Along with “the rent is too damn high,” one lament heard all too frequently in NBA cities concerns the development of young players. The balancing act between playing time and trying to win can often be a fine line. The Nets yesterday officially embarked on their solution.
The Nets and the Springfield (Mass.) Armor of the NBA D-League have entered into a single affiliation partnership — a “hybrid affiliation.” Under the arrangement, which will start with the 2011-12 season, the Nets will run all aspects of the Armor’s basketball operations and Springfield’s local ownership will continue to maintain the off-court operations.
“The one thing we’re very excited about [is] it allows us to develop players, coaches, trainers,” Nets general manager Billy King said. “If we want to send players down, it will allow us also to be running Avery’s [coach Johnson] system. So when guys come back up, they’ll know exactly what we’re doing.”
The Nets become the second team to enter into the hybrid partnership; Houston has a similar arrangement. Four teams, including the Lakers, own their D-League affiliates.
The plan emerged through the efforts of Bobby Marks, now assistant GM. Marks and John Zisa of Nets basketball operations toured Springfield’s operation last season.
“Before Avery got here, we never did a good job developing our young players,” Marks said. “When you’re drafting a non-impact player, they become the forgotten guys. Here, they’ll play. It’s a worthwhile situation.”
Guys like Zoran Planinic, Antoine Wright, Tamar Slay, Evan Eschmeyer. You get the idea.
D-League teams stock their rosters through a draft and each must carry two NBA players. They may bring 10 of 12 roster players to a game. The Nets can send down two from their 15-man roster (leaving them with 13). And the Nets will control them. The other players will be free agents eligible to sign anywhere, including with the Nets, but they will do things Johnson’s way. This season, the Nets, Sixers and Knicks are affiliates of the Armor, coached by Dee Brown.
“Every player down there will understand what we’re doing, the terminology on defense,” King said. “Then if you see young guys you would like to sign, you can sign them and assign them to the D-League.”
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X-rays and an MRI exam on Troy Murphy’s sore right foot were negative. He is day-to-day. . . . Terrence Williams, who sat the last two games with a lower abdominal strain, also is day-to-day.