SWOT Analysis for NBA D-League

1.Strengths Advantages: NBA D-League operates as a developmental league (a minor league of the NBA) where players can develop their skills in order to perform at a higher professional level.

The 2014-2015 season saw 39% of NBA players who have spent time in the D-League -- a league record (FAQ: NBA Development League, 2016.) What do you do better than anyone else? The D-League develops, trains, hones, focuses on and supports the skills, aims, objectives and natural latent talents of players in a way that directly readies and prepares them for transitioning to the NBA.

What unique or lowest-cost resources can you draw upon that others can't? The D-League can draw upon affiliated teams' resources in the NBA, owners' outlay, professional facilities, professional coaching staff, networks of agents, players, coaches and representatives, and training camps. What do people in your market see as your strengths? The strength of the D-League is that it can take talented players who are not quite ready for NBA-level play and prepare them for NBA-level contests.

What factors mean that you "get the sale"? The overwhelming factor is the possibility of transitioning to the NBA. With a third of all current NBA players having spent time in the D-League, the statistics suggest that there is a great deal more possibility of entering the NBA through the D-League than any other route. What is your organization's Unique Selling Proposition Add to My Personal Learning Plan (USP)? This is the fastest, most effective way for players to get into the NBA.

No other league offers as high of a percentage of transitions to the NBA as the D-League. 2.Weaknesses What could you improve? Organization and coordination between D-League teams and NBA teams. What should you avoid? Becoming so large that it reduces the chances and opportunities of those in the D-League to transition upwards.

What are people in your market likely to see as weaknesses? The inability for players to compete at the highest professional level in the country and the pay: they could compete in other leagues in other countries at the highest level there and receive higher paying contracts. What factors lose you sales? Pay rates and playing opportunities for players; lack of visibility and franchises and top-tier talent for fans. Fans want to see world-class players more than they want to see undrafted talent.

However, a fan base for college talent that goes undrafted exists and can be built on (Chazin, 2014). 3.Opportunities What good opportunities can you spot? Opportunities to showcase skills, improve, be seen, and be called up to the NBA. What interesting trends are you aware of? The number of players in the NBA who have played in the D-League is on an upward trend. The D-League is being seen more and more as a farm system for talent (Price, 2015).

Fan bases are growing to support the D-League and have it been seen as a platform for young and aspiring talent looking to climb into or back into the NBA. Useful opportunities: Players do not sign a contract with a specific D-League team but rather with the League. That contract is terminated if the player is called up to the NBA (Santa Cruz Warriors, 2016). Thus, players are not bound to a specific franchise.

4.Threats What obstacles do you face? Threats include fans losing interest in the D-League, teams becoming unsustainable, franchises closing, teams ending (a persistent worry in the D-League) and there being not enough spots for players to go around. What are your competitors doing? Leagues around the world are becoming more superior platforms and seen as entries or gateways to the NBA, so they are attracting more fans and players as well. The recent 2016 summer Olympics showed how good leagues around the world have become.

Are quality standards or specifications for your job, products or services changing? Quality standards and specifications are not changing, but the nature of the league remains fluid and unstable, as teams are bought out by bigger franchises, merged, or closed. It remains a tentative situation for players and makes it difficult.