Bad idea. They did this in Kansas City and the thing stays empty most of the year save for some minor league hockey and the Big XII hoops tourney. Ditto San Antonio and the Alamodome.
Basketball Areas aren't as big a waste as Football arena's as they get concerts, circuses, and other shows.
Not that watered down Watered down...I guess. Two more teams isn't going to dilute the drink we call the NBA to the extreme of making it undrinkable. Adding 30 players that aren't currently in the league isn't as bad as you are making it. Many young talented players coming out of college who don't get a fair shake in showing off their skills in training camp and preseason have to make a choice to either give up basketball all together or find a way to continue to play for a living. I would guess that the NBDL pays like crap compared to middle to top tier European leagues. Plus that's two more teams who have a crack in bringing in some top international players that other NBA teams want but don't have the money to bring over. Seattle deserves a team. They are a good basketball city and who doesn't want to see the SuperSonics again? Vegas is a market that is a huge market to tap full of potential being that it is already a tourist city. I am sure it would be easy to get people to go to games.
Long term, Charlotte moving out there would be best. They've proven twice now that they aren't ready for an NBA franchise. Memphis would be a good choice as well, moving back closer to where they were. Sacramento's days seem numbered, but they've been there for quite a while, and their fans supported them when they were good. I think they will just end up with another franchise eventually.
It isn't the city of Charlotte's fault If I was a SuperSonics fan, I would prefer to have a "brand new" team of players through the Expansion Draft rather then "steal" some other city's whole team. I mean those players are the exact team from the season before just relocated. OKC never had (Hornets don't count) a team before so they had no history. It makes more sense for them to "steal" a team. Football reference here but I mean a lot of people including myself wanted to keep the Oilers name and history in Houston so when we did get a team again we could just be the Houston Oilers once more. I would want that new Oilers to rebuild from scratch. A fresh start. Like how that Texans were built. You bring up Charlotte but both those teams were at the fault of bad management. The Hornets used to be really good and I don't recall complaints about attendence then until they starting really sucking. They move to New Orleans of all places which in itself was a terrible move. The Bobcats have yet to draft and produce a franchise player. I don't see the point of moving Memphis to be closer to Canada. More then likely the Kings will move to Vegas even though Sacramento doesn't deserve to lose the team because again management/ownership is making a bad product that the people aren't buying and proved they would go to games if they had a good team.
They've supported them when they suck too. You're right that Charlotte is the #1 option to move out.(at least, they should be.)
WOAH WOAH WOAH. hold your horses OP. This was a vote to approve planning for an arena which would still need to be approved. Your thread title is misleading.
Be that as it may, the league needs to contract more than expand. The league would be best off if the Kings and Bobcats quietly shut down. For me, this has always been one of Stern's biggest fiascoes. The original Hornets took the league by storm when they came in, unlike the Timberwolves and Heat. Charlotte loved the Hive and they had something going there until Grandmama hurt his back and Zo stabbed the franchise in the back for Riley cash. After that, Shinn showed his true colors as one of the very worst owners in the sport, toe to toe with Sterling. He kept cycling in slight downgrades for stars (Glen Rice, Vlade, Eddie Jones) and refused to pay any of them once their contract came up. He dealt Kobe to LA on draft night. THEN he got hit with sexual assault charges and admitted to having affairs. This went over like a lead balloon in Bible Belt Carolina, especially since on the heels of this and the team going from 50+ wins to 26 he demanded a publicly funded new arena. It was so bad, Charlotte told Stern that they were prepared to build a new arena....on the condition that Shinn be removed as owner. Stern being Stern, he moved the Hornets to NO and double-timed it to give Charlotte an expansion make up gift* Shinn flopped badly in NO, as the city still couldn't support a pro basketball franchise. Shinn had to be pulled by the ear by Stern to go back after tasting the OKC money. Surprise, surprise, he walks out not long after. Charlotte, meanwhile, isn't fooled and remains bitter about the NBA betraying the city. Doesn't help that Robert (BOB) Johnson names the team after himself and then proceeds to run a nickel and dime business, unwilling to spend money on anything, especially scouts or front office personnel. He walks out when he can't turn a profit on a perennial 30-win team. Enter Michael Jordan and quiet rumors that if the NC situation doesn't turn around, the Bobcats may be relocated to become Chicago's 2nd NBA franchise. * Reason 36 that Stern knew/allowed the Sonics to be "stolen" as punishment for Seattle not stepping to the plate after 5 years of negotiations. For reference: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2008/11/02/294986/shinn-i-messed-up-in-charlotte.html No one's going to Vegas unless Stern changes his mind about it. I think it would be good (and in today's internet-driven world and in the wake of the Donaghy crisis, it's naive to think that Vegas is the only place where gambling can affect the game). The Maloofs would kill to attach the Kings to the Palms. But we'll have to see. They're upside down financially* (a la the McCourt's Dodgers) and refuse to sell. They can't/won't contribute 1% to a new arena. The league has to intervene, but Stern is extremely reluctant to act on one of his owners. But my money would definitely be on Stern eventually ousting the Maloofs and sending the Kings to Seattle as the renamed Sonics. * Stake in the Palms down to 2% to stave off $400M in debt http://www.lasvegassun.com/blogs/kats-report/2011/jun/27/joe-magliarditi-named-president-palms/ http://www.kingsfans.com/forums/showthread.php?34766-Maloof-Money-Part-1
I was watching Rockets/Sonics Game 7 from 93 on NBA TV over the weekend. Man, I loved to hate those Sonic teams. But their fans were RABID and they definitely deserve a team again. Key Arena was always a tough place to play. I miss those days where every arena had a unique identity. Now they all look exactly alike and every game presentation in every arena in the league is pretty much the same. Booooring.
Will be interesting whenever KD revisits Seattle when the Thunder play there. Happy for Seattle. Been too long.
Can be Profitable if Expanded Why is it best to contract instead of expand? Who exactly is contracting better for? I would think that the NBA would expand as much as it can as long as the expansion comes with a profit. You could put an NBA team in Las Vegas, San Diego, San Jose, Baltimore, Louisville, Kansas City etc...There are states that don't have one NBA team but have other professional sports. The money is there for the taking. They just need to work on the product. So I guess you are saying contraction is good for the product as only the best players make it. But I would say there are a lot of people who would lose interest in basketball if their team was one that was folded. That's money gone from cable deals to merchandise. And as you as a Rockets fan going to stop watching the NBA if 2 more teams are added? Do you think that watching 30 more players slightly worse then the current NBA players divided among 32 teams will "water down" the product to where you would actually stop watching? I think not. Shinn was a terrible owner and should be banned from owning any professional team again. Why did they even move them to New Orleans? Why not somewhere in Florida? Or Missouri? Or Kansas? He should be banned as well. He and Shinn clearly destroyed professional basketball in Charlotte. If Charlotte can't get over it AFTER the Bobcats become a consistent winning team(not sure when that will be) then I support moving to a city that would appreciate them. I think if ownership got it together then Charlotte could start healing from the Hornets leaving and years of the Bobcats sucking. Well if he ousts the Maloofs then that will be a good move by Stern BUT he should then leave the Sacramento Kings alone. Why do for one team like the Hornets in letting them stay in NO when they should CLEARLY be moved and yet move a team to another city that you know will be profitable under the right leadership if they stayed put?
