The Magic yesterday announced that they have begun the process of bringing an NBA D-League team to Central or Northern Florida. The franchise will be a one-to-one Magic affiliate, with the hope of beginning play in the '17-18 season. The team is currently in the second year of a three-year affiliation with the D-League Erie BayHawks. The Magic have sent an RFP to eight locations (Magic). Magic CEO Alex Martins said that the team will "consider stationing a team within Central Florida because having the D-League team nearby would be ideal in a basketball sense." He added that finding a home for the team "could take between nine months and a year." Martins also said that "no decisions have been made whether the Magic will own the team." He added that finding a home for the team "will precede any decisions about the team’s ownership structure." In Orlando, Josh Robbins in a front-page piece notes the Magic "run the BayHawks’ basketball operations -- including the hiring of coaches and the acquisition of players -- but the Magic do not own the team and do not run the business side of the team." Currently, there are "no D-League teams within Florida or even within the Southeast." But the "beginnings of a Southeast footprint are starting to emerge," with Hornets affiliate the Greensboro Swarm beginning play next season. Having a D-League affiliate within Florida "has been a goal" for the Magic ever since Rob Hennigan became GM in '12 (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 1/7).
