Clippers join Warriors as D-League affiliates of Jam
| Monday, Jun 29 2009 11:49 PM
Last Updated Monday, Jun 29 2009 11:50 PM
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Reno's Majic Dorsey, left, tries to stop the Jam's Jeff Trepagnier from driving to the basket during the first half Tuesday at Rabobank Arena.
The new rendition of the Bakersfield Jam wants no part of long-distance relationships.
The Jam announced Monday that it had partnered with the Los Angeles Clippers -- instead of the Orlando Magic -- and renewed its affiliation with the Golden State Warriors for the upcoming season.
Bakersfield's NBA Developmental League team had been affiliated with Golden State and Orlando before briefly folding after the season.
The Jam then came back under a new business model that has it playing home games at the compact Jam Center instead of cavernous Rabobank Arena. Now it has a new NBA partner that's within driving distance.
"It makes this actually work," Jam minority owner David Higdon said. "Having Golden State and the Clippers within driving distance makes us happy, and it allows them to drive and see the team and be more confident. There's no way (an affiliation) really works long distance."
Golden State sent a couple of players to the Jam last year who started while they were here, DaMarcus Nelson and Richard Hendrix. Orlando didn't assign any players to Bakersfield.
The Jam actually has been in contact with the Clippers for about 18 months, Higdon said, and discussions continued even while the Jam officially had ceased operations.
"They were involved with talks about us coming back. We wanted the Clippers last season," said Higdon, who owns the team along with majority owner Stan Ellis and Steve Chase, another minority owner. "But due to the fact that (the D-League's Anaheim Arsenal, which was affiliated with the Clippers last season) was down there, we would have had to give up the Warriors. And in discussions with the Warriors, we knew we'd have players from them."
Higdon said the Clippers told him they have intentions of sending Bakersfield players, too, though nothing's for sure -- except, Higdon joked, that the NBA Draft's No. 1 overall pick, Blake Griffin, won't likely be in a Jam uniform. Other young players, however, very well could be.
"We're extremely excited about our new D-League affiliation with the Bakersfield Jam," Clippers president Andy Roser said in a prepared statement. "This will be a terrific additional resource for our basketball operations department and for the development of our younger players."
Higdon said both the Warriors and the Clippers were candidates for a "hybrid model" affiliation, akin to a Class AAA baseball team, where the parent club has total control over player transactions and on-court team management. The Rio Grande Valley franchise announced the D-League's first such affiliation Monday, with the Houston Rockets.
"We're testing the waters right now," Higdon said. "(A hybrid model) would be a three-year agreement, which is good for (the NBA team) from the standpoint of their coaching staff is in place and they're able to teach young players their offense and defense.
"We're not in a rush to do it, but we would as soon as we felt we had a good partner. We'll get to see what the Clippers can do for us."
