At its inception, the G League, then called the NBA Developmental League (D League), was precisely what the name describes. It was a place for young players not ready to compete on the NBA stage to work on their craft and attempt to push their careers forward.
Pascal Siakam, Khris Middleton, Danny Green, and Aaron Brooks are some of the top success stories to come out of the D League, but at the time, they were the exception, not the rule. Siakam made his way up the ranks in Toronto’s system, but for the most part, D League players would enter the draft or sneak their way onto rosters regardless of their affiliated team.