NBA ANNOUNCES AFFILIATIONS WITH NBA DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE FOR 2011-12 SEASON

- Nine NBA Teams Have ‘One-to-One’ NBA D-League Affiliations -

NEW YORK , July 7, 2011 – The National Basketball Association and the NBA Development League, the official minor league of the NBA, today announced the affiliation system for the 2011-12 season. An all-time high nine NBA teams will have single NBA D-League affiliates – more than double last season’s total of four – including first-year partnerships between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Canton, the and Dakota Wizards, the New Jersey Nets and Springfield Armor and the New York Knicks and Erie BayHawks, along with the return of the Los Angeles D-Fenders, the Los Angeles Lakers’ single affiliate.

For the seventh consecutive year, each NBA team has one NBA D-League team to which it may assign players. During the 2010-11 season, the NBA D-League saw all-time highs in NBA player assignments (56), individual players assigned (39) and NBA teams assigning a player (25), while last season marked the first time every NBA D-League team was assigned an NBA player.

“We’re very excited that an all-time-high nine NBA teams will have exclusive, ‘one-to-one’ relationships with their NBA D-League affiliates this coming season,” said NBA D-League President Dan Reed. “This clear trend of NBA teams buying into the NBA D-League is not only a testament to our past success, but also the sign of a very promising future.”

The NBA D-League will again have 16 teams playing in 2011-12, including Canton, which will play its first year in Canton, Ohio, under the ownership of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Los Angeles D-Fenders, who resume operation under the ownership of the Los Angeles Lakers after taking a one-year hiatus.

Along with Canton and the D-Fenders, the Austin Toros (San Antonio Spurs), Dakota Wizards (Golden State Warriors) and Tulsa 66ers (Oklahoma City Thunder) are fully owned and operated by their NBA affiliates. The (Houston Rockets), Springfield Armor (New Jersey Nets) and Erie BayHawks (New York Knicks) all have ‘hybrid’ single-affiliation partnerships, where the NBA teams control their NBA D-League affiliates’ basketball operations. Meanwhile, the NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks remain solely affiliated with the .

Seven NBA D-League teams will each have three NBA parent teams: the Bakersfield Jam (Los Angeles Clippers, Phoenix Suns, Toronto Raptors), (Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks), Idaho Stampede (Denver Nuggets, Portland Trail Blazers, Utah Jazz), Iowa Energy (Chicago Bulls, New Orleans Hornets, ), Maine Red Claws (Boston Celtics, Charlotte Bobcats, Philadelphia 76ers), Reno Bighorns (Atlanta Hawks, , Sacramento Kings) and (Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, Orlando Magic). Of those seven teams, only the Fort Wayne Mad Ants have the same three NBA affiliates as last season.

The NBA D-League continues to be a launching pad for NBA talent – 23 percent of all NBA players on 2010-11 end-of-season rosters have played in the NBA D-League, while 27 of the 60 players selected in the 2010 NBA Draft played in the NBA D-League last season.

The complete affiliation system for 2011-12 is listed below:

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2011-12 NBA DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE TEAM AFFILIATIONS

AUSTIN TOROS (TX) LOS ANGELES D-FENDERS (CA) San Antonio Spurs Los Angeles Lakers

BAKERSFIELD JAM (CA) MAINE RED CLAWS (Portland, ME) Los Angeles Clippers Boston Celtics Phoenix Suns Charlotte Bobcats Toronto Raptors Philadelphia 76ers

CANTON (OH) RENO BIGHORNS (NV) Cleveland Cavaliers Atlanta Hawks Memphis Grizzlies DAKOTA WIZARDS (Bismarck, ND) Sacramento Kings Golden State Warriors RIO GRANDE VALLEY VIPERS (TX) ERIE BAYHAWKS (PA) Houston Rockets New York Knicks SIOUX FALLS SKYFORCE (SD) FORT WAYNE MAD ANTS (IN) Miami Heat Detroit Pistons Minnesota Timberwolves Indiana Pacers Orlando Magic Milwaukee Bucks SPRINGFIELD ARMOR (MA) IDAHO STAMPEDE (Boise, ID) New Jersey Nets Denver Nuggets Portland Trail Blazers TEXAS LEGENDS (Frisco, TX) Utah Jazz Dallas Mavericks

IOWA ENERGY (Des Moines, IA) TULSA 66ERS (OK) Chicago Bulls Oklahoma City Thunder New Orleans Hornets Washington Wizards

About the NBA Development League

The NBA Development League, founded in 2001, is the NBA’s official minor league. Featuring 16 teams with direct affiliations to NBA franchises, the NBA D-League is a proven developer of talent: 23 percent of players in the NBA at the conclusion of the 2010-11 season boasted NBA D-League experience, and the league continues to develop coaches, referees, and front-office staff for the NBA and its teams. In fostering the league’s connection to the community, its teams, players and staff promote health and wellness, support local needs and interests, and assist in educational development through NBA D-League Cares programs. The NBA D-League also advances the game of basketball as the research and development arm of the NBA. Throughout the league’s 10 th season, fans could watch all NBA D-League games on NBA FUTURECAST , the free live Web-streaming initiative found at nba.com/futurecast.

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