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The New Orleans Pelicans announced Monday that their NBA G League affiliate will relocate to Kenner, Louisiana, and rebrand as the Laketown Squadron, with the team expected to begin play at the renovated Pontchartrain Center for the 2026-27 season.
That makes this more than a routine minor-league rebrand. It is a tangible shift in how the Pelicans want to run their basketball operation, bringing their developmental team much closer to the parent club after the Birmingham Squadron wrapped its 2025-26 season on March 27.
Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations Joe Dumars said the closer setup should help the organization “better align” coaching strategy, player development and in-season roster flexibility. In practical terms, that is the clearest basketball reason this move matters. The closer the G League affiliate is to the NBA team, the easier it is to coordinate call-ups, rehab assignments, practice plans and day-to-day development work.
That has become increasingly important around the league as franchises treat their G League teams as extensions of the main roster, not separate side projects. The NBA G League said a record-tying 51% of NBA players on opening-night rosters in 2025-26 had G League experience, and 61% of players on 2024-25 end-of-season rosters had spent time in the league.
The Pelicans announce that they are moving their Birmingham Squadron @nbagleague affiliate from Alabama to Louisiana next season. The team will play in Kenner as the Laketown Squadron.
Why Kenner matters to the Pelicans
The headline detail is the new name, but the more important piece may be geography.
Kenner keeps the affiliate in the New Orleans area instead of several states away in Birmingham. The Pelicans have been open about wanting the team closer to home, and earlier reporting out of Alabama said the move was primarily about improving player development and basketball operations.
For a franchise trying to build better continuity, that is not a small change. A nearby G League club can make it easier to keep young players on the same developmental track, share staff resources, and react faster when injuries or roster openings hit during the season. Those are backend advantages fans do not always see immediately, but they can matter over 82 games.
Pontchartrain Center renovation is part of the story
The Laketown Squadron are expected to play at the 3,700-seat Pontchartrain Center in Laketown Park, and the Pelicans said renovations are planned ahead of the 2026-27 season, including new locker rooms, upgraded audio and lighting systems, and enhanced video boards.
That renovation piece is important because it shows this is not just a temporary landing spot. Earlier reporting on Kenner’s negotiations said the Pelicans organization was expected to invest more than $5 million into upgrades needed to bring the venue to G League standards.
For Kenner, the city is pitching the move as a development play as much as a sports story. Mayor Michael Glaser said the team can drive foot traffic, support surrounding businesses and help position Laketown as more of a destination. Kenner had also said in February that the proposal followed more than 18 months of discussions with the Pelicans organization.
End of Birmingham chapter, start of a local one
The Pelicans also thanked Birmingham officials and fans in the announcement, closing a chapter that began when the franchise’s G League team moved there in 2021.
Now the affiliate is coming much closer to the parent club, and that is the part Pelicans fans should pay attention to most. Rebrands are easy. What matters is that New Orleans is setting up a development pipeline that is more local, more integrated and, in theory, more useful to the NBA roster when the 2026-27 season arrives.
For this one, the cleanest presentation is to keep the story anchored on the move itself, the new Laketown identity and the basketball value of having the G League team essentially next door.
Erik Anderson is an award-winning sports journalist covering the NBA, MLB and NFL for Heavy.com. He also focuses on the trading card market. His work has appeared in nationally-recognized outlets including The New York Times, Associated Press , USA Today, and ESPN. More about Erik Anderson
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