All Things D-League: Attention ChumpDumper

[DPG21920]

I have a lot of questions about the D-League. First of all, is there any site that gives a very good overview of how everything works (trades, who pays salaries, everything...)? I have gone to the main site for the d-league, but have not found a d-league 101 per se.

Some specific questions I have:

How do trades work in the D-League? (Where is Keith Langford?)

If a team owns a players rights, but does not have them under contract
(Javtokas for example) are they free to play in the d-league for a different team other than their teams affiliates (in this case the toros)?

Are all of the franchises independently owned?

What are the franchises responsible for financially? What does the NBA cover?

Does that change when a NBA team (Spurs, Lakers, OKC) owns their affiliate?

How does the draft work exactly (meaning, who can teams keep that were on their roster the previous year)?

Any and all help would be appreciated. I am really getting into the d-league and doing a lot of research, so I would like to know!

[ChumpDumper]

How do trades work in the D-League?

I don't know the absolute specifics of the pay scales or if there is any type of salary-matching required in the D-League. I can't remember anything other than single-player-for-single-player trades, nothing like trades for cash or draft picks.


Where is Keith Langford?He is listed on the roster for Virtus Bologna in Italy with Earl Boykins and Sharrod Ford. I don't expect to see him in the states this season. That's a pretty nice gig.


If a team owns a players rights, but does not have them under contract
(Javtokas for example) are they free to play in the d-league for a different team other than their teams affiliates (in this case the toros)?

We've speculated about this, but haven't come to a solid conclusion. Ricky Sanchez actually played for the Idaho Stampede while his rights were retained by the Nuggets (their affiliate is the Colorado 14ers), but his case coujld be unique because he was on the CBA Stampede the season before they joined the D-League. We haven't found anything to prohibit your scenario, but I couldn't tell you for sure.


Are all of the franchises independently owned?

Three teams are owned and operated by NBA franchises: Austin Toros by the Spurs, LA D-Fenders by the Lakers and the Tulsa 66ers by the OKC Thunder. The Reno and Albuquerque teams are owned by Southwest Basketball, LLC, but there is a certain percentage of each team that must be owned by locals. I couldn't tell you if the same requirement holds for the NBA-owned teams.


What are the franchises responsible for financially? What does the NBA cover?

The NBA covers player salaries for sure. The owners are responsible for most everything else. Venue rental and travel seem to be the expenses about which they express the most concern.


Does that change when a NBA team (Spurs, Lakers, OKC) owns their affiliate?

Not that I know of.


How does the draft work exactly (meaning, who can teams keep that were on their roster the previous year)?

Last season, teams were allowed to keep from the previous season or newly allocate a total of seven players in any combination. Allocation is the acquisition of a player outside of the draft that has some local or regional tie to the team allocating him.


Any and all help would be appreciated. I am really getting into the d-league and doing a lot of research, so I would like to know!

Hope that helps. I answered what I could from memory and it needs more fleshing out. ourportscentral.com has a nice archive of minor league basketball articles and there are several knowledgeable posters in their forum. If I find more specific sources I'll post them here.

[DPG21920]

I really appreciate it, I have done a lot of research and have come to understand quite a bit, but these were some of the question marks. I have definitely visited the osc site many times along with the official d-league site. I am going to keep on digging, to find out the exact answers, and if I do, I will post it as well.

Thanks again.