The Austin Toros, the new NBDL team scheduled to begin play this November just heckling distance from CSTB World Headquarters, has confirmed ties to the Spurs, Rockets and Clippers. From the Austin American Statesman’s Mark Rosener :

D-League teams will start with 10-man rosters assembled through a Nov. 3 draft, two players assigned as territorial allocations, and the retention of as many as four players from last year’s team. (The Toros were located in Columbus, Ga. last season).

Among the rules governing the affiliations:

¢After the D-League season begins in November, NBA teams can assign as many as two players at a time to an affiliate.

¢Franchises can only assign players in their first or second seasons in the NBA to the D-League.

¢D-League teams will be allowed roster expansion to 12 players for those players sent to them from the NBA.

¢A player can be sent to the D-League three times in one season for periods as long as the NBA team chooses.

¢The D-League has the latitude to assign, say, a Denver Nugget to a team other than Austin if the Toros have too many players at a particular position.

With scant attention being paid locally to Longhorn football, basketball, Ice Bats hockey, televised poker, or the efforts of Reido’s Sliders to find a new venue, a hoops endeavor starring players unqualified to be the 12th man for the Clippers will undoubtedly be Austin’s hottest ticket this autumn.