The first few weeks of September are often the quietest time of the year in the NBA. It’s the last chance for players, executives and staffers to take a deep breath before turning over the next eight months to basketball, so those in the know tend to make the most of the opportunity.
But the G League runs on a slightly different schedule, so while there’s not much NBA news to speak of, there’s been just enough going on in the feeder league -- not to mention FIBA and the WNBA -- to tide one over until training camp. And that’s especially true for Portland’s G League team, the Rip City Remix, as they prepare for their inaugural season.
Most importantly, this week, the G League released the schedules for all 31 teams, including for your Rip City Remix, which will play their home games at Chiles Center on the University of Portland campus. The Remix take the first step of what will hopefully be a long journey in Los Angeles by facing the South Bay Lakers in back-to-back games on November 10 and 11 before finishing up their first road trip by playing the Ontario (California) Clippers on November 13.
But more importantly, the Remix play the first home game of their existence on November 17 when they host the South Bay Lakers up on the peninsula. After that, the Remix play their next four games at home, so even if you can’t make it the franchise home opener, you’ll have a number of opportunities to get your first G League experience in-person. Single game tickets have yet to go on sale, though season tickets are currently available.
Remix games are a great chance to get a glimpse of what the future might look like for the Trail Blazers and the NBA in general, especially when it comes to games against the Ignite, whose roster that includes multiple players expected to be selected in the lottery of the 2024 Draft.
And speaking of players, we don’t know the roster makeup of the Remix just yet -- there have been reports and a few assumptions can be made, though they’ve made nothing official thus far -- seeing as how they’re still evaluating their options. Part of that evaluation are a series of open tryouts, which are being held on September 16 at the team’s facility in Tualatin and on September 24 at Garfield High School in Seattle. The best performers from those workouts will be invited to tryout for the Remix when their training camp starts at the end of October.
The workout in Tualatin is already full, though if you’ve got game, $300 and a way to get to Seattle, you can sign up for that workout here. There are only 90 spots available, so if you’d be well served to sign up sooner rather than later.