I watched a little bit of it and it was pretty fun, I enjoyed it, will watch more. I think this certainly has the chance to become a thing, not just a novelty. Given the players involved it has instantly more credibility with even casual fans more than the XFL ever did. They probably missed out on some players purely because they didn't know if it was a gimmick or not.
There are other things going for it as well, they can play it anywhere, including the cities that have no NBA presence (Seattle, St Louis, KC, Pitt, Vegas, San Diego, you name it). They will bring in higher marquis players as it gains legitimacy and money. I don't know that you'd end up seeing guys like Kobe, Shaq, or Duncan but maybe guys like Chris Webber, Grant Hill, Garnett, McGrady think about it. There are already NBA HOFers involved in this league and playing on teams. If this were to show up in my town I'd go, no doubt.