Will the Trail Blazers regret giving up their D-League affiliate?
The Portland Trail Blazers are one of 12 teams in the NBA without a one-to-one D-League affiliate. But it hasn’t always been that way, because the Blazers had a hybrid affiliation with the Idaho Stampede for two seasons, from 2012 to 2014.
While most NBA clubs are working feverishly to add a D-League affiliate, the Blazers voluntarily ended their deal with the Stampede after the 2013-14 season. “We recognize the value in having a single affiliate in the NBA Development League,” general manager Neil Olshey told The Oregonian. “But at this time, we aren’t in a position to maximize that value.”
During the final year of their agreement with Idaho, the Blazers only sent one player on assignment: C.J. McCollum, and it was only for two games to rehab his broken left foot.
When the partnership was new and fresh, Olshey had a very different perspective. He told Sports Illustrated that the “one thing you can’t promise young players on an NBA team is minutes, because you can’t put the team in position to suffer in terms of wins and losses.”
Instead Olshey, who has extensive background in player development, chose to keep their players with the parent club for their development and growth. While it’s hard to fault their belief in themselves for development, there is really no replacement for live-game play for a player to work on their skills. NBA practices are basically glorified walk-throughs and while many players work to improve on their own time, it’s hard to know what you really have unless it’s put into game speed.
Last season, the team didn’t miss the affiliation with Idaho, because the majority of their bench players were NBA veterans — Dorell Wright, Steve Blake and Alonzo Gee. However, the likes of Allen Crabbe, who the Blazers drafted with the 31st pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, could have used some additional time to work on their craft.
This offseason, Portland has revamped their roster in the hope of rebuilding the team from the ground up after losing LaMarcus Aldridge, Wes Matthews, Nicolas Batum and Robin Lopez, all of whom were starters last season. The new-look Blazers will be filled with youth, and with youth comes inexperience. As it stands, the team will have at least nine players who are 25 or younger. The need for continued development is now ever-present.
Guys like Noah Vonleh (19), Pat Connaughton (22) and Allen Crabbe (23) are unlikely to be in the rotation next season, and thus will not see live-game action very often. If the Blazers still had their affiliation with the Stampede, those players could get minutes and work on skills that the team wants them to focus on in real game situations. After all, Vonleh, while projected to be an eventual starter, still has plenty of work to do. At just 19-years-old, he needs to develop more low-post skills, bulk up and could stand to add a consistent 10-13 foot jump shot to his repertoire.
Without a single affiliation, the team still has an option to send players to the D-League on assignment, but they will be at the whim of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. Fort Wayne is the landing place for all assigned players for the 12 teams who do not have their own D-League affiliate, and while plenty of minutes are up for grabs, some NBA assignees barely saw the court last season because of the unique situation (see: Bruno Caboclo).
You can’t really blame the Mad Ants, either. They want to win, so player development for a random NBA franchise is not something that jumps to the top of their list when a player is assigned. If that player can help them win, they will, of course, play; but if not, they could be wasting away on the bench.
The other interesting conundrum the Blazers could face in the near future is adding another affiliation. The D-League is heading toward 30 teams with one-to-one affiliations with an NBA franchise. That won’t likely happen for another five to seven years, however, with all the logistics involved it’s hard to see any current teams giving up an affiliation from this point forward.
The bad news for the Blazers: They cannot re-affiliate with the Stampede — earlier this year, the Utah Jazz purchased the team.
Not having a team in the D-League might not hinder the Blazers right away, but the pendulum effect of not being able to develop players will certainly hurt in years to come. This season, the Blazers could stand to give some of those young guys valuable NBA minutes, because their current roster won’t be contending for the playoffs anytime soon. The argument still remains that only eight or nine players will be in Terry Stotts’ rotation, leaving the rest of the roster sitting on the sidelines when some could be improving their skills for the franchise’s future use.
Maybe Olshey is just trying to keep Portland weird. If so, he’s doing a darn good job.