Young latest player to buy into NBL
League based in New Zealand, Australia ‘primed for growth’
Bulls forward Thad Young is buying a minority ownership stake in the Brisbane Bullets of the National Basketball League, the premier professional league in Australia and New Zealand.
The league recently emerged as an alternative for high school players who turn pro rather than spend a year in college, such as LaMelo Ball, who signed a two-year deal with the Illawara Hawks at 17 and became the No. 3 pick in the 2020 draft a few months ago.
On Friday afternoon Young confirmed the deal, which was first reported by the New York Times, and said he hoped to finalize things in the next week.
“The league is primed for growth,” Young said before Friday’s game against the Charlotte Hornets. “The NBL has done a really good job the last couple years of kind of bursting onto the scene.
“(Denver Nuggets rookie) R.J. Hampton and LaMelo kind of made it known a little bit. I see that as a league where guys can go if they don’t want to go to college and want to come out of high school and be able to grow their games a little.”
Young joins a list of NBA players who have bought into league.
In November, John Wall and Dante Exum joined former players Zach Randolph, Al Harrington and Josh Childress in buying into the Southeast Melbourne Phoenix. Matt Walsh, Victor Oladipo and Shawn Marion bought into the New Zealand Breakers.
And Young was recruited by Bullets majority owner Kevin Martin. The two played together with the Minnesota Timberwolves during the 2014-15 season, before Young was traded to the Brooklyn Nets midseason, and have remained friends since. Once Martin reached out to Young two months ago, he started doing homework and saw a young league he wanted to invest in and help build.
“I look at that league as primed for growth with young talent between me being able to kind of help facilitate a lot of the young talent,” Young said, “but also being more than just a value add through capital with my expertise and knowledge around the game and relationships I have in the business world.
“With me having an AAU program that
plays under the Nike circuit, I get to see a lot of the kids and have a relationship with a lot of the kids and also get a chance to help grow their games.”
Young, 32, is in his 14th season in the NBA, but still performing well enough to be a solid rotation player. As a free agent at the end of the season, Young will almost certainly find his name at the center of trade discussion near the deadline this season with a chance to get dealt to a contender.
So while Young is not spending too much time thinking about retirement just yet, he has at least considered what kind of owner he will be on the sidelines.
“I’m going to be into the game, but I’m not going to be yelling at the officials or anything like where I get kicked out and stuff,” Young said. “I’m going to be real chill, laid-back and just enjoy my time being out of the game and just having my family around.”