(June 11, 2008) - The National Basketball Association announced Wednesday its affiliation system for the 2008-09 NBA Development League season. Each NBA team has one NBA D-League affiliate to which it may assign players in their first or second NBA season. Toronto, along with Portland, will be affiliated with the Idaho Stampede for the upcoming season. The Stampede, the reigning D-League champions, play out of the 5,000-seat Qwest Arena in Boise, Idaho.

"The D-league has become a very valuable resource for NBA teams to identify talented players and coaches who are ready to contribute at the next level,” said Bryan Colangelo, Raptors president and general manager. “We are pleased to be affiliated with Idaho as they have a stellar reputation for both their business and basketball operations."

The Raptors were affiliated with the Colorado 14ers the past two seasons and the Arkansas RimRockers during the 2005-06 campaign. Toronto has assigned two players (Pape Sow and P.J. Tucker) to its D-League affiliates since the start of the 2005-06 season.

With the NBA D-League expanding by two – Erie, Penn. and Reno, Nev. – for the upcoming season, the league will feature 16 teams. The 2008-09 season will be the first in which each NBA D-League team is affiliated with a maximum of two NBA teams.

The NBA D-League continues to be a breeding ground for basketball talent, with more NBA players than ever having NBA D-League experience. Twenty-nine of 30 NBA teams featured players with NBA D-League experience during the 2007-08 season, and these former NBA D-League players made up more than 15 percent of NBA players on 2007-08 end-of-season rosters. Over the first three seasons of the NBA D-League's assignment system with the NBA, NBA teams have assigned 76 players a total of 130 times to play in the NBA D-League.