, started his career as a D-League callup. (Note my byline and the pre-Linsanity date.) And we know how many have done this with consistent work within a single system but outside of a WNBA roster: zero.

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There are many benefits beyond the rosters themselves. One source pointed out the league could pilot-test potential new markets with a D-League. Another expressed a desire to see “up and coming assistants get game management experience as head coaches”. And nobody seemed to think it would hurt the officiating talent pool, either, to have refs get more reps.

The reason this is so vital now, then, is that the WNBA Players’ Association and the WNBA are currently negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement, which we have discussed here at The IX on numerous occasions and, spoiler alert, will continue doing so because it’s a huge deal. And what I found fascinating was that no one can really say whether such an investment is a players’ issue, per se, or a league issue.

Let me elaborate. Charter flights? Absolutely has ancillary benefits for the league — better product, more well-rested players, good PR component — but it’s an issue brought to the table by the players, since the league is footing the bill. Prioritization? Clearly a league issue. (So is the WNBA Draft itself, given the impact it has on everything from player salaries to player movement.)

But at a moment the league will need to be building many facets of its business and league operations, expanding countless others, having a lab to do this may be even more beneficial to Engelbert and the team owners than it would be to Terri Jackson and the players. And roster spots without a D-League simply kicks the can down the road.

Unfortunately, there’s no indication that the WNBPA is advocating for a D-League within its negotiations, according to two sources familiar with the PA’s thinking. At a moment when the pot to be divided is massively larger than the one in place when the last CBA was signed back in 2020 — hence the player opt-out at the end of the 2024 season — thinking creatively about ways to spend that money which will benefit both sides will help to define just how long and at what angle this WNBA trajectory lasts.

And this all takes a while. Don’t forget, the NBA’s version of a D-League started back in 2001 with just eight teams, rosters shared by different NBA franchises. It became the G-League for an economic reason, actually, and not until 2017, when Gatorade started sponsoring it. (Hence the G!)

But the reason it grew to the current size of 31 — each NBA franchise now has a corresponding G-League team, plus the NBA is trying out the Mexico City market — isn’t because the Westchester Knicks or the Noblesville Boom are printing money. It’s because the competitive advantage of having a D-League team is more than worth the cost.

One league source pointed out that it can be argued even Unrivaled, with its reserve players, already moved ahead of the current WNBA rules. But I am unwilling to criticize the WNBA for this. The rules are changing, and require a new CBA to do so. The question isn’t whether the status quo will hold. The question is: how can the league spend its windfall in ways that ensure the business is sustainable, the player experience and product on the floor alike continue to blossom, and the WNBA makes certain that 2024 isn’t a one-off, but the new reality?

I’m not sure there’s a better way, for everyone involved, than a D-League. All Engelbert and the owners need to do is ask those among them who also own NBA teams. And even without that built-in advisory panel, the NWSL has reached this conclusion as well. Around the WNBA? They’ve noticed.

This week in women’s basketball

Katie Dinnebier’s story is a fascinating one.

Caroline Fenton and Cassandra Negley discuss the college-to-pro fan pipeline.

Serah Williams to UConn!

Get well soon, Georgia Amoore.

Fantastic Shakira Austin piece from Jenn Hatfield.

Madeline Kenney catches up with Nyara Sabally.

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Five at The IX: Coquese Washington, Rutgers head coach

Locked On Women’s Basketball: Coquese Washington talks Rutgers lessons from this season, new roster

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