It usually is, but the G-League is creating a "Select Team" that is unaffiliated with an NBA team and is meant to focus on development of young players and will not play a full G-League schedule or be counted in the G-League standings.
I posted this on the basketball thread, but x-posting here:
Back in 2018, the NBA announced that starting this year, high school graduates would be able to play one year in the G league for $125,000 before being draft eligible instead of going to college:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/18/sports/nba-g-league-one-and-done.html
However, that structure was recently revamped in order to convince top players not to go overseas to play professionally before they were draft eligible (ala Lamelo Ball)
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29043828/sources-top-high-school-player-jalen-green-enter-nba-g-league-pathway
Jalen Green, one of the top 2020 prospects is expected to make around $500,000 plus will be able to sign shoe and other endorsement deals. They will get placed on a Select Team, probably in SoCal, unaffiliated with a current NBA squad, that will focus on development, mentorship, life-skills, etc and will play against G-league teams (that don't count for G league standings), NBA academy teams, foreign teams, etc.
Excerpts:
"NBA commissioner Adam Silver and G League president Shareef Abdur-Rahim have worked to eliminate two massive hurdles to convincing players uninterested in college basketball to pass on the lucrative National Basketball League of Australia by providing a massive salary increase and a structure that doesn't include playing full time in the G League."
"...yearlong developmental program with G League oversight that will include professional coaching, top prospects and veteran players who will combine training and exhibition competitions against the likes of G League teams, foreign national teams and NBA academies throughout the world, sources said."
"The season could include 10 to 12 games against G League teams that wouldn't count in standings, sources said. The primary objective will be assimilation and growth into the NBA on several levels -- from playing to the teaching of life skills.
The salary bonus structure in Green's contract, for example, is expected to include financial incentives for games played, completing community events and attending life skills programs coordinated by the G League's oversight of the program, sources said.
The NBA's plan is to stock this team with veteran pro players who would be willing to balance mentorship of Green and other prospects with the personal opportunities that might emerge because of the intense NBA scouting exposure that will come with these teams."
"Without the restrictions of NCAA amateurism rules, players are free to hire agents, profit from likenesses and pursue marketing deals from sneaker companies worth hundreds of thousands of dollars."