The Phoenix Suns have a little brother in their basketball family – the Northern Arizona Suns.
The Suns exercised an option to buy their D-League affiliate in Bakersfield on Friday and will move the operation to Prescott Valley, where they will play next season at the 5,100-seat Prescott Valley Event Center.
Suns president Jason Rowley said the franchise aimed to move the minor-league team to Arizona and considered options in the Phoenix metro area and Tucson before settling on Prescott Valley, a site the team explored several years ago with the 10-year-old arena.
The Suns were affiliated with the Bakersfield Jam since 2011 and entered a hybrid affiliation for the past two seasons, financing and controlling the Jam's basketball operations while the rest of the business was left to Bakersfield ownership.