Bryce Miller

USATODAY

The Iowa Energy have reached an affiliation agreement with the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies, finalizing a deal that ensures the NBA Development League team will remain in Des Moines.

Jerry Crawford, a founder and previous managing owner of the basketball franchise, said Monday that the team weighed four offers. Three of those options — including an unnamed opportunity in another country — required leaving Iowa.

Only the Memphis deal allowed the team to continue operations in central Iowa.

Jed Kaplan, a minority owner of the Grizzlies in charge of crafting the arrangement, said relocating the franchise never was considered by the Memphis group.

"When you have a team that's been as successful as the Energy and the fans have taken such ownership — this team should forever be in Des Moines, Iowa," Kaplan, who takes over as the Energy's managing owner, said in a telephone interview. "It should and it will."

The deal is scheduled to be formally announced at 3 p.m. Tuesday during a news conference at the Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center in downtown Des Moines.

Crawford and Dr. Bill Jacobson of Capital Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine will remain owner-shareholders of the team, but Kaplan and the Grizzlies are offering six new local shares in an effort to broaden the scope of the organization's community reach.

The possibility of ownership changes was first reported in the central Iowa publication Cityview.

The biggest news for fans: Kaplan plans to hold the Grizzlies' preseason training camp in Des Moines, meaning stars such as Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol and Mike Conley could practice and scrimmage at Wells Fargo Arena.

"My goal is to, A, bring a preseason game here and, B, my highest goal, is to get the training camp here," Kaplan said. "I don't know if we'll get it done this year, but definitely by the next season. I'd like to have them here for a week.

"I've talked to Memphis and they're very open to the idea. We'd like them to embrace Des Moines and have Des Moines embrace Memphis. This is a win-win for everybody."

The deal — which Crawford described as a "merger" because some other Memphis owners will buy into the team as well — is categorized by the league as a hybrid, meaning Memphis will take over paying players and operating the team on all levels.

Energy general manager Chris Makris has been promoted to director of minor-league operations for the Grizzlies. Makris will remain in Des Moines to oversee Iowa's day-to-day operations, while also adding responsibilities with the NBA team that include trips to summer leagues and tryouts, as well as being a voice in the room for Memphis during the NBA's annual draft.

"Chris Makris is going to run an NBA team one day, without a doubt," Kaplan said.

Player access grows; county lease unaffected

Last season, Iowa had affiliation agreements with five NBA franchises: Chicago, Denver, Washington, New Orleans and Minnesota.

Streamlining the NBA relationship to one team will allow the Energy to leverage increased influence and control over player selection and the possibility of veteran rehabilitation assignments in Des Moines.

When asked if rehabilitation visits from NBA stars is possible, Makris said: "I think so. Our league hasn't gotten to that yet, but these one-to-one affiliations will be what drives that because of those synergies."

In the past, Makris would have to call the agent of a player who failed to make an NBA team and convince them to come to Des Moines. The direct tie to a single NBA franchise will allow both of those sides to steer players to the D-League franchise.

"It just carries more weight," Makris said. "And there's a clearer path for assigned players. In the past, dealing with five teams, a player coming our way might not make sense from a timing or position (on the floor) standpoint.

"Now we'll be able to control all of that."

Crawford and a Polk County official confirmed that the operational shuffle will not impact the current lease agreement between the team and county. The team will enter into the second year of a five-year deal next season.

The franchise is profitable and initial backers who purchased shares at $250,000 each have been able to double those investments, said Crawford, who will assume the title of chairman emeritus.

"We accomplished something no one else has: a profitable professional basketball team (in the city)," Crawford said.

Memphis is a member of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference. The Grizzlies recently pushed conference No. 2 seed Oklahoma City to Game 7 of their first-round series, a season after the team reached the conference finals.

Kaplan said discussions about the deal hit stride about eight months ago. He said the reputations of Crawford and Makris — and the track record of the organization, which won the D-League championship in 2011 — sealed the deal.

"Everybody speaks so highly of both of them," Kaplan said. "So to me, that was the only team that we should be talking to. To me, this was a no-brainer."

Kaplan, the CEO of Florida-based Shearson Financial Services and a former minority owner of the D-League's Erie (Pa.) BayHawks, said he plans to attend a quarter of Iowa's home games next season and a quarter of the team's road games.

"I really want to get to know the staff, the people in the arena and, more importantly, the fans," he said. "I had that relationship in Erie — and I live in south Florida. I knew the security guards, I knew the waitresses, I knew our fans.

"That's what I want in Des Moines."

Bryce Miller writes for the Des Moines Register. He can be reached at 515-284-8288 or brmiller@dmreg.com. Follow him on Twitter: @Bryce_A_Miller