The NBA Development League has officially rebranded itself as the NBA Gatorade League (NBA G League). While we knew the change was coming, it’s official now, with the league’s official website having been updated to reflect the new name and new logo(s).
Going forward, we’ll be referring to the league by its new name, and our page for D-League news has been updated to indicate that it’s now the G League.
The G League will have 26 franchises for the 2017/18 season, with all but four NBA teams now in a one-on-one relationship with an affiliate. Twenty-two of those 26 NBA teams with G League affiliates own and operate their squad.
Here’s the list of affiliates for the 2017/18 season:
Atlanta Hawks: Erie BayHawks (expansion)
Boston Celtics: Maine Red Claws
Brooklyn Nets: Long Island Nets
Charlotte Hornets: Greensboro Swarm
Chicago Bulls: Windy City Bulls
Cleveland Cavaliers: Canton Charge
Dallas Mavericks: Texas Legends
Detroit Pistons: Grand Rapids Drive
Golden State Warriors: Santa Cruz Warriors
Houston Rockets: Rio Grande Valley Vipers
Indiana Pacers: Fort Wayne Mad Ants
Los Angeles Clippers: Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario (expansion)
Los Angeles Lakers: South Bay Lakers
Memphis Grizzlies: Memphis Hustle (expansion)
Miami Heat: Sioux Falls Skyforce
Milwaukee Bucks: Wisconsin Herd (expansion)
Minnesota Timberwolves: Iowa Wolves (new affiliation)
New York Knicks: Westchester Knicks
Oklahoma City Thunder: Oklahoma City Blue
Orlando Magic: Lakeland Magic (relocation)
Philadelphia 76ers: Delaware 87ers
Phoenix Suns: Northern Arizona Suns
Sacramento Kings: Reno Bighorns
San Antonio Spurs: Austin Spurs
Toronto Raptors: Raptors 905
Utah Jazz: Salt Lake City Stars
Teams without G League affiliates:
Denver Nuggets
New Orleans Pelicans
Portland Trail Blazers
Washington Wizards (affiliate planned for 2018/19)
The Iowa Energy changed their name to the Iowa Wolves.
Good catch. Fixed now, thanks.
“The D league has changed their name to G League”
No I’m not correcting you Luke. You wrote it down correctly.
I just still can’t get used to it. Can you?
Haha, I’m glad at least that they’re just going by “G League” rather than making “Gatorade League” the official name. That’d be a bit much for me.
Technically, the Hawks/Erie situation and Magic/Lakeland situation is different than that.
The Erie *franchise* was sold to the Magic, and they’re moving it to Lakeland.
The Hawks and D-league originally announced that they will expand with a new franchise in a suburb of Atlanta, pending the construction of an arena.
But later this spring, word came that the Hawks were going to go ahead and start the franchise, filling the void in Erie.
So, technically, the Lakeland is a relocation, and the Erie is a new franchise.
This is a good correction and I appreciate it. Thanks.