chris-andersen-3-25-14.jpg

Chris Andersen of the NBA champion Miami Heat is among the D-League success stories.

(AP Photo)

AUBURN HILLS -- The Detroit Pistons will become the third Detroit major-league franchise with a minor-league affiliate in the Grand Rapids area when an NBA Development League team moves there next season, sources confirmed to MLive.

An agreement has been reached for undisclosed local owners to purchase the Springfield (Mass.) Armor and relocate the team to Michigan's second-largest metropolitan area for the 2014-15 season, according to NBA, NBDL and local sources.

The new Grand Rapids franchise has an undisclosed multi-year affiliation agreement with the Pistons in place and the sale has met league approval, sources said.

It will play home games at The DeltaPlex Arena in Walker, a northern Grand Rapids suburb.

The Grand Rapids franchise will be locally owned and the Pistons will establish a single-franchise affiliation with it, a fast-growing trend between NBA and D-League teams, sources said.

Currently, 14 of the 17 D-League teams have single-franchise affiliations with NBA parents.

Sixteen NBA teams, including the Pistons, divvy up affiliations with the other three D-League teams. Detroit currently is one of six NBA teams sharing the Fort Wayne (Ind.) Mad Ants.

D-League teams follow one of two ownership models -- exclusive ownership by the parent NBA club, or a "hybrid" affiliation in which local ownership controls day-to-day and business operations while the parent club controls basketball operations.

The Grand Rapids franchise will follow the hybrid model, whereby the Pistons will pay players' and coaches' salaries and run basketball operations, but local owners operate autonomously in other business areas, including marketing and merchandising.

The Grand Rapids Griffins, a Detroit Red Wings affiliate, raised their first AHL Calder Cup title banner before this season's home opener on Oct. 18, 2013. (Lauren Petracca | MLive.com)

The Pistons join the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings with minor-league affiliates in Grand Rapids.

The Grand Rapids Griffins play in the American Hockey League. The West Michigan Whitecaps play in the Midwest League.

Grand Rapids has a long, inconsistent history in minor-league basketball, with the heyday in the early days of the Continental Basketball Association's Grand Rapids Hoops, who were created in 1989 and disbanded in 2003.

The Grand Rapids Tackers also were a popular semi-pro team in the 1960s and 1970s.

Salary-cap and luxury-tax considerations have convinced NBA teams to pursue single-franchise D-League affiliates to develop budget-friendly players.

The New York Knicks recently announced they will solely operate an 18th D-League team next season, which will play in suburban White Plains, N.Y. The Knicks previously were affiliated with the Erie (Pa.) Bay Hawks, who could affiliate with one or more NBA teams as the D-League evolves toward a 30-team model of entirely single affiliates.

It generally is believed that all NBA teams want single D-League affiliations before the Collective Bargaining Agreement expires in 2017.

The Springfield Armor were created in 2009 by Michael Savit, their current owner, who also has extensive experience as a minor-league baseball owner. Among Savit's franchises, he once owned the Battle Creek-based Michigan Battle Cats of the Class A Midwest League, who later became today's Midland-based Great Lakes Loons.

The Armor are in the third year of a single-affiliation agreement with the Brooklyn Nets, which expires May 1.

The Armor played home games at MassMutual Center, which seats 7,333 in the birthplace of basketball.

They played their final home game Friday, a 95-86 win over the Canton Charge.

They have a 20-26 record and have been eliminated from playoff contention with four games remaining, Friday and Saturday at Fort Wayne, and April 4-5 at Delaware.

-- Download the Detroit Pistons on MLive app for iPhone and Android

-- Like MLive's Detroit Pistons Facebook page