Golden State Warriors acquire NBA D-League team
Dakota Wizards: NBA Update
At a point, when every team in the league is busy introducing their new recruits from the draft and preparing for a lockout in league, Golden State Warriors have made a significant move.
On Tuesday, in a press meeting, the Warriors general manager Larry Riley stated that the franchise is purchasing Dakota Wizards of the NBA Development League. The terms of the trade were not made public.
With the signing of this pact, the Warriors have become the fourth NBA franchise to completely own a team in the D-League.
Before them Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, New York Knicks, New Jersey Nets and Houston Rockets have shares in the D-League teams.
However, among these teams only, San Antonio, L.A and OKC had full rights to operate their D-League teams. Rockets, New Jersey and the Knicks control only the basketball operations of their respective sides. The Mavs on the other
hand are just associated with the Texas Legends.
The Wizards owner Ted Leonsis highlighted the fact, that the Warriors can utilize D-league to refine their fresh talent. However, there is also a catch in it, as it was known that the Warriors want to move the team, most possibly
to Northern California.
When Riley was asked about it he said, "It's our position to come here and go to work with the Dakota Wizards. All options are on the table. (Moving) is one of the options that could take place. We are in a position where we're
just getting started with this organization. I can't tell you exactly where everything is going."
The Wizards have still two years left on the Civic Centre lease, but the Warriors can utilize the buyout option on the last year, if they don’t want to play in Bismarck after this season.
Wizards' new president Jim Weyermann, who is also the vice president of new franchise development for the Warriors, said, “We want to be straight forward with everybody,". "We want everybody to be excited about what we're doing. We want them to be excited
that the Warriors are part of this affiliation. Lame-duck status is a little premature, because our complete focus is on getting better on the basketball floor."
The Warriors have acquired the Wizards from McCormicks, Steve and Karen, and Dawn Kopseng, who were initially looking to sell their team to a local investor, but failed in their quest to find one. However, McCormick still believes
that if the Wizards draw more fans to watch their games, then the Warriors will have to quit their plan of shifting.
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