Affiliates in NBA Development League allow control

The investment has run into the millions, in start-up costs and eventual day-to-day operations – and almost certainly is a financial wasteland. Maybe some fans will leave a few bucks behind for Los Angeles D-Fenders merchandise. Some will spend at the food lines opened on one side of the Staples Center concourse.

But the Lakers are undeterred. They bought the D-Fenders in 2006 to become part of the NBA Development League – the D-League – and scheduled the new team for a lot of 3:30 p.m. tipoffs in a near-empty building for something more coveted in this case than monetary gains.

Control.

The Lakers wanted to teach prospects according to their blueprint, not the way some coach they had no say in hiring wanted to use young players, and they wanted the convenience of easily monitoring the minor-league operation. So they bought a team, hired the staff and had the D-Fenders play in the same downtown Los Angeles arena, often as the opening act for the glamour franchise in a move that killed attendance but allowed the front office of the parent club to closely monitor the fledgling operation.

Yet seven seasons after the NBA started the D-League as a training ground for all levels, from management and referees to players and coaches, the Lakers and San Antonio Spurs remain the only franchises to run their own affiliate. No matter how logical it seems for the development of first-round picks and other well-regarded hopefuls, the 28 other organizations, including the Kings, share assignments and have no authority to dictate the critical decisions of hiring coaches, distribution of minutes or the style of play.

"I think it is a big advantage (for L.A. and San Antonio)," Timberwolves general manager Jim Stack said. "They're running all their stuff. They can kind of control it how they want to control it, where we may be able to influence it, but we don't control it. There's that level of difference between those two things."

Teams report few problems and say they have an overall positive relationship with their respective D-League operation, mostly because coaches in the minors seem to follow the biggest unwritten rule: If someone is sent down, he plays a lot, even if it means benching someone hot. Some NBA parent clubs, hoping to offer direction on the teaching they want, invite the affiliate's coach to training camp.

A sudden convergence of players is unlikely as long as NBA organizations continue to prefer keeping the top-rated prospects in the majors, opting for whatever improvements come from practicing against veterans and occasional game minutes rather than extensive action in the minors. In fact, only four first-round draft picks from 2007 had been sent down this season as D-League rosters remain mostly populated by hopefuls who are NBA free agents.

That 29 of the free agents have been signed this season indicates the D-League is serving a purpose for players who would otherwise be scattered around smaller minor leagues and overseas. But the unmistakable trend of the parent clubs keeping top young players in the NBA, even with limited minutes, rather than sending them down, raises speculation that some front offices don't trust the affiliate.

"I remember a couple years ago, we sent one of our players to our (former) affiliate in Texas," Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said. "They ran a different offense. He played 15 minutes a game. The coach promised me he was going to play three quarters of the game, but after the first game, he only played a half a game, and then he played a little bit less than a half. That coach wanted to win. We didn't employ that coach."

They do now – Dan Panaggio, a longtime college and professional coach – and with the added convenience of the D-Fenders playing at Staples Center in a move that provides maximum flexibility. The Lakers bosses can watch every home game, tracking prospects with greater confidence than having to rely on phone conversations. Players also can participate in a D-League game in the afternoon and be called up for the 7:30 tip for the main event, as was the case with the Lakers' Jordan Farmar last season.

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