Nate Beck

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

The field of cities vying for a Milwaukee Bucks farm team is shrinking, as Grand Chute and La Crosse bow out of the race.

The Bucks are no longer considering La Crosse and Grand Chute to host an NBA Development League, or "D-League," team. That leaves Oshkosh, Sheboygan and Racine still in the running, according to developers familiar with the situation.

Jim March, Grand Chute town administrator, said the city recently retracted an offer that it hoped would lure the bucks to the Fox Cities area. March said Grand Chute had thought it could welcome the team into a multi-use sports facility it hopes to build with tourism funds. Ultimately, though, the city concluded it could not construct a facility for the Bucks by fall 2017, when the Bucks hope to field a D-League team.

The Bucks eliminated La Crosse from the running, after the city submitted a bid to welcome the team to its 6,100-seat La Crosse Center, slated for a $45 million renovation. Art Fahey, director of the center, told the arena's board Tuesday that the Bucks were skeptical of hosting a farm team so far from Milwaukee; the city is more than 200 miles away from Bucks headquarters, while all other teams in the running are less than 100 miles away, the La Crosse Tribune reported.

Grand Chute in June submitted a letter expressing interest in a Bucks D-League team, but never filed a detailed, formal pitch, as other communities have.

"It just became evident that we could not deliver the facility that they were looking for in time," March said

The Bucks are just one of eight NBA teams without a D-League squad. A Milwaukee Bucks spokesperson declined to comment for this story. Parties familiar with Sheboygan's D-League pitch did not immediately return requests for comment Wednesday. And the Bucks have not told Racine that it is no longer being considered, according to a City of Racine official.

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Like La Crosse, Sheboygan also hopes to welcome the Bucks with an existing building. Sheboygan's plan, led by Lakefront Jewel Group and former Bucks player Joe Wolf, would revamp the 2,500-seat Sheboygan Armory, which once housed the Sheboygan Red Skins basketball team in an early incarnation of the NBA. Wolf in June declined to disclose how much that project would cost, and did not immediately return a message seeking comment Wednesday.

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Since submitting its pitch in late May, Oshkosh has continued to correspond with the Bucks, and is still in the running for the D-League team, said Greg Pierce, President and CIO of Windward Wealth Strategies, the group leading Oshkosh's efforts.

Pierce's group, with the Greater Oshkosh Economic Development Corporation (GO-EDC) has mapped out sites along Interstate 41 and in the central city that it could convert into a built-to-suit Bucks stadium. He declined to say specifically which sites the group is pursuing in Oshkosh, though he expects the Bucks to reach a decision in two months or less.

Though constructing a brand-new stadium by fall 2017 would be a daunting undertaking, Pierce said his group is confident that it can finish the project on deadline if Oshkosh wins the D-League bid. All told, an Oshkosh stadium would likely cost between $12 and $14 million, in private funds, he said.

"We absolutely, positively will have something ready to go by next fall if we are selected," Pierce said. "Come hell or high water we will have it done."

Reach Nate Beck at 920-858-9657 or nbeck@gannett.com; on Twitter: @NateBeck9