2017–18 NBA G League season | |
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League | NBA G League |
Sport | Basketball |
Draft | |
Regular season | |
Finals |
The 2017–18 NBA G League season is the 17th season of the NBA G League (G League). The league is the official minor league for the National Basketball Association (NBA). It is the first season after the league rebranded to become the NBA G League as part of multi-year partnership with Gatorade. From 2005 to 2017, the league was known as the NBA Development League (D-League).
The league expanded to a record 26 teams from 22 teams during the 2016–17 season. There was one relocation (Erie BayHawks to Lakeland, Florida to become the Lakeland Magic) and four expansion teams introduced this season (the Agua Caliente Clippers, a new Erie BayHawks, the Memphis Hustle, and the Wisconsin Herd), each owned and affiliated with an NBA team. The Iowa Energy were purchased by the Minnesota Timberwolves at the end of the previous season and rebranded as the Iowa Wolves. The Miami Heat purchased the controlling interest in the Sioux Falls Skyforce, their affiliate since 2013. The Los Angeles D-Fenders also relocated to a new facility within El Segundo and were rebranded as the South Bay Lakers. The purchases and expansion of these teams by individual NBA teams drastically left just four NBA teams without a developmental affiliate, down from eight the previous season. It also decreased the number of independently owned D-League/G League teams from seven to four.