SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake City Stars have their first game of the season tomorrow on the road against the Sioux Falls Skyforce, before debuting in their home opener next Friday. Here are some answers to some frequently asked questions I get about the new franchise.

Who are the Salt Lake City Stars?

The Salt Lake City Stars, usually just abbreviated SLC Stars, is the D-League basketball franchise owned and operated by the Utah Jazz. Before this season, the team was called the Idaho Stampede, and was located in Boise.

Why did the Jazz move the franchise from Boise to Salt Lake?

Once the Jazz purchased the team in 2015, the writing was on the wall about the Jazz moving the team closer to the team in Salt Lake City. The goal is to make transitions between to the two teams as seamless as possible for players and staff alike.

Here's an example: last Thursday, the Jazz didn't hold practice, resting after playing a back-to-back. However, young draft pick Joel Bolomboy, who's not playing much, still could use some practice time. Because the Stars are located in Salt Lake, the team could send him down to the Stars for one day, allowing him to practice with the team, then could call him up to go through shootaround and be ready for the Jazz game on Friday. Obviously, travel time to Boise would have prevented that kind of quick send-down and call-up last season.

Where are they playing? How much are tickets?

The team made an agreement with Salt Lake Community College to play its games at the Lifetime Activities Center at the school's Taylorsville campus. Gail Miller is on the board of directors at the school. The arena seats approximately 5,000.

The team sells season tickets for a 24-game home schedule for anywhere from $78 to $450. Seats for individual games are available for $5 to $25. Ticket packages offer tickets for multiple games at a discount on single-game prices.

Will this franchise stick around, unlike the Utah Flash?

Utahns may remember the last D-League team in Utah, the Utah Flash, that was based in Orem. The team actually drew a surprising number of fans, but owner Brandt Andersen suspended operations after the 2011 season because of financial problems.

The lasting legacy of the team is now one ill-advised stunt, where the team promised that Bryon Russell would play one-on-one against Michael Jordan. The team brought out a Michael Jordan lookalike, and everyone in attendance was quite upset.

Both problems seem unlikely for the Stars. First of all, the Jazz aren't running the Stars to make money, but to develop basketball players. Even if the Jazz lose money on the franchise, they'll consider it a small cost in relation to the profits they make on the big-league team's development. And the Jazz's executives aren't the type to repeat Andersen's mistakes: they're too experienced in game promotions and marketing.

What's up with the Jazz's draft picks this year?

Marcus Paige, the 55th pick in the 2016 NBA draft, figures to play a lead role after playing four years at North Carolina. His outside shooting and familiarity with the pick and roll should lead to success in the up-and-down D-League. In Chris Reichert's D-League preview of the Stars, Reichert predicted that Paige would be a top-10 scorer in the whole league. Remember, though: because of the Jazz's waiver of him in training camp, any NBA team will be able to call him up, not just Utah.

Tyrone Wallace's waiver came as a surprise to D-League watchers, after all, he was the 60th pick in the 2016 NBA draft. But Wallace picked up an injury in a practice last weekend (the Stars aren't revealing the nature of the injury), and figures to be out a month or more. With roster spots at a premium, the team decided to temporarily waive Wallace. Wallace plans to resign with the Stars once he's ready to return to play.

And Joel Bolomboy, the Weber State product, will undoubtedly spend lots of time in a Stars uniform, bouncing up and down from the Jazz's roster as injuries allow. When he plays for the D-League team, he'll be one of the best players on the floor.

Who are the other best players on the team?

The team's best players will probably be some familiar names for hardcore Jazz fans, as they've all spent time in a Jazz uniform in summer league or in preseason.

After a quick 10-day contract with the Jazz last year, J.J. O'Brien returned to the Stampede and played extremely well after the call up. He scored 17 points per game after that call-up, and coach Dean Cooper marveled at how O'Brien became a leader on the court for the squad.

Quincy Ford, from Northeastern, is a legitimate NBA prospect who needs to improve on his skillset in order to make it at that level. Ford played for both the Jazz and the New Orleans Pelicans and training camp, and told us that he can score a lot of points at the D-League level. Scouts might prefer to see him play a secondary role and focus on improving his jumpshot.

Henry Sims will start the season with the Stars. The big Georgetown center has 135 games of NBA experience, including 61 starts and a 15 PER. That's pretty good! I think he's probably an NBA player, and will probably be called up by someone mid season.

Jermaine Taylor also has NBA experience, 65 games worth, but last played in the NBA in 2011. He's now 29, and needs to show what he can do to help an NBA team in a complementary role with the Stars.

Is development the priority, or is winning?

Let's be honest: development is. The Stars will run exactly the same defensive schemes as the Jazz do, and the offense will be pretty similar as well. When players are sent down from the Jazz, they'll immediately be given lots of minutes.

Since the Jazz bought the franchise, they're trying to run the Stars as a true minor-league affiliate, much like the relationship between a major league and minor league baseball team. Winning is still helpful for development, though, so obviously the team will try to win.

Will they be good?

Maybe! For as long as Henry Sims is on the roster, he'll be a big advantage for the Stars: there aren't many D-League centers with his size and offensive vision. The Stars also have a lot of depth on the wings, with O'Brien, Ford, and Taylor. Those wings have a lot of size, and so long as they can stay in front of some of the D-League's small lineups, they'll be difficult to score against.

But the D-League is a guard's league, and so much of the success of the roster comes down to how well Paige, Jaylen Bland, and Evrik Gary play while Tyrone Wallace is out. The team had planned to play a lot of Wallace and Paige next to each other, but those plans will have to be put on hold while Wallace recovers. Can Paige be effective on the ball? We'll find out.

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