The Knicks officially announced Monday the purchase of an NBA D-League team in White Plains that will play at the Westchester County Center beginning in the 2014-15 season.
It is the league’s 18th team and will be an exclusive affiliate of the Knicks, who become the seventh team to operate its own D-League franchise.
Knicks assistant general manager Allan Houston will serve as the team’s GM. The team will play 24 regular-season home games between November and April, and the 5,000-seat County Center could host six playoff games in April. A coach has yet to be announced.
Fans will have the opportunity to pick the team’s name by logging onto to nyknicksdleague.com. After the online submission process is over, fans can go back to the same site to vote for the final team name.
“The proximity makes it so much more advantageous [for us],” Houston said. “There were times when you have a younger player who may not be getting a lot of playing time, he can come here and play a game, come practice, come workout. A lot of development and skills and methods you want to measure guys’ growth and development, you can put those systems in place.
“I’m very excited about it.”
Carmelo Anthony was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week after leading the Knicks to a 3-1 week. He averaged of 29.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 2.75 steals in 38.7 minutes.