The Raptors Are Looking To Add A Developmental League Affiliate For Next Season

With a hat tip to William Lou at Raptors Republic, a Time Warner Cable News report says the Raptors are in talks with the Rochester Razorsharks -- who currently play in the Premier Basketball League -- to acquire them as their NBA developmental league affiliate.

At the moment, the D-League has 18 teams, with a majority of them having one-to-one relationships with NBA teams. The Raptors do not have such a team. At the moment, any players sent to the D-League by the Raptors would report to the Ford Wayne Mad Ants next season. The Mad Ants support a number of teams in the league who are without a direct affiliate.

In recent years, NBA franchises have started moving towards having one-to-one relationships with D-League teams. So have opted for the hybrid approach, which means the D-League team still operates as an independent business, but the NBA team controls basketball operations, which means they're in charge of hiring coaches, managing training staffs and making roster decisions.

This type of control is crucial especially for teams because they can specifically tailor the developmental approach for players on the team without outside interference. If you're sending a prospect down to prepare for the NBA, you want the comfort of knowing they're working with coaches who have the best interest of the franchise.

With a D-League affiliate, the Raptors would have exactly that.

The D-League appears to be moving towards one day having 30 teams, with each of them affiliated with a specific NBA franchise.

The Raptors look like they might be the next team to move the league towards that goal.

Stay tuned.