Bakersfield becomes Toronto Raptor’s fifth NBA D-League affiliate

The National Basketball Association announced Thursday its affiliation system for the 2011-12 NBA Development League season. Each NBA team has one NBA D-League affiliate to which it may assign players. Toronto, along with the Los Angeles Clippers and Phoenix Suns, will be affiliated with the Bakersfield (Calif.) Jam for the upcoming year.

"The D-League has been a great resource for our organization and we look forward to establishing a solid working relationship with the ownership and management in Bakersfield," said Raptors President and General Manager Bryan Colangelo.

"We are excited to enter a new partnership with the Raptors," Jam Head Coach Will Voigt said. "They have utilized the D-League in the past to help develop their younger players, and we look forward to helping them continue this process."

Bakersfield becomes Toronto’s fifth NBA D-League affiliate since 2005, joining the Arkansas RimRockers (2005-06), Colorado 14ers (2006-08), Idaho Stampede (2008-09) and Erie BayHawks (2009-11). Toronto has assigned five players to its D-League affiliates since the start of the 2005-06 season.