The Detroit Pistons had long desired having their Gatorade League affiliate team based in metro Detroit.
Vice chairman Arn Tellem described the Pistons' move to purchase the Northern Arizona Suns, which will be rebranded and move to Detroit after the 2020-21 season, as the final step in a three-part vision shared by himself and team owner Tom Gores.
The first two steps were relocating the Pistons' basketball and business operations from Auburn Hills to Detroit, which were accomplished by moving into the Little Caesars Arena in 2018 and opening the Henry Ford Pistons Performance Center last fall.
[ Palace of Auburn Hills imploded in a cloud of dust to cheers and shock ]
With the addition of the G League team, which will play in Wayne State's new basketball arena that is in the midst of being constructed, Tellem said Pistons organization will be able to further amplify their community efforts within the city of Detroit. The organization also strongly feels the move will help in player development.
But what does it mean for the Grand Rapids Drive?
The Pistons' current G League affiliate will maintain its relationship with its parent organization through the 2020-21 season. Beyond that, its plans are not clear.
The Drive could pursue a number of paths, each with their own unique advantages and disadvantages. Here's a look on why the Pistons and Drive are parting ways, and what the future of the Drive could look like.
It's been more than a year since the Pistons announced its partnership with Wayne State to bring a G League team to Detroit.
On May 1, 2019, the two sides inked a $25 million deal to construct the arena, which will house a G League team and Wayne State's basketball operations, on the corner of Warren and Trumbull.
G League teams have two types of affiliations with their NBA clubs - one-to-one affiliation, where the NBA team owns and operates the G League team, and "hybrid" affiliation, in which the NBA team only manages the basketball side, leaving the G League team to control business operations.
If the Pistons owned the Drive, they simply could've moved them to Detroit. But the Drive, which is independently owned by Steve Jbara, preferred to stay in Grand Rapids. So the Pistons acquired the Northern Arizona Suns, which they will have full control over.
"The Drive stand committed to the city of Grand Rapids and we look forward to our continued future here in West Michigan within the NBA G League," the Drive said in a statement on Wednesday. "We've begun discussions about the future of our affiliation; details which we hope to have in the coming weeks. Our focus has been, and will continue to be, providing the people of West Michigan with a great professional basketball experience."
Shareef Abdur-Rahim, president of the G League, believes it's too early to say what will happen with the Drive. However, he took a moment to speculate when asked during a conference call with reporters on Wednesday.
"We still have three NBA teams now, with Phoenix, with Portland and Denver, that don't have direct relationships with G League teams, don't own their own G League teams," Abdur-Rahim said. "There's an opportunity for Grand Rapids. To (Dwane Casey's) point, Grand Rapids has been a great G League city and fans there have supported our league. We look forward to them continuing to be a part of our league, continue to be a great city for us and there's opportunity for other NBA players or assignment players to spend time in Grand Rapids."
The distance and time difference between Grand Rapids and either Portland or Denver would pose a challenge. But a formal affiliation would also be an improvement for both franchises.
The Blazers and Nuggets currently take advantage of the G League's flexible assignment system, which allows independent NBA teams to assign players to the G League for development or injury rehabilitation. This system tasks the G League with identifying teams willing to accept the assigned player. The independent team then chooses a destination from the pool of teams that volunteered. ...

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