Kai Sotto, the Philippines’7-foot-3 basketball sensation, is planning to rejoin G League Ignite in Orlando’s NBA G League bubble.
Sotto stepped out of the G League bubble last month to return to the Philippines to participate with the Gilas for their FIBA Asia Cup matches. Yet Sotto decided to return to the U.S. and rejoin Ignite after the event was postponed.
It is still not clear on when he will play because he must follow the quarantine rules and COVID protocols.
“I haven’t had any conversation at all about that,” Ignite coach Brian Shaw said Monday after his team’s 97-90 win over Iowa. “I’m concerned with coaching the guys that we have here so I’m sure that will be taken care of by our front office and we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.” “We’re working with him and his group in the US to make sure that there is time for him to join his team Ignite,” Butch Antonio, Director of Operations for Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP), told ESPN.com
“We have to remember that even before all of these things happened, when he was planning to join the NBA and when he planned his foreign trip, especially when he first went to America, he made it clear that every time that if the country needs him, he won’t refuse to represent the country with the national team,” he added.
Shaw has relied heavily on a rotation led by Fil-Am Jalen Green, Congolese Jonathan Kuminga, and NBA veteran Jarrett Jack in that three-game period, which, considering the unbeaten streak, has clearly led to great results.
Prospects Daishen Nix and Isaiah Todd have been used solely as backups with respectable minutes, though Princepal Singh, India’s big guy, has not seen a single second of play time as the nearest player to Sotto at the moment.
Though Sotto might return to the Ignite bench as early as next week, it will be prudent to expect him to go through the same fate as the 20-year-old Singh, who, in the eyes of NBA scouts, is still a very raw project.
Sotto was ranked just below the top 60 on most draft boards right before the G League season kicked off, which means that if he insists on announcing this year, he will more than likely go undrafted.
Shaw previously said that Sotto’s situation will be handled by “people that are above my pay grade.”
The dilemma was fiercely debated. There have been opponents of the move, as it’s pretty puzzling for them. Why will Kai Sotto’s camp plan to leave and play for Gilas after spending the last months training for the G League?
Shaw had made it known even before Sotto left for the Philippines that he felt the Filipino teenager would have been best suited by sticking with Team Ignite.
Although the turn of events did not go the way of the young 7-foot-3 man, considering his G League stint, Antonio said Sotto should still be commended for his commitment by flying back to the Philippines.
“It may be a setback for his Ignite career, understandably so,” Antonio said.
“[But] you have to give it to him, his commitment. Whether it pushed through or not, he is here. He made sure that when he makes a promise, he keeps it.”
Of the 16 teams competing in the G League season, the squad is comprised of high-profile NBA prospects and a handful of veterans. In the tournament, players such as Jonathan Kuminga and Fil-American guard Jalen Green are already gaining attention for their play.
“I still believe that the competition he will be playing here in the bubble will be better competition than what he will be playing there,” Shaw previously said when informed of Sotto’s decision to play for Gilas Pilipinas in the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 qualifiers.
Kai’s Contract
That cannot be further from the reality for those speculating that Kai has lost his NBA dream. Kai is under contract with G League Ignite, famously recorded for a whopping $200,000, lest we forget. For an 18-year-old, that’s not bad.
And if the G League bubble is only up until March 6, he may return. The G League is still, thus, an outlet for him. Despite the criticisms about his lack of touches and time to play, the goal is to have experience and exposure to competition near NBA level. He even had to play with expected lottery picks including Jalen Green, Jonatan Kuminga and Isaiah Todd. The G League is still there and it is still an option if Kai wishes to join the G League next year instead of this year.