Eighteen teams intend to compete in the G League bubble, including the new G League Ignite squad, according to Jonathan Givony of ESPN.
The bubble is expected to take place either in Atlanta or Orlando — with a tipoff date in early February, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.
The G League Ignite team includes a number of preps-to-pros prospects and is led by former NBA guard and coach Brian Shaw.
Each G League team is reportedly expected to play 12 regular-season or “seeding” games, much like NBA teams did on the Disney campus to conclude the 2019-20 season. A tournament would follow, per reports.
The NBA reportedly asked teams to opt out on a volunteer basis, since inviting the entire 29-team league to the bubble would make things extremely difficult logistically.
Ridiculous Upside and Hoops Rumors have done a through job of reporting which teams are headed for the bubble, though their lists are not official nor yet complete.
So far, here are the teams those sites have identified:
- Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario (Clippers)
- Austin Spurs (Spurs)
- Canton Charge (Cavaliers)
- Delaware Blue Coats (Sixers)
- Erie BayHawks (Pelicans) – per Adam Johnson
- Fort Wayne Mad Ants (Pacers)
- G League Ignite (independent)
- Greensboro Swarm (Hornets) – per Adam Johnson
- Iowa Wolves (Timberwolves) – per Adam Johnson
- Lakeland Magic (Magic)
- Long Island Nets (Nets)
- Memphis Hustle (Grizzlies)
- Oklahoma City Blue (Thunder)
- Raptors 905 (Raptors)
- Salt Lake City Stars (Jazz)
- Santa Cruz Warriors (Warriors)
- Westchester Knicks (Knicks)
In addition, per Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors, G League teams “opting out of the bubble who signed players to Exhibit 10 contracts before the season will be given the option to loan or ‘flex’ those players to another G League team for the bubble and will be responsible for paying all expenses for those players, Givony explains.”
