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The D-League finally starts talking about coming back to the south.

The Hornets are finally looking for a D-League team starting 2016-17.

Of course, I'm rooting for Asheville.

http://www.wbtv.com/story/28965604/char ... eague-team

between them, Toronto & Atlanta both wanting their own D-league teams, we just may see the league grow to 24 teams by the 2016-2017 season.

Wherever Jordan puts his team, the other NBA cities in the south will have no choice but to field a team or relocate their current D-League team to a southeastern city. With the new TV money coming there's no more excuses.

Here's an interesting way it could end up:


Charlotte --> Asheville/Columbia
Memphis --> Knoxville
Washington --> Virginia Beach
Atlanta --> Augusta
New Orleans --> Birmingham/Mobile
Orlando --> Jacksonville
Miami --> Columbia (Move team from Sioux Falls and western NBA team takes over that city. Columbia is marketed as "Famously Hot" and the team could be called "Columbia Heat" or something similar.)

It would be better if these moves cause a realignment in the NBA. Memphis and New Orleans really need to be in the Eastern Conference.

I also bet the D-League Showcase will get split up. No way Reno or any other city can be expected to host 30 teams for 60 games. But split to conferences and Reno could host the Western Conference and Asheville could host the Eastern Conference.

Greensboro's proposal may be using three venues, as each venue is too busy to host the team on its own. No way this could fly. How do you sell season tickets or corporate packages that way?

Looks like each city has to give a response if they are in the game with something in the next two weeks, something more formal by June 15. I can't see how Greensboro is going to be a serious contender in this:

http://www.news-record.com/sports/bid-p ... 7449d.html


My GUESS is the Hornets will string this along with two finalists named later (Asheville and Columbia?). Where they have their training camp (held in Asheville last three years) and preseason game (Greenville hosted last year, Asheville did year before), may tip off where they are leaning. Maybe one finalist hosts training camp and one finalist hosts the preseason game? Not implausible.

D-League's coming back to the south. Within 2-3 years we'll finally have 30 D-League teams.

[quote=""SignGuyDino""]With the new TV money coming there's no more excuses.[/quote]

The owners can always find excuses to keep the money in their pockets.

I don't think we'll see the league jump to 30 teams overnight. Maybe by 2020.

of the 13 remaining teams without affiliations, here's my choices for where their D-League teams should be:

Indiana Pacers - Fort Wayne Mad Ants
Atlanta Hawks - Gwinnett, GA
Brooklyn Nets - Newark, NJ(The Prudential Center)
Charlotte Hornets - Asheville, NC
Chicago Bulls - Rockford, IL
Denver Nuggets - Fort Collins, CO
Los Angeles Clippers - Albuquerque, NM
Milwaukee Bucks - Quad City, IL
Minnesota Timberwolves - Winnipeg, Canada
New Orleans Pelicans - Jacksonville, FL
Portland Trailblazers - Spokane, WA
Toronto Raptors - Rochester, NY
Washington Wizards - Roanoke, VA

[quote=""nksports""]The owners can always find excuses to keep the money in their pockets.[/quote]

Exactly. Only naive people think owners do stuff for the good of the game.

Fayetteville likely to enter the race: http://www.fayobserver.com/sports/proce ... 51522.html

Columbia Mayor wants to build a new venue for Hornets D-League team: http://www.free-times.com/news/mayor-wa ... ity-051315

Don't know if Columbia taxpayers will go for this, though. They just approved a new baseball stadium. I was thinking the old Coliseum (at least for starters) but my understanding is they gutted out a lot of seats there and it mainly for the college tennis team to practice in now.

[quote=""toad455""]I don't think we'll see the league jump to 30 teams overnight. Maybe by 2020.

of the 13 remaining teams without affiliations, here's my choices for where their D-League teams should be:

Indiana Pacers - Fort Wayne Mad Ants
Atlanta Hawks - Gwinnett, GA
Brooklyn Nets - Newark, NJ(The Prudential Center)
Charlotte Hornets - Asheville, NC
Chicago Bulls - Rockford, IL
Denver Nuggets - Fort Collins, CO
Los Angeles Clippers - Albuquerque, NM
Milwaukee Bucks - Quad City, IL
Minnesota Timberwolves - Winnipeg, Canada
New Orleans Pelicans - Jacksonville, FL
Portland Trailblazers - Spokane, WA
Toronto Raptors - Rochester, NY
Washington Wizards - Roanoke, VA[/quote]

Don't know if any city in New Jersey will want the Nets' D-League team. Maybe Orlando pulls their affiliation to Erie's team, starts a new one in Jacksonville, and then the Nets starts a team in Erie?

I think there were a few whispers about a D-League team in Harlem. Maybe that would work for the Nets?

There's going to be some shuffling of affiliations in the next few years for sure.

I think it will be a little more movement than just filling the remaining teams. Adding 13 teams is still almost half the teams so I see some current teams relocating to closer places.

I defiantly agree that Jacksonville should have a team! Would also consider Birmingham as well. They have already meet with the NBA within the last year. The mayor wants a team bad. I would also consider Shreveport for New Orleans or maybe even Baton Rouge.

Like I mentioned before, if you are going to build the D-League do it right. One to one affiliate owned at least partially by the parent club and located within about 2 hours of the NBA team.

After that, the teams can do a better job of sending players up and down and playing them on rehab assignments. A NBA player on D-League rehab is still rare but common place in the Minors for baseball.