Pacers buy D-League's Mad Ants to enhance player development

FORT WAYNE – This summer has been a season of catching up for the Indiana Pacers.

As the rest of the league has emphasized offensive tempo and smaller lineups, the Pacers fully committed to this style by remodeling their roster through the June draft and July free agency. Last month, the organization finalized plans to build a stand-alone practice facility, a luxury owned by plenty of other NBA franchises.

Now, the Pacers have mirrored many league peers by acquiring their own NBA Development League team.

On Wednesday, Pacers Sports & Entertainment announced the purchase of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. Though all 19 D-League teams are singularly affiliated with an NBA franchise, Indiana becomes the 10th organization to exclusively own and control a minor-league team.

Ferried by a private plane, a who's who list of Pacers Sports & Entertainment executives made the trip to Allen County for the announcement. Fitting, because this season Fort Wayne will see plenty of blue and gold at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, the home of the Mad Ants.

Think of the relationship as the Pacers acquiring a Triple-A team, similar to the Indianapolis Indians and Pittsburgh Pirates in baseball. The Mad Ants will closely mirror the way the Pacers play (same offensive and defensive schemes) as players on the Pacers' roster in need of development will spend time in Fort Wayne.

"We do have a lot of young players and we're not going to be able to play them all, so we're going to be sending some up here, maybe some back and forth," said Larry Bird, the Pacers president of basketball operations. "After practicing for so long, you'll need games to get better. So this is a perfect breeding ground to get us more playing time for our young players."

Formerly owned by the Fort Wayne Basketball Group, LLC, the Mad Ants joined the D-League in 2007 and won the championship in 2014. In the past, Fort Wayne operated as a busy terminal for many NBA hopefuls. Last season, 13 NBA teams — including the Pacers — shared an affiliation with the Mad Ants. With that arrangement, the desires of the Pacers' front office did not always align with the team as it attempted to stay competitive.

In January 2014, the Pacers assigned then-rookie Solomon Hill to Fort Wayne, but he returned after two games disgruntled by limited playing time. Now, the Mad Ants will take orders from Indianapolis, even down to minutes for the players they send on assignment.

"It wasn't a good fit for me and really the Mad Ants," Bird said about the previous relationship, "because it seemed like every time we send a player up here, he was getting about 18 minutes. Well, in our mind, he should be playing 30, but I understood their situation. They're trying to win basketball games, and you send a player up here and you tell him to play for 35 minutes and start losing two to three games, then it sets you back. I understand all that. Now that we own the team, we can sort of dictate more in how it flows."

Along with developing their young players in Fort Wayne, the Pacers have financial motivations in purchasing a D-League team. When the new TV contract hits the league within the next few years, players' contracts will reach new highs and conceivably, teams will look for affordable options to fill the roster. "Affordable" talent has always meant younger players.

"When we're together, we can use it better," Pacers owner Herb Simon said, explaining his reason for buying the Mad Ants. "With the league changing and salaries going up, we're going to need a lot of young players to go along with the high-paid players and some of them will have to come here and get time. So it's going to work out very well."

Over the next few weeks, new Mad Ants General Manager Brian Levy will hire a coaching staff "that best fits the priorities that the Pacers are putting on the D-League team." Then, the assimilation to the Pacers' ideals will begin in earnest as the Mad Ants' coaching staff will attend the team's training camp in Indianapolis later this month.

"They'll be very aligned with what we're doing," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "It's just something that we've always viewed as a positive step in the development of our young players… It's certainly something we're looking forward to."

Call Star reporter Candace Buckner at (317) 444-6121. Follow her on Twitter: @CandaceDBuckner.