Milwaukee Bucks: Oshkosh Selected As Site Of New D-League Affiliate
They Can Move Players Between Levels Freely
The city of Oshkosh is the center of the Fox Valley area, a growing center for both business and residences.
They have a history of sub-NBA level professional basketball, and are well-positioned geographically to make NBA basketball accessible to the rest of the state of Wisconsin.
The other geographical advantage is the proximity to Milwaukee, as Oshkosh and the new arena will be about 80 minutes apart.
This allows players to freely move between Milwaukee and Oshkosh, a freedom of motion not available to teams without D-League affiliates, or with a team in another state – such as the Miami Heat and the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
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One way this freedom of movement can be utilized is allowing players outside the rotation to practice with the parent team in the morning before driving over and playing in the D-League that night.
Similarly, if a player is currently on assignment and an injury or other event causes a rotational need, that player can be with the parent club in a matter of hours.
With the new CBA adding players on two-way contracts, the need for easy movement between levels is even more important.
Milwaukee made the wise move in setting up a team nearby, while still leveraging a different market to spread its brand.