The rapid growth of the NBA G League over the past few years has been undeniable and the developmental league’s impact on the NBA has been quite significant as well. Now, our Denver Nuggets have joined the fray with the acquisition of their own G League outfit last week.
There is excitement at every level of the Denver Nuggets franchise right now, with the news of Denver’s third straight playoff berth following in the wake of the team’s announcement that they had (finally) acquired a G League affiliate franchise, the Grand Rapids Drive.
The team sounds like a street name, I know, but before you get all bent out of shape about it, know that there are already plans for rebranding that would include a new logo and team nickname, per The Denver Post‘s Mike Singer. Phew.
News: The #Nuggets are finally expecting to get a G League team to start next season, sources told @denverpost.https://t.co/dZaaz9yTQH
— Mike Singer (@msinger) February 18, 2021
Considering that they were one of only two NBA teams—along with the Portland Trail Blazers—without a G League affiliate since 2018, Denver is actually quite late to the party. Better late than never, though.
It wasn’t for a lack of trying, however. The Nuggets’ brass has been probing and making overtures to get themselves a G League affiliate for some time now, with proposals for Seattle, Las Vegas, Nashville, San Diego, and Omaha all falling flat over the years, sources told Singer.
The agreement between the Nuggets and the Drive will be of a hybrid nature, with Drive owner Steve Jbara and his group handling everything on the business side such as the team’s arena as well as sponsorships and local partnerships. The Nuggets, who bought in for approximately $9 million according to Singer, will be in charge of everything on the basketball side of operations.
That hybrid setup is used by only one other team in the league, the Houston Rockets, but there don’t seem to be many drawbacks to those straightforward partnership terms from my perspective.
One of the men that will be leading the charge in moulding Denver’s new G League squad will be Director of Basketball Operations Ben Tenzer.
Tenzer will bring a unique perspective to the process considering that back in 2006 he was tasked with evaluating the G League’s predecessor, the D-League, not only for talent but to understand the inner workings of the teams as well, he told Nuggets.com.
“I was hired in 2013 [as Director of Basketball Ops] by Josh [Kroenke] and Tim [Connelly] and that was one of the first things that was brought up. ‘You were doing a lot of the minor league stuff before, let’s focus on getting a team,’” Tenzer said to Nuggets.com.
“Sure enough, eight years later, we finally have our team and it is an incredible setup.”
But what can fans with no prior knowledge of the Grand Rapids Drive expect with this acquisition for the Denver Nuggets? First off, let’s take a look at the franchise itself.
Who are the Grand Rapids Drive?
The franchise now known as the Grand Rapids Drive first began back in 2006 as part of the NBA D-League. They were called the Anaheim Arsenal back then, and they served as an affiliate squad to four different NBA teams. In 2009, they moved to Springfield and became the Armor.
In 2011, the Brooklyn Nets made the Springfield Armor their exclusive affiliate team, which made the Armor just the second team from the developmental league to get such a deal from an NBA club. In 2014, the team was bought and moved to Grand Rapids, where they entered into a single-franchise affiliate agreement with the Detroit Pistons.
Then, last year, the Pistons decided to buy the Northern Arizona Suns from the Phoenix Suns and relocate them to Michigan, leaving the Drive without an NBA partner. That’s where the Denver Nuggets came in, and considering this is Denver’s first foray into the G League, they could not have found a better franchise to partner with.
Grand Rapids has built up a bit of a reputation as a hub for minor league sports, with the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings and the MLB’s Detroit Tigers also housing affiliate outfits in the city. It’s the second-biggest market in Michigan (just under 1.1 million people in the metro area) and that hefty population was not shy about supporting their G League team.
The Drive were consistently perched in the top five in the league’s attendance rankings since arriving in the Great Lake State and were averaging 4,000 fans per night before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to nuggets.com. That may not seem like a lot, but when you consider that many G League teams see no more than a few hundred fans for any given contest, it’s quite a feat.
Based on their popularity, you can probably guess what kind of success the Drive have had since their move to Michigan. Most recently, they went a combined 53-40 over their past two full campaigns, narrowly missing the playoff tournament by a single game in each season.
Steve Jbara, who leads the team of investors that owns the Grand Rapids Drive, is excited for what this next chapter alongside the Denver Nuggets will provide.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled to announce our partnership with Denver and am excited to welcome the Nuggets to Michigan and the Grand Rapids family,” said Jbara, according to NBA.com.
“This partnership is a true testament to the Nuggets’ commitment to development and we’re so happy to be able to help the team continue those initiatives in Grand Rapids for years to come.”
Denver Nuggets: What does this mean for player development?
There is a bevy of benefits for a team when they join into an affiliation with a G League franchise. The first and most obvious in this instance is that the Denver Nuggets don’t have to build the team up from scratch themselves, not to mention the team they acquired has been pretty darn good of late.
The G League is not only a great place for hoopers of all ages to practice the game and hone their skills while making a solid wage, but it’s also a structured environment where those who need or want them can find resources to help improve and enrich their lives off the court.
It’s a top-notch spot to develop talent not just in the player ranks, but in the coaching hierarchy as well. Coaches can learn the do’s and don’ts of their chosen craft in a much lower pressure environment while also developing the interpersonal skills necessary to lead an eclectic group of strong, young men like a pro basketball team.
Most teams like to have their affiliate squad situated nearby for proximity and simplicity of movement, but, as many of you may know, Grand Rapids isn’t exactly a breezy drive away from Denver. It’s about a three-hour flight (or a 16-hour drive if you’re feeling spicy) between the two cities.
It is not a prerequisite, however, and the ownership group led by Jbara (which, fun fact, includes NBA legend Ben Wallace) made their commitment to the city and area of Grand Rapids clear in an announcement made back in January, per The Denver Post‘s Mike Singer.
Whether they’re based somewhere in Colorado or they remain in Grand Rapids, one thing is certain: this is a huge addition for the Denver Nuggets. They now have their own player development system in place, which is crucial in this day and age of two-way contracts in the NBA.
These days, teams are signing a ton of hoopers to two-way deals—and many are taking full advantage of their opportunities. Some guys, like Golden State’s Damion Lee or Toronto’s Yuta Watanabe, have turned G League success paired with an impressive NBA audition into lucrative multi-year deals. Since the start of the 2014-2015 season, the Drive has had 10 players called up to the NBA.
As I said, it’s not just players, though. Nuggets assistant coaches John Beckett and Jordi Fernandez both have prior experience coaching in the G League. The Drive’s last head coach, Rex Walters, has now moved on to an NBA gig with the New Orleans Pelicans as well.
Denver Nuggets: Prior track record with player development
Though they did make a splash at this year’s trade deadline to acquire a semi-big name in Aaron Gordon, who will be key to Denver’s success this year, the Nuggets are not generally known to be big players in the free agency and trade market.
The only players to make an All-Star game for Denver over the past decade, Nikola Jokic and Carmelo Anthony, were both drafted by the team and the next best guy, Jamal Murray, was also a Denver draft choice.
The only major, major additions from outside in recent memory were point guards Allen Iverson and Chauncey Billups, who had varying levels of success during the twilights of their illustrious careers.
That’s all to say that the Nuggets are a team that prides itself on developing their own talent without outside help, and considering they were one of the only teams without a G League squad, that’s an impressive feat.
The Nuggets have also made the playoffs in 14 of the past 19 years and have chosen inside the top 10 just twice since taking ‘Melo in 2003, one of which was used on the Blue Arrow. Despite their lack of a farm system or access to the top draft picks, Denver has been able to identify and develop underrated talent at an impressive rate in recent years.
The NBA’s presumptive MVP this season, Nikola Jokic, was a 41st overall pick back in 2014 for crying out loud. Facundo Campazzo has been the definition of a diamond in the rough as a 30-year-old rookie taking over Denver’s backcourt as all of his fellow Nugget guards are felled one by one by injury.
Though they haven’t had their own G League affiliate, the Nuggets have farmed out their development to the systems of other teams. Last season Bol Bol, Vlatko Cancar, and the now-departed Jarred Vanderbilt were all shipped out to further their development. The Nuggets had to deal with three different coaching staffs for the development of that trio last season, each of whom had their own agendas and ideas.
Now that they’ve got their own shop, the Nuggets can bring in the coaches they like and identify as the best for their schemes. And those schemes will, in all likelihood, be very similar to what their parent team is running, which would allow for more fluid movement of prospects and players from G League to NBA and vice versa.
While they are no longer in Denver, Torrey Craig and Malik Beasley have both turned into solid NBA pros, the latter of which has emerged as a possible All-Star talent. The pair had spent significant periods in the G League while with the Nuggets, which doubtless boosted their improvements as overall players.
One of the best reserve guards in the game, Monte Morris, as well as emerging talent PJ Dozier were also loaned out to G League teams to get schooled and bootstrap their development. Dozier actually played so well for the Windy City Bulls that he nearly earned himself G League MVP honors last season.
Unfortunately, the Nuggets are unlikely to have the services of either Morris or Dozier for the stretch and playoff run this season, with the backcourt duties falling onto the diminutive but capable Argentinian shoulders of Facundo Campazzo.