To the non-sports fan, getting the opportunity to play in something like “The D-League” sounds akin to The Simpsons episode featuring an educational film on meat production in which the narrator describes cattle as “graduating to Bovine University.” While the minor league of the National Basketball Association may seem to some struggling players to be as much fun as a meat grinder, the analogy thankfully ends there. In fact, future stars of the NBA are getting their seasoning (Wait, I thought was done with the meat-processing comparisons?) in what is officially known as the NBA Development League – a league that, potentially, may establish a presence in Eau Claire.

This column has explored the concept of minor league/summer league/semi-pro sports returning to the Eau Claire area in this century, from the Chippewa Valley Predators to the Eau Claire Express to the eventual NAHL hockey franchise. If we are talking about the four major sports by professional league prominence, all we are lacking is a basketball team of similar stature to the aforementioned organizations.

Eau Claire is practically in the Twin Cities metropolitan area, a relatively short ride from the Target Center. Once the Sonnentag Center opens around 2020 or so, we will be home to one of the better small arena-like facilities in the Upper Midwest.

Basketball is plenty popular nationally and in the Chippewa Valley, but achieving fan passion with a team not connected to a high school or a college is a particular challenge. Football is king, we live in a hockey hotbed, and the Express have promotions and the Fan Deck to draw in customers. What is the attraction here for a minor league basketball team?

The answer may be the next Steph Curry. What is commonly known as the D-League was created in 2001 to formalize an NBA-sanctioned minor league system, one that could train lesser young talents in the pro game and give them minutes they would lack in the NBA. Unlike baseball with its multitude of minor league teams, there have not been enough D-League teams to provide a one-on-one match with NBA franchises, resulting in teams like the Bucks having to share affiliates with others. However, the league is growing, and most squads in the NBA have a team in the minors to exclusively call their own — but that’s not yet the case with The Bucks.

That may soon change. According to a WTMJ radio interview highlighted by the Brew Hoop blog, Bucks General Manager John Hammond said the team may get its dedicated D-League franchise in about a year; that is where Eau Claire comes into play. As the blog post author notes, owners Marc Lasy and Wes Edens have made a point of promoting the franchise statewide, but a new minor league team would find seasonal competition for fans in Madison and Green Bay, what with the Badgers and UW-Green Bay. How far would the Bucks look northwestward to place their team?

The reality is that La Crosse might be the farthest the Bucks will look. You may remember the La Crosse Catbirds and Bobcats, two teams that played in the 1980s and ’90s as part of the old independent CBA; late Minnesota Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders gained familiarity in western Wisconsin by leading the Catbirds to two league titles. That city has an arena ready, a history of basketball at a level similar to the D-League, and, well, they are closer to Milwaukee than Eau Claire. If a guy on the Bucks gets injured the day of the game and you need a quick call-up, you would like to avoid a four-hour drive from Eau Claire. And while La Crosse is not MUCH better, it IS better. La Crosse accomplishes the owners’ goal of placing another foothold “out-state,” before considering more-adjacent municipalities – such as Appleton and Kenosha – that Brew Hoop cites.

Perhaps our “NBA Futures” team will arrive with a different franchise: the Timberwolves. They are one of the other remaining entities without a D-League’er, and for now, the old La Crosse teams’ CBA colleague in Sioux Falls is connected to the Miami Heat. Hey, Eau Claire is practically in the Twin Cities metropolitan area, a relatively short ride from the Target Center. Once the Sonnentag Center opens around 2020 or so, we will be home to one of the better small arena-like facilities in the Upper Midwest.

In all likelihood, the Chippewa Valley will have to find another basketball league for an Express/Predators-style team. Hopefully sometime soon, up-and-coming NBA talent will pass through, learning defense and B.E.E.F. (And yes, that really is a basketball term.)