After Landing Jalen Green And Isaiah Todd, NBA G League Is Courting Other Prep Stars, Including Greg Brown, Kai Sotto

The NBA G League isn’t messing around.

After signing prep star Jalen Green on Thursday and reportedly adding former Michigan commit Isaiah Todd, the development league has been linked to a number of high school stars, including 6-foot-9 Texas power forward Greg Brown and 7-1 big man Kai Sotto, a native of the Philippines.

The 6-foot-5 Green will reportedly make $500,000 next year playing for a new team which will be unaffiliated with any existing NBA G League franchise or NBA team. It was first reported in this space on Tuesday that Green was considering skipping college for a six-figure deal in the G League.

His new team will reportedly play a limited 20-game schedule before Green and the team’s other young stars become eligible for the 2021 NBA Draft.

Greg Brown Sr. said Thursday evening that the G League reached out two months ago but that the family has “not spoken with them in two months.”

Brown, a senior at Vandegrift (TX) High School, is poised to announce April 24. His father said Brown is considering Kentucky, Memphis, Texas, Michigan and Auburn as well as the G League and playing overseas.

“Everything has always been an option,” Greg Brown Sr. said. “I’m not sure what Greg will decide to do at this point.”

Brown is the projected No. 12 pick in 2021, per ESPN.com.

The G League has also reached out to Sotto, who spent last season at The Skill Factory in Atlanta, a source said.

Another G League target is Makur Maker, a 6-11 big man originally from Kenya who was raised in Australia. The cousin of Pistons forward Thon Maker, Makur Maker was declared eligible earlier this year for the NBA draft, and his guardian, Ed Smith, said he was “monitoring” the G League situation.

One source also said the G League as well as a Spanish pro team had reached out to Che Evans, a 6-7 forward from Neumann Goretti (PA) who is committed to San Diego State. The source said Evans still plans on attending San Diego State.

The G League is making strong moves for a number of elite high school prospects after watching American teen sensations LaMelo Ball and R.J. Hampton leave America last season to play in the Australian NBL. Both are projected lottery picks in this year’s NBA Draft, which may not happen until August or September due to the coronavirus pandemic.