After a short stint through a “bubble” for its 2020/21 season, and even if the schedule has not yet been published, the G-League will resume with a classic format (regular season then playoffs), and for the first time , there will be maybe 30 deductibles at the start line. Thirty franchises, like in the NBA, but that does not mean that they are all attached to an NBA team.
In fact, 28 NBA franchises have their own G-League team, to which must be added the G-League Ignite, made up mainly of high school students, and finally the Capitanes Ciudad De Mexico, the first Mexican franchise.
Due to Covid-19, it is not certain that this new franchise will be able to participate in the season, and it is for this reason that there will only be maybe 29 franchises in the running.
A disadvantage for training
Of the 30 NBA franchises, two therefore do not have G-League teams, and these are the Phoenix Suns and the Portland Trailblazers. The former sold their franchise affiliated to the Pistons, and the team became Motor City Cruise. Those same Pistons have ceded the rights to their old franchise, Grand Rapids Drive, to the Nuggets, and in Colorado it will be called Grand Rapids Gold.
Other teams have also taken advantage of the summer to change their names with the birth of the Maine Celtics, the Cleveland Charge or the Birmingham Squadron.
As for the Blazers, they have never had a G-League franchise, and like the Suns next season, they will therefore be placing their youngsters in different teams. Which essentially means that they will not have a say in the training and playing time of their youngsters. This is a real drawback today.
