Sacramento Kings Buy Controlling Interest in the Reno Bighorns
By Tyler Watts
The Sacramento Kings made news on October 20th, 2016 when they announced the acquisition of controlling interest in the Reno Bighorns.
The Sacramento Kings bought the controlling interest in the Reno Bighorns on Thursday, October 20th, 2016. You can read the official press release here. This is not new as the Kings have partnered with the Bighorns in the D-League for years, but the Kings now have full control “all business operations of the Bighorns”.
This is exciting news for the Sacramento Kings in my opinion. The Kings can now make the Bighorns their own in every aspect of the team.
Most importantly, it gives the Kings a great feeder system to the big club. Sacramento can now sign young players and get them familiar with their schemes and sets without having to put them on their fifteen man NBA roster. It, also, allows players like Georgios Papagiannis to get big minutes running the Kings offense and defense that would not have been possible before the D-League.
League wide Trend
Sacramento became the 15th NBA franchise to own and operate its own D-League affiliate according to the Press Release. I expect in the next few years every team will have its own D-League team.
This is a wise move by the NBA. Eventually, I believe the NBA is trying to create its own minor leagues. It will be just like AAA in Major League Baseball. This is great for the clubs because it gives them a place to develop talent. It is great for the players because it creates more jobs and more chances for players to live their dreams. Each team having their own D-League affiliate would be good for all parties involved.
Summary
The Reno Bighorns are now owned and operated by the Sacramento Kings. This creates a great feeder system for Sacramento and continues on a league-wide trend of teams buying a D-League affiliate.
I hope everyone checks out a Reno Bighorns game this season and the new partnership proves fruitful for the Kings. This is a chance to make more money and produce a better product on the NBA court. The Kings should be able to run with that opportunity and improve their roster for the future starting this season. Thank you for reading.