The Golden State Warriors on Tuesday became the fourth NBA club
to own a team in the NBA Development League when they announced the
purchase of the Dakota Wizards. Golden State also named Jim
Weyermann to the newly created position of vice president of new
franchise development. Weyermann was president of the San Jose
Giants, the Single-A California League affiliate of the San
Francisco Giants, and that has led to speculation that the Warriors
eventually will move their D-League team to San Jose.
OAKLAND
The Golden State Warriors on Tuesday became the fourth NBA club to own a team in the NBA Development League when they announced the purchase of the Dakota Wizards.
Golden State also named Jim Weyermann to the newly created position of vice president of new franchise development. Weyermann was president of the San Jose Giants, the Single-A California League affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, and that has led to speculation that the Warriors eventually will move their D-League team to San Jose.
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The Wizards will stay in Bismarck, N.D., for the 2011-12 season, but relocation is one of many aspects that will be evaluated in the coming months, the Warriors said.
“The question will be is it better for the big-league club to have them in close proximity,” said Weyermann, who won’t be full time with the Warriors until October. “The direct answer is we don’t know yet. I certainly think it was healthy that Buster Posey and Madison Bumgarner, on their day off, were sitting in the front row watching the Giants. But it’s not a necessity.”
The other three NBA teams – San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers, Oklahoma City Thunder – with D-League teams have their affiliates close by. The Spurs’ development club is in Austin, Texas, the Lakers have their team in L.A., and Oklahoma City’s is located in Tulsa.
The Wizards will be overseen by player personnel director Travis Shlenk and basketball operations director Kirk Lacob, son of Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob.
Veteran scout Mike Riley, the twin brother of Warriors general manager Larry Riley, also will be actively involved in the Wizards.
Kirk Lacob, who did most of the leg work once the Warriors decided they wanted to purchase a D-League squad, declined to reveal the purchase price, but one source said it was in the ballpark of $1.5 million.
Kirk Lacob and Weyermann both said the priority is turning the Wizards into a full-service minor league system for the Warriors. In the past, Golden State has found the road bumpy in dealing with independently owned D-League teams.
“It’s more of a hands-on experience,” Larry Riley said. “We get to hire our own coaches, put our own system in. And if a player is sent from the Warriors to the Wizards, you have carry-over and it isn’t that you have to come in and learn a new system.”
Lacob said the team chose to buy the Wizards because they were an established, successful franchise.
The benefits of moving the Wizards to the Bay Area are obvious. Overseeing the organization is logistically more convenient. Also, it’s much easier to call players up in a timely manner, especially when injuries make an extra body urgent.
“We’re going to poke around and look at what makes sense,” Kirk Lacob said. “And if it makes sense to move it, we’ll move it.”
— Story by Marcus Thompson II, Contra Costa Times
