Wizards D-League

[SUPERBALLMAN]

With the report about Magic wanting a single affiliate D-league team, I was thinking about the Wizards and realized I don't even know who their team is. I know it was the Dakota Wizards, but then they moved to someone else, the Idaho Stampede or Iowa Power? In any case... I've been a proponent of the Wizards obtaining their own franchise. I'd love to see them with The Baltimore Bullets as their D-league team. There would be lots of benefits to having them just up 95, such as scouting and practicing/scrimmaging for the Wizards. Instill your coaches, maybe develop future coaches for the parent team, your system, etc. Marketing in B'more for the Bullets and getting some crowd out to games is a lock. The Wizards always seem to have issues with having enough players to practice. In those times the Bullets would be a short bus ride away. They could have someone like Cassell go up and get his chops running a team as the head guy. It just makes overall sense from a marketing and logistical perspective.

But then I started thinking about this, and remembered that even with your "own" team, the only player you have any rights to are the one's on the Wizards roster. You can obtain a player you scouted... say someone like Devon Booker just as an example... and you put resources into him and coaching and developing him, and he is playing good. Then some other team like the Mavericks just come in and take him. And if you do have a team, do you feel obligated to bring up someone from that team if you need someone, perhaps to help justify what you're putting into that team and it's players, rather than scouting the whole league of available players? Maybe it's better to just keep it as a collective thing, a league-wide pool, with NBA teams sharing everything as was the original form?

I tend to like the idea of eventually emulating major league baseball in that each team would have it's own team, and can scout and draft players for it that they would hold rights to. Then the downside of that is it limits a players opportunity to move up to only one team, rather than currently being available to any team that needs someone multiplying his chances of getting to the NBA. But I still think I like that setup of one team with control of the roster. Actually use it as a minor league team, for development and call up of players. Maybe vets can rehab and ramp up their game there when coming back from injury, before stepping back against NBA competition. Maybe make the NBA draft like 8 rounds like back in the day with rounds 2-8 basically drafting for the Dleague team.

Then I wondered about Rice. When he went to the Dleague was he in a Dleague draft, or was he just a free agent? And if a FA could he go to the highest bidder and do they have salary restrictions? I assume they had some kind of supplemental draft, or like a waiver process of teams with the worst records have 1st dibs kinda thing.

[closg00]

We have a couple of D-League threads, here Is the most recent one I think. The Wizards will probably be the last team to have a single affiliation team if at all.
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=1158910&start=105

[penbeast0]

Yeah but Pine put some Luv-a-Bull pictures in it; that'd scare anyone off.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

We have a couple of D-League threads, here Is the most recent one I think. The Wizards will probably be the last team to have a single affiliation team if at all.
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=1158910&start=105

Yeah, that is what got me started was Orlando talking about doing it, and quite a few teams have, and the Wizards are just silent on the subject. When Ted took over he said something along the lines of they wanted to utilize the D-league more and expand it's use. I don't know if it's a money issue. But he seems to have done a u-turn on the subject and has become reluctant. Seems to me having their own team, and one in close proximity such as Baltimore or Richmond tied to the parent team would provide a lot more possibilities from a financial perspective.

Plus I just think it would be cool to have a Baltimore Bullets D-legue team. They could show their games on Comcast on Wizards off nights.



On another subject... I've wondered if the NBA wouldn't be better served if they played in the summer instead of the winter.

Consider several factors. In the winter they are going up against the NFL, as well as hockey. From an operational point of view, it would be easier for Ted to focus on running one thing at a time, Basketball in summer and hockey in winter. From a scheduling point of view with Verizon center it would be easier because you wouldn't be dealing with the 2 at the same time. From a staffing at Verizon it would mean year round employment. It would also stagger business year round for the restaurants and business around Verizon and Chinatown. Also in the summer when it is still nice out, people will be more apt to walk around a bit than they are in the bitter winter night.

To me growing up playing basketball was always more summer, I'd be out all summer playing every day. From a travel perspective for the players, traveling from city to city and playing is easier in the summer than it is in winter. Players in winter off season can go wherever it's warm. But for them playing and living during the season in places like Milwaukee and Minnesota would be better in the summer.

In the summer the NBA would only have MLB as it's competition. And the contrast in games is ideal for sports fans, one outside one inside, one fast paced and uptempo, the other slower and almost relaxing to watch. The only issue I really see is the coordination with the college game. But IMO it makes sense from a marketing, and from almost every perspective for the NBA to be a summer league. Maybe like April to September. You'd have the playoffs and championship before baseball's, and when the NFL season is just starting. You would no longer be going head to head vs the NFL. Baseball and basketball in the summer and football and hockey in the winter makes sense.

I know it will never happen, but IMO it's something that should be looked in to. I'm interested in hearing opinions on either of these subjects... Wizards D-League or NBA moving to a summer schedule.