NEW YORK (AP) – C.J. Miles learned Monday that Albuquerque, N.M., may be his detour destination if the road to the Utah Jazz includes a stint in the minor leagues.

Announcing the affiliations NBA teams will have with the eight clubs in the National Basketball Association Development League, league officials unveiled some of the details of the new program that allows teams to assign first- and second-year players to the minors.

Players can be sent down as many as three times, but no team can have more than two players in the minors at once. Players on D-league assignments will still receive their NBA salaries and benefits, including per diem of $102, and D-League teams will be permitted to expand their rosters from 10 to 12 to accommodate assigned NBA players.

“This has been received very positively by the clubs,” NBA vice president Stu Jackson said.

“As our league is continuing to get younger and younger, and our draft is one of drafting potential, this gives them an avenue to develop the player quicker and under game conditions.”

For Miles, an 18-year-old from Skyline H.S. in Dallas who was chosen 34th overall by the Jazz, it could open opportunities for playing time he wouldn’t otherwise get if he starts the season, as expected, behind Devin Brown and Gordan Giricek on the depth chart at shooting guard.

“If it happens, the way they’ve set it up is not so bad. You can be there only three days before they want you back,” Miles said. “It’s just them looking out for the future for you – you’ve got to look at it that way.

“If they put you down there and you get more experience by playing, you can look at it that way as a great opportunity.”

The D-league option was one of the changes adopted under the league’s new six-year collective bargaining agreement, marking the first time NBA teams will have an option to send players down for seasoning.

Jackson said the league tried to look at what made sense geographically, among other factors, when deciding the particular affiliations.

The Miami Heat and Orlando Magic will be able to send players just up the road to Naples, Fla., to play for the Florida Flame, who also will be affiliated with the Boston Celtics and Minnesota Timberwolves,

Dallas will be sending its minor-league assignees next door to Fort Worth, while the San Antonio Spurs will have a similar coziness with the franchise less than an hour away in Austin.

Teams at the opposite end of that convenience spectrum include the Toronto Raptors, whose affiliation will be with the Arkansas RimRockers.

“Guys like me and guys who were picked around where I was picked, they know it’s a possibility, but nobody’s thinking they’re going to be in Albuquerque or Fayetteville,” said Miles, who was interviewed at the NBA’s rookie transition program in Palisades, N.Y.

The team assignments include:

– Fayetteville: Charlotte Bobcats, New York Knicks, Detroit Pistons.

– Austin: Denver Nuggets, Spurs, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers.

– Fort Worth: Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Mavericks, Portland Trail Blazers.

– Arkansas: Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Memphis Grizzlies, Raptors.

– Florida: Heat, Magic, Celtics, Timberwolves.

– Tulsa: New Orleans Hornets, Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks, Chicago Bulls.

– Albuquerque: Jazz, Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings, Seattle SuperSonics.

– Roanoke: New Jersey Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, Washington Wizards.

Jackson said the NBA plans to remain flexible in implementing the new system, although one of the ground rules will require teams to forfeit control of an assigned player’s playing time to the coach of the D-League team.

In cases in which one developmental league team might be overstocked with NBA players at a particular position, or if one team has an inordinate number of assignees, the league could reassign a player to a different team.

“We’ll make some decisions as we go,” NBADL president Phil Evans said. “This is a transition year, and we want to maintain flexibility because we’re unsure how teams are going to use it.”

AP-ES-09-19-05 1734EDT

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