The Heat have officially purchased a controlling interest in their NBA D-League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the team announced today in a press release. The two teams had already shared a single-affiliate relationship for the last four years, but the Heat will now have more freedom to own and operate the franchise.
“We are so proud to enter into this partnership with the Miami Heat,” said Mike Heineman, the president and owner of the Skyforce. “They have been so good for the Skyforce and for the city of Sioux Falls. To be able to expand our partnership with Miami while keeping the team in Sioux Falls were our two biggest goals throughout this process.”
Heineman’s reference to keeping the Skyforce in Sioux Falls is an interesting one. With more and more NBA teams securing geographically-adjacent D-League clubs, the Heat/Skyforce pairing is an aberration. The distance between the NBADL arena in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami is 1,825 miles — a 26-hour drive, per Google Maps.
Buying a controlling interest in the D-League organization gives the Heat the opportunity to relocate the club to a more logical spot, perhaps a city in South Florida. However, Heineman’s statement suggests the deal may include an agreement not to move the Skyforce out of Sioux Falls — at least not in the short-term future. The Heat’s press release notes that Heineman and his family will continue to run the Skyforce’s off-the-court business operations and community initiatives.
The NBA Development League, which will be renamed as the NBA Gatorade League in 2017/18, is expected to feature 26 teams next season, with only a handful of NBA teams still lacking an affiliate. The Nuggets, Blazers, and Wizards have yet to announce D-League plans, while the Pelicans’ affiliate is expected to begin play in 2018/19.
The reason it’s in Sioux Falls is b/c of the contrast between there and Miami. It’s also meant to further enforce work habits being the most important thing for development. There are no distractions there. You know it’s meant to be a humbling experience that allows guys to appreciate the bus rides and hard work it takes to be in world class shape, and get yourself to the highest level, and makes sure to bring out those who truly love the game and want to be great at it enough to work as hard as it has to be. Also, it’s a great community of fans that care, which is a good environment to play in front of
I thought they were thinking about having a d-league team in Florida ?
I thought that was the perception of Riley comment from some news outlets, but I didn’t get that impression. Sounded more like they were excited to use their d-league even more than they already have. They’ve done a really good job of using it to add talent