Report: Josh Huestis agreed to D-League stash before selection, legality somewhat unclear
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As it turns out, Stanford forward Josh Huestis did agree to be stashed in the D-League this coming season prior to being selected by the Oklahoma City Thunder with the No. 29 pick in the draft.
This news came Thursday, via a series of tweets from Grantland's Zach Lowe, who spoke with Huestis' agent:
Talked earlier today with Mitchell Butler, agent for Josh Huestis. Said D-League deal was pre-arranged before the draft with OKC. (1/2)
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) July 23, 2014
Butler was not sure if Huestis would get drafted in either 1st/2nd round, viewed D-League promise as best means of guaranteeing being picked
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) July 23, 2014
Butler insisted arrangement did not violate rules against pre-draft discussion of player compensation. A gray area, but seems like semantics
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) July 23, 2014
This makes his situation with the Thunder quite complex, as explained more in the post below. Briefly: teams are prohibited from discussing compensation details with players before they are selected, and Huestis agreeing to play in the D-Legaue without signing his rookie scale contract pretty clearly establishes that the sides discussed contractual matters.
It's simply difficult to establish a reason for this plan to have unfolded that benefits Huestis. His agent said that it was a matter of securing draft position, and that Huestis would only have done this for the Thunder or the San Antonio Spurs, which makes some sense but still seems very grey.
It's also in part because Huestis did not want to play in Europe, which may be the team's only hope here of justifying it from a player perspective - he didn't want to play overseas, and so this was the best way to assure he was drafted by a good organization that would develop him, and the D-League salary doesn't matter as much if overseas play was not an option.
Still, the issue isn't Huestis' choice as much as it is the pre-draft agreement, which (again, see the post below) flies against the letter of the NBA's by-laws. His agent told Lowe the deal was pre-arranged, and it is a matter of compensation considering the No. 29 pick simply assigned to the D-League would earn at minimum $724,400, while a player signing in the D-League outright, like Huestis, is capped at $25,500.
This has the possibility to become a complicated matter for both sides ahead of the start of the season, and it seems likely the league and player's union will both look into it.