RealGM

The Atlanta Hawks will have a new D-League affiliate next season due to the Phoenix Suns entering into a hybrid affiliation with the Bakersfield Jam according to a report by Arizona Central...16 of the 18 planned D-League franchises for next season have a one-to-one affiliation with an NBA team. There are rumors that...would leave just the Fort Wayne Mad Ants as the only D-League franchise without an NBA affiliation.

http://www.ridiculousupside.com/2014/5/7/5691140/how-will-the-nba-d-league-landscape-look-next-season-changes

Not a huge fan of sharing a D-League Franchise with multiple teams. I accept that owning a D-League affiliate on our own is likely not in the cards. But sharing one with the remaining 12 NBA teams sounds terrible. Though Fort Wayne is at least closer than Bakersfiled, CA.

Any thoughts going forward?
Think we still need a affiliate?
Might we just draft foreign players and stash them overseas?
Are we approaching young player overload on our roster with 6+ players having less than 2 years of experience next season?
Any chance we can partner up with another organization (SAS) and share their resources periodically?

Hawks were already sharing Bakersfield with multiple other teams and it's highly unlikely that those that have entered into exclusive affiliations already would give up that advantage.

I have more confidence in the coaching staff developing guys with the "daily vitamins" than sending them halfway across the country to participate in a glorified pick-up game for a team trying to satisfy their own and the desires of 4-12 other teams. All the DLeague has accomplished for the Hawks is to get guys into better game shape but there certainly isn't any real development to be expected.

I definitely hope we have a D-League franchise/affiliate. For the price of owning/running a team, the rewards are enormous.

I'm okay with our foreign guys staying with their respective teams, but D-League is so much more than just a place to stash guys. It's a place for them to build confidence and hone their skills, as well as identify sleeper guys.

As for partnering with another organization, there are pros and cons. Obvious pros are that you save on costs and likely have an improved D-League team which more closely resembles NBA-tier talent. The con would be that the partnering team is privy to the same information as you and is more likely to snipe your potential pickups. FWIW, I don't think the Spurs would be interested in sharing a team, despite the mutual roots we have.

Interesting Topic - Thanks Jamaaliver

While I'd like to have a D-League team so we can shuttle guys who didn't make the deep rotation and keep them game ready, I think having a single partnership with a D-League team is highly overrated. The biggest advantage that a D-League club provides - as an avenue to give your 13-15 players a little time to stay game ready - you'll get whether or not you have the single partnership or not. The perceived advantage that a D-League team could serve a similar function as a AAA team in baseball simply isn't what happens in reality.

I went ahead and investigated SAS, HOU, and GSW and looked into their partnerships with their D-League clubs. These were the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th clubs to partner with a D-League club and I've specifically read articles on GSW and HOU and seen the stated goals that the FO has for their D-League program. For GSW, they wanted a player development program where they could churn out backup grade players so they could use more $$ to acquire and keep star level starters; HOU wanted to have a fishbowl where they could generate a bunch of statistics to evaluate and allow to influence their play. I chose SAS since we're always comparing us to them albeit not without reason.

The stark truth is that there was very little in the way of player development happening. I mean, sure, Danny Green spent 1 game in the D-League with SAS, but how much did that 1 game really develop his game? It was more likely an orientation than actual player development. If you put a cutoff of 10 D-League games for a player that gave 1000+ minutes this year, you get one player - Terrence Jones - and you have to question how much of his development was because of his time in the D-League versus how much he would have otherwise improved.

In fact, the players that these teams were developing typically ended up on other teams. Guys like Jeremy Lin, Jeff Adrien, and Ish Smith all played for these parent clubs D-League team and never did much for them but did get some time elsewhere. In fact, even the parent clubs investigated had more 1,000+ minute contributors who other teams put in the D-League for 10+ games than the ones they developed: Danny Green and Lin (while with GSW). If you're going to be getting more guys from other teams D-League squad anyway, then why bother running your own?

Even the biggest noted advantages from the articles (developing coaches and FO members) is questionable. Sure, the D-League is definitely an avenue for a young coach who is looking for a break, but again, even if you don't let someone else swoop in and take him, you are limiting the amount of new blood and ideas into the system if the only people you're letting into your inner circle are guys that you mentored.

Now, sure, the cost of a single partnership is small and the advantage isn't nil (SAS and GSW stashed a vet on the squad in case of emergency; HOU did get a significant amount of data to mine), but if the goal is to put the best players on the floor, then I'd guess that Euro-Leagues are still a better avenue for player development than the D-League is. The only question in my mind would be that if one of the other 12 teams partners with Fort Wayne - would I be out of a place to park a kid who has been riding the pine for the last month? If so, then it's worth the investment to be one of the teams who has a single affiliated D-League team. If, as I think, the League Office would step in and allow for more D-League teams (somehow, someway), then I'd prefer to let someone else be the partner.

Latest Update:

The Hawks will be one of 13 teams to share an affiliation with the Fort Wayne (Indiana) Mad Ants of the NBA Development League next season.
The Jazz announced a single-affiliation partnership with the Idaho Stampede Tuesday, becoming the 17th franchise to have a one-to-one affiliation with a D-League team. Only Fort Wayne now remains of the 18-team D-League that will play the 2014-15 season without such a relationship...the Mad Ants, who won the D-League championship last season, will have four available spots for NBA assignees. He will fill those spots on a first-come, first-served basis. Potter suggested that some teams may choose to develop players at their own facilities with their own coaching staffs.

http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/atlanta-hawks/2014/jun/10/fort-wayne-only-d-league-affiliate-left-hawks/

This is a pretty terrible set-up. Four available roster spots for 13 teams...man.

Seems like a great opportunity to expand the D-League.

Who is going to invest in the DLeague? The NBA is already floating both the DLeague and WNBA and have the NCAA and EuroLeague as their unofficial minor league teams. The return/investment just doesn't seem worth it and given the number of DLeague teams that have already folded in the past it doesn't seem as if the league could support a larger amount of franchises either. As TAF has already stated, the benefits of a single affiliation team are overstated as you're more likely developing said player for some other team rather than yourself.

MaceCase wrote:Who is going to invest in the DLeague?

Lots of people?


April 2013:

Sixers Acquire New NBA D-League Franchise, Delaware 87ers

March 2014:

New York Knicks purchasing own D-League team

June 2007:

Spurs Purchase Austin Toros of NBA Developmental League

March 2014:

Report: Pistons taking Nets’ D-League affiliate, moving it to Michigan

Jamaaliver wrote:

MaceCase wrote:Who is going to invest in the DLeague?

Lots of people?


April 2013:

Sixers Acquire New NBA D-League Franchise, Delaware 87ers

March 2014:

New York Knicks purchasing own D-League team

June 2007:

Spurs Purchase Austin Toros of NBA Developmental League

March 2014:

Report: Pistons taking Nets’ D-League affiliate, moving it to Michigan

Great job, you provided links to the creation of only 1 new DLeague team whereas the others were the purchasing of already existing entities. Somehow this addressed my comment on the unlikelihood of the league expanding to accommodate 30 NBA teams.

^What are you talking about?

You asked who would invest in a team. I gave multiple examples of teams purchasing D-League affiliates. Three examples in the last 18 months alone....

Just once. Just one time...don't be the bully.

Just say, okay.

It's okay to be wrong every once in a while. It happens to the best of us.

I responded directly after and to your statement "seems like a great opportunity to expand the DLeague". Right, that was the gist of your new post in this thread, correct?

If you didn't chop up my post and bothered to actually read it in its entirety you would have noticed that it further elaborated why expansion of the DLeague is unlikely due to the economics of not purchasing an already existent team, but expanding the league to singly accommodate the 13 franchises to have their own affiliate when it offers them little tangible results.

You retorted with the DLeague expanding by only 1 team.....

You need 1) reading comprehension and 2) understanding of context before you engage in a useless argument and once engaged in said useless argument you need to recognize not to call the other person wrong for your own foible.

MaceCase wrote:You need 1) reading comprehension and 2) understanding of context before you engage in a useless argument and once engaged in said useless argument you need to recognize not to call the other person wrong for your own foible.

Who's arguing, dude?

You asked a question: Who would invest in the D-League? I gave you numerous examples of teams that outright bought D-League franchises. They invested funds to gain a controlling interest IN THE D-LEAGUE. One team even bought an existing affiliate, then paid to relocate it. That's how much they valued control over the operations of a D-League franchise.

Lots of teams are investing in their own minor league teams. If you question the effectiveness, that's a different issue. But with 13 teams having very little recourse when it comes to sending young players down to the minors, I'd buy stock in the D-League today. Clearly, there is a growing trend of pro teams forming an exclusive relationship with D-League teams. It's just a matter of time before that league expands.

But seriously, dude. Are you just a jerk all the time? Do you find it necessary to insult/demean/condescend everyone who has an opinion that differs from your own?

And again there is a large difference from purchasing an already existing entity and building from the ground up an entirely new one, the exact issue I directly addressed....as that is the only remaining course of action for at minimum 12 teams who might like to have their own DLEague team......seeing as all but one has been gobbled up.

You just thought you had an "I gotcha" moment and retorted with information that was largely useless to my point besides the Knicks. Yes the billionaire Knicks whom did not enter a single affiliation like all the other teams (something I never addressed) but rather created their own affiliation altogether. How feasible or desirable is that course for the 13 remaining NBA franchises who aren't in possession of the Knicks resources? Rather unlikely considering the rate of return on their investment and the already existent access to a multitude of other, cheaper resources such as other teams DLeague players.

MaceCase wrote:How feasible or desirable is that course for the 13 remaining NBA franchises who aren't in possession of the Knicks resources? Rather unlikely considering the rate of return on their investment and the already existent access to a multitude of other, cheaper resources such as other teams DLeague players.

Time will tell.

I'll update this thread if any additional teams get a franchise in the D-League.

It's worth mentioning that a couple of those articles mentioned all teams some day being in an exclusive relationship with a D-League team in the near future.

Some expect it to be something all 30 teams will voluntarily do or be urged to do when the next Collective Bargaining Agreement is signed in 2017.

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/24476528/new-york-knicks-purchasing-own-d-league-team-fans-can-name-it

The NBA’s march toward a 30-team minor league continues...I believe, soon, the D-League will more closely resemble triple-A baseball. All 30 NBA teams will have a single affiliate – most of them nearby – and will own the rights to every player on the team. To fill these rosters, the draft will expand by several rounds.

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/03/26/report-pistons-buying-nets-d-league-team-moving-it-to-michigan/related/

MaceCase wrote:And again there is a large difference from purchasing an already existing entity and building from the ground up an entirely new one, the exact issue I directly addressed....as that is the only remaining course of action for at minimum 12 teams who might like to have their own DLEague team......seeing as all but one has been gobbled up.

How feasible or desirable is that course for the 13 remaining NBA franchises who aren't in possession of the Knicks resources? Rather unlikely considering the rate of return on their investment and the already existent access to a multitude of other, cheaper resources such as other teams DLeague players.

Jamaaliver wrote:Time will tell. I'll update this thread if any additional teams get a franchise in the D-League.

I said I'd update the thread if additional franchises acquired/purchased/started their own D League affiliate:

The Raptors are poised to announce they have acquired a D League team that will begin play this fall in Mississauga, according to multiple sources.


Toronto has sought a minor league affiliate for months and gained final NBA and D League approval for an expansion franchise in the last two weeks, the sources said.


The cost of a franchise is in the $6 million (U.S.) range, putting a pricetag on the team’s sole minor league affiliate that equals about the cost of one year at the NBA mid-level salary.

Here

If Atlanta was to have a d-league team, any ideas where it could/should be located?

uga_dawgs24 wrote:If Atlanta was to have a d-league team, any ideas where it could/should be located?

I've been advocating Louisville, KY. It's a huge market in a basketball state. The city already has massive support for the collegiate team there. One hour flight to ATL. A looong bus ride to other affiliates.

From a business standpoint, it'd be a perfect fit.

Hardwood Paroxysm did a feature last year on potential locations:

Louisville, Kentucky

Background: There’s a notable amount of speculation that Louisville could one day become home to an NBA franchise– this Facebook page promoting the idea has over 11,000 likes. In 2012, the Louisville Cardinals were labeled the most valuable NCAA basketball team, proving that this city adores basketball

Arena: The KFC Yum! Center seats over 22,000 and is home to the Cardinals mens’ and womens’ basketball programs.

Proximity: Louisville is geographically friendly, too. It’s a three-and-a-half hour drive to Fort Wayne, five hours to Canton, eight-and-a-half hours to Des Moines, and Louisville is 10-and-a-half hours away from Oklahoma City.

MaceCase wrote:Who is going to invest in the DLeague?

Forgot about this announcement last month:

CHARLOTTE, NC (WCSC) - Charleston is one of seven cities in the Carolina's being considered as a location for the Charlotte Hornets new D-League franchise, the team announced in a statement on Monday morning.

The Hornets are currently one of 13 NBA teams affiliated with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the lone independent D-League team. The other 17 teams in the league have single affiliations with NBA squads.

“Having our own D-League team would provide us with the best opportunity to develop our young players, which is paramount in today's NBA,” said Hornets General Manager Rich Cho.

Hornets Sports & Entertainment announced that they hope the team begins play in the 2016-17 season

_s_t_u_r_t_ wrote:http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/02/whats_wrong_with_ballin_in_the.html

Thanks for the link. Birmingham, definitely makes sense from a logistics standpoint. Allowing scouts/coaches/executives/players to evaluate prospects up close on a more consistent basis.

I didn't realize Hawks actually pay a fee every season we go without a D-League affiliate of our own.

Seems like an inevitability we eventually make the full time investment for one of our won. Especially with the number of 2nd round draftees we seem to be collecting.

Bud mentioned something about the possibility of a "hybrid" arrangement, and I took that to mean he is exploring the chance we could just pair up with our good friends in San Antonio/Austin, at least for this current season... we'll see. Clearly, they weren't impressed with sending guys to the Ft. Wayne Ants.