The Golden State Warriors, led by Co-Executive Chairmen Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, have purchased the Dakota Wizards franchise in the NBA Development League from Bismarck Professional Basketball LLC, it was announced today at a press conference in Bismarck, North Dakota.

The Warriors will become the fourth NBA team to currently own and operate their own NBA D-League affiliate, joining San Antonio, Oklahoma City and the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Wizards will remain in Bismarck during the 2011-12 D-League season – the franchise’s 17th in North Dakota – and the club will explore options of a potential move to Northern California the following season.

The purchase of the Wizards will result in the ceasing of the Warriors’ D-League affiliation with the Reno Bighorns, which served as the team’s affiliate each of the last two years. Dakota will mark the Warriors’ third D-League affiliation (also Bakersfield Jam from 2006-07 to 2008-09) since the inception of the league prior to the 2006-07 season. The Wizards concluded the 2010-11 season with a 19-31 record and in fourth place in the eight-team Eastern Conference.

“We’re really excited about the opportunity to acquire an NBA D-League team and view it as a proactive decision,” said Lacob. “As we have previously mentioned, one of our goals is to provide our organization with any elements that we think could provide us an advantage. The fact that we will now operate our own D-League team – complete with our coaches and organizational philosophy – will put us in a better position to evaluate and develop potential NBA players, including any of our first or second year players who may spend a stint in the D-League. We think this is a critical step and another plus for our organization. And, we could not have found a more qualified candidate than Jim Weyermann to oversee the team from an operations standpoint.”