Spacing is a concern now, possibly more so than it is on the court.

There is no charter flight for the Los Angeles D-Fenders, the Lakers' Development League team. Abdoulaye N'Diaye and Jelani McCoy, both nearly seven feet tall, stake out a couple added inches of space by claiming front-row seats on the flight headed here for a two-game trip.

Their teammates scatter throughout the plane, most nodding to sleep as the sun seeps through the windows with no blinders.

This is a dream on a budget — or life in the NBA D-League.

A budget that puts two players per hotel room, and offers a $30 per diem and salaries that top out at $26,000.

High school and college standouts are now tweeners and too-shorts, and the dream is maybe what gets players through trips — be it here, Fort Wayne or Sioux Falls.

Some D-Fenders have played overseas, where the pay is more lucrative, but returned — either subscribing to the out-of-sight, out-of-mind theory or weary of living far from home.

But the payoff of making it to the NBA with a minimum annual salary of $427,163 — somewhat mystically referred to as "the league" — outweighs any burden. Even a 10-day NBA contract almost matches the highest D-League salary.

So the dream trudges on...