<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Announcing the affiliations NBA teams will have with the eight clubs in the National Basketball Association Development League, league officials on Monday unveiled some of the details of the new program that allows teams to assign first- and second-year players to the minors. Grizzlies players who are sent down in most instances will be assigned to the Arkansas RimRockers, who play in Little Rock. The NBA Development League tips off this season on Nov. 18. The D-league option was one of the changes adopted under the league's new six-year collective bargaining agreement, marking the first time NBA teams will have an option to send players down for seasoning. Players can be sent down as many as three times, but no team can have more than two players in the minors at once. Players on D-league assignments will still receive their NBA salaries and benefits, including per diem of $102, and D-League teams will be permitted to expand their rosters from 10 to 12 to accommodate assigned NBA players. NBA vice president Stu Jackson said, "As our league is continuing to get younger and younger, and our draft is one of drafting potential, this gives them an avenue to develop the player quicker and under game conditions." The first and second-year players who would be eligible to play in the league for the Grizzlies are guard Antonio Burks (Memphis), guard Anthony Roberson (Florida), forward Hakim Warrick (Syracuse) and forward Lawrence Roberts (Mississippi State). </div> Source
