A growing number of executives running N.B.A. franchises incorporate knowledge about what happens on the basketball court and in the courtroom, while others bring advanced college degrees to their work. Together, they have created what the Portland Trail Blazers’ owner, Paul Allen, termed “the new generation of N.B.A. executives.”

Allen hired Rich Cho as his general manager earlier this month. A day later, the Phoenix Suns introduced Lon Babby, a prominent agent, as their president of basketball operations. Both Cho and Babby pursued law degrees before delving into basketball full time. Cho started as an intern with the Seattle SuperSonics 15 years ago.

Neither Cho, 44, nor Babby, 59, claims to have all the answers for success in the league. But their legal backgrounds could serve them well in those moments when the basketball court and the courtroom intersect, particularly in arbitration cases. They should certainly come in handy when the league’s collective bargaining agreement, which expires after next season, is renegotiated, requiring a new encyclopedia of details, many of them highly nuanced.

With some N.B.A. teams staggering economically, there is a heightened emphasis on an executive’s ability to allocate resources properly.