Duane Ticknor, a minor-league coaching veteran who led the Dakota Wizards to back-to-back playoff appearances from 2007 to ’09, will be the next head coach of the Mad Ants.Expect the Mad Ants to run business-as-usual next season despite a proposed change in ownership structure for the NBA Developmental League.
The league’s private ownership groups currently share multiple affiliations and fund business and basketball operations. Under the new proposal, parent NBA teams would have full control of basketball operations and have single affiliations with minor-league franchises, according to the Sports Business Journal.
The new model doesn’t mean the D-League will try to expand quickly to allow each NBA team its own affiliation, the article said. The D-League added a team in Portland, Ore., that will compete next season, giving the league 17 franchises.
Jeff Potter, Mad Ants president and general manager, said the team’s ownership group has considered the proposal, but “it’s not something I’m actively seeking out.”
“It’s this idea of getting to something akin to a minor-league baseball situation,” Potter said. “The only issue is we would have to want to sell our basketball side of it, and we would also have to find a team that’s willing to pay the money to do so. It’s something they’re proposing to help with costs and also get more NBA teams involved in the basketball side.”
The Mad Ants are affiliated with the Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks. The team added the Bucks in September.
Potter expects that to continue next season, which starts in November.
“I don’t forsee any changes in what we’re doing,” he said.
