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Report: NBA putting minor-league team in Mexico City as soon as next season

APTOPIX Mexico Suns Spurs Basketball

San Antonio Spurs Kawhi Leonard dribbles the ball past the middle of the court as Phoenix Suns P.J. Tucker follows in the second half of their regular-season NBA basketball game in Mexico City, Saturday, Jan. 14, 2017. Suns won the game 108 - 105. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

AP

Seattle isn’t the only city that could be adding a professional basketball team.

A Mexico City team in the NBA’s minor league is moving from possibility toward inevitability.

Marc Stein of The New York Times:

MEXICO CITY — The National Basketball Association intends to put an N.B.A. G League franchise here in the Mexican capital, according to three people familiar with the league’s plans.

A team in the G League, N.B.A.’s official minor league, which would be owned and operated locally, could begin play as early as next season, according to the people, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the subject publicly.


One proposal for this plan involved the Mexico City team being unaffiliated with an NBA team. Rather, Mexico City would stock its roster from the NBA’s global youth academies.

Perhaps, that’s still in the cards. The Trail Blazers and Nuggets, the only NBA teams without a minor-league affiliate or announced plans to get one, could be involved. Or an existing minor-league team could move.

No matter how a minor-league team gets to Mexico City, remember, the NBA uses its minor league to experiment for the top league.