NBA D-League expands to 12

[MFFL]

Four teams leaving CBA for NBA D-League
Associated Press

BISMARCK, N.D. -- Four Continental Basketball Association teams, including the Sioux Falls Skyforce and the Dakota Wizards, have been awarded positions in the NBA Development League.

NBA Commissioner David Stern made the announcement in a statement Thursday afternoon.

"Our minor league has a proven track record of developing talent both on and off the court, with more than 100 players, coaches, referees, athletic trainers and front-office personnel moving to NBA teams or the league office, and we look for that trend to continue," Stern said.

"This is a very exciting day for the Wizards," general manager Jane Link said. "We are thrilled to be where we are at."

In addition to the Wizards and the Skyforce, the other teams are in Boise, Idaho, and Broomfield, Colo.

Harvey Benjamin, an NBA vice president, said the Wizards likely would be aligned with the Portland Trail Blazers and the Chicago Bulls. He said Sioux Falls would probably be a feeder-team to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Benjamin said fans will witness "a higher level" of basketball. He said the D-league does not allow "retired, cut or old basketball players."

The Skyforce, which just completed its 17th season in Sioux Falls, won CBA titles in 1996 and 2005.

The Wizards notified the CBA last week that they were pulling out of the league, after five seasons. The team had played six years in the International Basketball Association before joining the CBA. The Wizards won CBA titles in 2002 and 2004.

This week, the team announced it had reached a verbal agreement with the Bismarck Civic Center for three more years.

Wizards owner Steve McCormick said he was "betting and hoping" the jump to the D-League would boost attendance. He said he expects the team to have an average attendance of about 3,500 but is hoping it will be as high as 5,000.

Civic Center officials said attendance at Wizards home games last season slipped about 20 percent from the previous season, to about 2,100 people a game.

McCormick said the move to the D-League will cost "way more" than the team's association with the CBA, but he would not elaborate.

The Wizards and other teams including the Sioux Falls Skyforce had talked recently about making the jump to the D-League.

The Colorado team was slated to be a CBA expansion team next season.

Other teams in the D-League are in Bakersfield, Calif.; Albuquerque, N.M.; Little Rock, Ark.; Austin and Fort Worth, Texas; Fayetteville, N.C.; Fort Myers, Fla.; Roanoke, Va., and Tulsa, Okla.