http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071228/BASKETBALL04/712280418NBA eyes Erie for D-League
Cavaliers would be team's parent club
BY DUANE RANKIN
duane.rankin@timesnews.com [more details]
Published: December 28. 2007 6:00AM
The NBA Developmental League will have a team based in Erie in the 2008-09 season, sources close to the situation told the Erie Times-News.
The team would be affiliated with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The games would be played in the 7,000-seat Tullio Arena.
Casey Wells, executive director of the Erie County Convention Center Authority,declined to comment Thursday. Theauthority operates Tullio Arena.
Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry replied to an e-mail message this way: "At this time, the Cavs have nothing to report regarding your question."
The Cavaliers are one of three NBA teams now affiliated with the D-League's Rio Grande Valley Vipers in McAllen, Texas. Houston and New Orleans also are involved.
Considering Erie is only 102 miles from Cleveland, having a D-League team in Erie is more ideal for the 2007 Eastern Conference champions. Cleveland is 1,735 miles from McAllen.
This would mark the third team in Erie associated with a major sports league.
The Erie SeaWolves are associated with Major League Baseball as the Double-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers.
The Erie Otters play in the Ontario Hockey League, whose alumni stock NHL rosters.
The last professional basketball team in Erie was the Erie Wave of the World Basketball League. The Wave joined as an expansion franchise in 1990 and disbanded during the 1992 season.
With the Otters playing in Tullio Arena, schedule adjustments would have to be made to accommodate the basketball team. The Otters' regular season started Sept. 21 and will end March 15. The D-League began its regular season Nov. 23 and is scheduled to conclude it April 12.
The NBA D-League, which is in its seventh season, has 14 teams with 12 of them having at least two NBA parent teams. The Los Angeles D-fenders (Los Angeles Lakers) and the Austin Toros (San Antonio Spurs) are the only D-League teams that have one NBA affiliate squad.
The D-League is looking to expand to 30 teams with single parent club affiliations for each NBA team. Part of its expansion is expected to take place in the Northeast.
"We'll look at having three or four teams within reasonable travel distance (in the Northeast)," D-League President Dan Reed told the Cleveland Plain Dealer last month.
"It could happen real quick or it may be a situation where we have to wait in the next year, but we are not in a rush to double the size of the league in a year," Reed told the newspaper.
DUANE RANKIN can be reached at 878-2210 or by e-mail.
