Inside The Heat

With The Miami Heat's G League Program So Vital, What Took Portland Trail Blazers So Long?

The Portland Trail Blazers beginning to operate a G League team leaves Phoenix Suns as only team without one.

Shandel Richardson

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The Portland Trail Blazers announced Wednesday they are launching a G League affiliate. 

Maybe the Blazers will start benefitting from a minor league system as the Miami Heat have done for the past several years. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has been fortunate for the team, the Sioux Falls Skyforce. Three former G Leaguers _ Max Strus, Duncan Robinson and Haywood Highsmith _ played roles in the Heat's Game 4 victory against the Milwaukee Bucks. 

The G League gave them opportunity to develop. Spoelstra pays so much attention to it he often speaks about the team during the season. 

He recently applauded the Skyforce for making the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

"The guys that develop with us in the summer and then go to Sioux Falls and this year was especially gratifying," Spoelstra said. "This team competed hard for each other. They committed to being part of something that was bigger than themselves. And in the G-League that’s even more challenging and they truly did enjoy each other’s success and rooted for each other and bring life into each other.”

With the Blazers' addition, the Phoenix Suns are the only team without a G League program. 

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Shandel Richardson covers the Miami Heat for Inside The Heat.

TWITTER: @ShandelRich

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here

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