The NBA and the NBA Development League (the official minor league of the NBA) announced today that the Washington Wizards will be affiliated with the D-League’s Iowa Energy for the 2011-12 season. In the Energy’s rotation, a star may be in the mist for the Wizards.
The Energy won the D-League’s championship title last season, defeating the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, 119-111. The Energy was led by the league’s MVP, Curtis Stinson and winner of the Dennis Johnson Coach of the Year award, Nick Nurse.
Stinson went undrafted from Iowa State University in 2006, pursuing his dream to play in the NBA after his junior year.
After a stint with the Chicago Bulls in 2009, Stinson played in the summer leagues for the Golden State Warriors, the Orlando Magic and the Toronto Raptors. Because of the NBA lockout, there is no summer league, so Stinson is playing in the Philippines for the Barangay Ginebra Kings until the 2011 D-League season starts.
The Bronx native may have not cracked an active NBA roster yet, but his talent has managed to keep him on teams’ radars, playing for several D-League squads the past five seasons.
Stinson, 6’3″, 215 lbs., averaged 19.3 points and 9.8 assists in 48 games last season. He’s pretty much a combo guard, who likes to pass. The Wizards are set at the guard position, led by John Wall and Jordan Crawford. But Stinson could be a good fill-in if an injury occurred while Wizards’ rookie guard Shelvin Mack develops.
For the 2010-11 season, the NBA D-League saw an all-time high of their talented, NBA hopefuls getting called to the next level. The D-League had 56 NBA player assignments, 39 individual players assigned and 25 NBA teams assigning a player, while last season marked the first time every NBA D-League team was assigned an NBA player.
23 percent of all NBA players on 2010-11 end-of-season rosters have played in the NBA D-League, while 27 of the 60 players selected in the 2010 NBA Draft played in the NBA D-League last season.
The NBA D-League will have 16 teams for the 2011-12 season, including a new Canton, Ohio franchise.
The Austin Toros, Bakersfield Jam, Dakota Wizards, Erie BayHawks, Fort Wayne Mad Ants, Idaho Stampede, Los Angeles D-Fenders, Maine Red Claws, Reno Bighorns, Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Sioux Falls Skyforce, Springfield Armor, Texas Legends and Tulsa 66ers are the other members of this growing and stable development league.
Along with the Wizards (regarded by many NBA experts as having had the best 2011 NBA Draft) the Energy will be affiliated with the New Orleans Hornets and the Chicago Bulls.