Bakersfield will soon have an official NBA Development League, The Bakersfield Jam.
The Jam will be made up of high quality “would be” NBA players from across the United States. The Development League is used to help those people get into the NBA.
?”Look forward to great talent from potential NBA players,” said Ike Austin, assistant coach and former NBA player for over 10 years. “Bakersfield will have the opportunity to see major league basketball on a minor league level.”
On Sept. 19 in the Expansion Draft, the Jam selected Andre Barrett, Melvin Sanders, Robb Dryden, Roderick Riley, Theron Smith, Sharrod Ford, Anthony Grundy, Will Bynum, Mateen Cleaves and Darnell Miller.
Currently, drafting is still being done. Out of the 12 teams in the league The Jam secured the 11th spot of the Development League draft by a lottery. The second major draft will be held Nov. 2.
The Jam will have the 11th pick, followed by the 14th pick of the draft.According to Austin, “(Coach) Jim Harrick and I feel great about drafting done so far. I feel that 11th in the snake draft is great.”
After players are signed for The Jam they still have the chance of being signed for a 10-day contract if a recruiter from the NBA wants to see what a player will do on his team.
“These players are good enough to be on an NBA team, but positions do not need to be filled,” said Lara Mae Divina, general manager and team president. “We used to have to go across seas to recruit but now there are Development Leagues for people to get into the NBA.”
On Oct. 21-22 there will be an open player tryout for people they may have overlooked.
When recruiting, “we want to see talent,” said Divina.
The Jam will have 24 home games and 24 away games. Their official opening day will be
Nov. 26, and their home court will be the Rabobank Arena.
The 12 teams in this league are from all over the United States and so are the players being drafted. They chose Bakersfield as a place to host a Development League because of its growth.
“Financially, Bakersfield beat out other cities based on the market,” said Divina. “I’m excited. Bakersfield is one of those special markets that have the ingredients for success.”