AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- The NBA D-League is continuing to grow and that will now be the case in Michigan.
On Wednesday, it was revealed that the Detroit Pistons will join a host of other NBA teams in getting their own D-League affiliate, sources told MichiganLive.com. The Pistons' D-League team will play in Grand Rapids, according to the report.
Fourteen of the 17 D-League teams have single-parent affiliations with NBA clubs (such as the Canton Charge/Cleveland Cavaliers).
As MichiganLive.com explained:
"D-League teams follow one of two ownership models -- exclusive ownership by the parent NBA club, or a 'hybrid' affiliation in which local ownership controls day-to-day and business operations while the parent club controls basketball operations.
"The Grand Rapids franchise will follow the hybrid model, whereby the Pistons will pay players' and coaches' salaries and run basketball operations, but local owners operate autonomously in other business areas, including marketing and merchandising."
A nickname for the Grand Rapids team is yet to be determined.
Read the entire MichiganLive.com article by clicking here.
