More than likely New Orleans would be the one to move out East, unless they just add a team out East (where, I don't quite know). I always thought it be interesting if you had one team for the Pacific Northwest split between Vancouver and Seattle (1/2 the home games in each city rotating which part of the season each year).
Would be nice but we stuck here. I doubt the NBA wants to break up the three team rivlary between the Rockets-Mavs-Spurs and honestly it's a fun rivalry. All three franchises have hall of famers and championships. I don't mind staying here for the tougher competition.
Understood. My statement probably came across stronger to you than I had intended. Wasn't meant as a shot toward you or anything.
it's time mexico gets a team too. ciudad juarez borders has a nice ring to it. or mexico city swoleys.
Interesting cities to me would be: Syracuse: While a major college basketball and football town, and limited population, that seems an advantage. The fans are isolated from pro sports in every regard and have little connection to the Knicks other than Carmelo. Think they would support. I don't know why any player would want to live there, but money is money. San Diego and San Francisco: Support systems and populations in place already, but will the fans spend their money on the lower tier professional sports. Seattle and Kansas City: Old school renewals, so nothing fresh here, but think they could get a solid 5 years before they tire of losing.
Memphis and Minnesota need to move to the East. Especially Memphis, like WTF? they are so much closer to all the eastern conf teams.
Actually coming here to post this. Mexico City is a huge and world-class city. The fan base would be huge, and they have enough affluent citizens and corporations to sellout the expensive seats. Mexico City is wealthier in GDP than all NBA towns except NYC, LA, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, and DC. Too far? Seattle and Boston are each closer to Mexico City than they are to each other. The biggest hurdle would be the small-mindedness of star players shunning Mexico because they don't want to deal with the language barrier and culture shock, or fear for their security. But a franchise player for Mexico City would be a huge celebrity (in Mexico, with US hispanics, and internationally), get all the hot latinas, and would have access to an endorsement market other players wouldn't have.
If Seattle gets another team (which I hope they will), then I think there needs to be on other team for an even 32. Then, half the teams make the playoffs.
Indeed! I think the team should be called "The Cartel" and all active Zeta's and Sinaloa cartel members get BOGO on tickets.
Silver's a big proponent of legalized sports betting, and the Raiders to Vegas thing isn't a done deal, as I understand it. That'd be my first guess if they expand to 32. San Diego's a possibility if the Chargers end up going to LA. Louisville makes a lot of sense. They almost got the Rockets, after all.
That's fine with me. Bring back Seattle. Move the Grizzles to the East Which Rockets player will we elect to throw in the expansion draft? Corey Brewer or Corey Brewer....
https://16winsaring.com/sources-nba...th-two-new-franchises-a4dd52b563d6#.aazjceod8 " Sources have told 16 Wins a Ring that expansion is being talked about more seriously at this point than at any other time recently. The league’s first priority was to complete the CBA, but with the game in such a healthy place monetarily, and the talent level higher than it ever has been, expansion is now the focus of the league office. The earliest the league would expand is for the 2018–19 season, but that 2019–20 is more likely according to sources. It has even been hinted that the new CBA rules around making it more lucrative for free agents to remain with their current teams could help expansion teams hold on to talent and be competitive quicker than ever. The front running cities in talks are Seattle and Mexico City, with Louisville still very much in the picture. The former NBA city of Seattle has always been on the NBA’s radar, with Adam Silver determined to fix the error of letting the city lose its franchise. League sources say Silver has said privately that Seattle is a lock for one of the spots, unless the city itself can’t sort its arena issues. " "The other cities mentioned prominently have been Louisville, Las Vegas and Vancouver, though only Louisville is considered a serious contender as it stands right now. They have a meeting with the league on Tuesday and still have a foothold in proceedings. The league would ideally like to bring two franchises in that could take up residence in the Western Conference, with the Memphis Grizzlies moving to the Eastern Conference. How this would impact divisions and schedule remains to be seen, but there is growing talk of having two 16 team conferences with no divisions."
Vancouver is definitely not a "very passionate sports city." They like the Canucks, and there are a fair number of seahawks bandwagoners, but that's it. My wife is from Van and we own a condo there, and basketball is of little to no interest to the locals, much to my disappointment. I would LOVE to be wrong, since I don't get to spend much time in Houston anymore, but I don't see it happening.
Yeah, the failure of the Grizzlies there makes it seem almost certain they won't get another shot ahead of the other cities on that list. It seems like the perfect city to put an NBA team, I don't know why but the locals aren't into it.
Seattle is a given but I'm not sold on Louisville or Vegas. Vancouver is obviously a no go. Mexico City would be a novelty that would fail IMO. However, one could argue it's the obvious test case for international expansion and might be worth a try.