Fadeaway Friday: Breaking down the new NBA G League franchises

As we head into the 2017-18 NBA season, I thought it would be good to provide a quick breakdown of the new franchises that will appear in the NBA Gatorade League. The NBA is moving towards a 30 team G League, giving each NBA team their own minor league affiliate. As it stands right now, the G League is almost at its goal, featuring 26 teams for the upcoming season. 

The South Bay Lakers are a rebranded version of the Los Angeles D-Fenders, who also were the D-League affiliate of the Los Angeles Lakers. This isn't really a new team so much as it is the D-Fenders getting a new name. I'm guessing that the switch from D-League to G League prompted this change.  "D-Fenders" was a clever name that tied into the name "D-League", but with the league now known as the "G League" the name "D-Fenders" would just seem obsolete. 

The Los Angeles Clippers used to be affiliated with the Bakersfield Jam, but they moved to Prescott Valley, Arizona to become the Northern Arizona Suns, the G League affiliate of the Phoenix Suns. With the Jam relocated, the Clippers needed a G League affiliate of their own, giving rise to the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario. It's quite a name, which means "Hot Water Clippers" in Spanish. The team is named after the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, a federally recognized tribe of the Cahuilla in Southern California. 

The Memphis Grizzlies were formally associated with the Iowa Energy, who now are known as the Iowa Wolves, associated with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Memphis Hustle will replace the Energy as the Grizzlies' G League affiliate, playing their games in Southaven, Mississippi. The logo is similar to that of the Memphis Sounds, a team that played in the now defunct ABA. 

The Orlando Magic were previously associated with the Erie BayHawks, located in Erie, Pennsylvania. With the desire to have their affiliate closer to Orlando, the Magic moved the BayHawks to Lakeland, Florida, which is located about an hour southwest of Orlando, closer to Tampa. 

The Iowa Energy, formally associated with the Memphis Grizzlies rebranded themselves as the Iowa Wolves, now serving as the G League affiliate for the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Wolves will play in Des Moines. 

The Wisconsin Herd will serve as the G League affiliate for the Milwaukee Bucks. The Herd will play in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, which is located about an hour southwest of Green Bay, located right off Lake Winnebago. 

With the BayHawks name now available after the team's departure to Lakeland, Florida,  the Atlanta Hawks took advantage and purchased the team name, keeping the team in Erie, Pennsylvania. At least for now, anyways. 

Note: The Washington Wizards will get their own G League team based in the D.C. area starting in the 2018-19 season. This leaves the Denver Nuggets, New Orleans Pelicans, and Portland Trail Blazers as the only NBA franchises that do not yet have a single affiliate G League team. 

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Fadeaway Friday: A new era begins with the NBA Gatorade League

                                             

In case you haven't heard already, the NBA's minor league system is no longer known as the "NBA Development League (D-League)." The league has taken on a fresh identity as the "NBA Gatorade League (G League)" in an attempt to rebrand itself and further enhance the product that they are putting out on the floor.

Kareem Copeland of The Associated Press provided some more details about what is coming with this rebranding:

"The NBA Development League is changing its name starting next season to the NBA Gatorade League, a deal that will include a rebranding that will affect the league logo, basketballs, jerseys, on-court signage and digital properties.

Long viewed as a proving and testing ground of sorts for the NBA, what has been known as the D-League will also get to take advantage of Gatorade's Sports Science Institute - a resource that many elite athletes, including Dwyane Wade and Cam Newton, have used in recent years for testing and evaluation of what exactly their bodies need during competition.

"This isn't about slapping a name on a league," NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum said. "This is much, much deeper than that."

Tatum said this is not the first step toward a name change for the NBA, and declined to detail the length or financial terms of the deal. But he said the part of the deal including GSSI will provide "knowledge to enhance player performance in our game" through nutrition, training and other advances. Gatorade will also incorporate its most recent products and equipment throughout the league." 

The bottom line is that by partnering its minor league system with Gatorade and its Sports Science Institute, the NBA will get a chance to see whether or not such a partnership is beneficial to the players and teams in the league. If such a partnership proves to be successful, there are good odds a similar type of partnership between the NBA and Gatorade will be agreed upon in a future CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement).

Personally, I think this is a great move by the NBA. They are always looking for ways to improve their product and I see nothing but pure upside with this partnership. This benefits the athletes by giving them more information about how to best stay fit, this benefits the owners by putting a better product on the floor for their customers, and it benefits the fans because they'll get to see their favorite athletes perform at an even higher level.

Note: Fadeaway Friday is a weekly piece that focuses on the NBA Gatorade League. 

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