[HKF]

Which city do you think will get the las D-League team?

I have no clue personally, but I see the league is looking at an East-West type of format and so far it looks like this:

2006-07

East
Florida Flame
Austin Toros (Texas)
Fort Worth Flyers (Texas)
Roanoke Dazzle (Virginia)
Fayetteville Patriots (North Carolina)
Tulsa 66ers (Oklahoma)
Arkansas Rim Rockers

West
Bakersfield Jam (California)
Idaho Stampede
Dakota Wizards (North Dakota)
Sioux Falls Skyforce (South Dakota)
Colorado 14ers
Albuquerque Thunderbirds (New Mexico)
Anaheim ****** (California)


Only one more team available to join the D-League. I honestly don't know which team will be next.

It's looking good now. I'm excited.

 

[HKF]

Well I just found out that Anaheim is probably going to get a team in the D-League as well, which would mean that Rockford may not get a team. I still expect another team in the Pacific Northwest personally.

The city is scheduled to finalize its lease agreement with the NBA Development League by early next week, setting the stage for the arrival of the first development league team on the West Coast. The team, which would be owned and named by a consortium of individuals, would play their home games at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena.

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1081983.php

 

[HKF]

It seems like the Bakersfield team will be affiliated with the Sacramento Kings and I expect a Long Beach team to be affiliated with the Lakers.

The D-League is growing quite a bit faster than I thought it would. Glad to see Buss step up and help this aspect of the game.

 

[HKF]

The Lakers are on the verge of becoming the first NBA franchise to own a team in the NBA Development League, with the possibility that minor league games could precede some Laker home games next season at Staples Center.

Ownership would let the Lakers control who coaches and who plays on their minor league team, much as a Major League Baseball team controls personnel on its minor league affiliates. D-League teams select their coaches and players, with NBA franchises given the option to send first- or second-year players to a designated D-League team.

The Lakers have received tentative approval from the NBA Board of Governors, D-League President Phil Evans said Tuesday. NBA Commissioner David Stern said he anticipated the announcement of a Los Angeles team at next week's owners' meetings.

The D-League season starts in November. For its first season, Evans said, the Laker affiliate probably would play its 25 home games at Staples Center, preceding Laker games.

"Beyond that, they would be looking to move into another facility," he said.

With the D-League establishing a California core, one option could be Ontario. Dana Warg, AEG senior vice president, said an arena there is scheduled to open in 2008 and would be suitable for a D-League team.

At a news conference in Anaheim, Evans announced that a D-League expansion team would play in the Anaheim Convention Center arena and receive players from the Clippers. The first game is tentatively scheduled Nov. 25, against the new Los Angeles team.

Roy Englebrecht, part of a six-member Anaheim ownership group that paid the $300,000 franchise fee, said the team's nickname and coach have not been decided.

The city of Anaheim can terminate the lease of the D-League team at the request of an NBA franchise moving into the Arrowhead Pond. Stern, speaking on a conference call, said the D-League's presence in Anaheim would not hamper the city's pursuit of an NBA franchise.

"The D-League will give people in Orange County an opportunity to express their support for the sport of basketball," Stern said. "It can only be positive. There's no negative impact whatsoever."

 

[HKF]

Why stop at 15? The Lakers sure as hell won't want to share players on a D-League team, at least they shouldn't. One D-Leauge team per NBA team is how they should go.


Buffalo NEEDS a D-League team. Bring back the "Buffalo Braves."

My .02....

Aren't they trying to convince the Rochester Razorsharks to jump from the ABA to the D-League in 2007-08?