Oracle Corp.'s Ellison inquires about buying Memphis Grizzlies

San Jose Grizzlies? Lulz

 

Wouldn't Seattle make more sense than San Jose?

 

Except he's been trying to buy a team for years to move to San Jose..

 

I love the Bay but Cali has enough teams.

 

Yup. That was one of the reasons the league took the Hornets. To stop moves to San Jose or Seattle (and to control CP3's destination, and possibly the destination of Anthony Davis)

http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlesports/2011/01/06/ellison-tried-to-buy-hornets-was-outbid-by-nba/

 

Lol at MemphisX and what! You losing the team!

 

Move it back to Vancouver

 

San Jose already has a downtown arena with luxury suites (remodeled in 2007) and the local corporate money to pay for season tickets/luxury suites.

I don't see a San Jose move being a real possibility with the Kings getting funding for their new arena. But its not the worst option for the league.

 

*yawn*

 

Exactly.

There is no way the NBA sends the message to US cities that if you build our owners a state of the art stadium we will let them move in less than a decade.

 

Right. Because the Stern Doctrine is known for its parity and democratic allegiances.

They will do what is best for the league, and that very well might be selling the Grizzlies to the only serious buyer, and it doesn't appear that anyone who would keep the team in Memphis is serious.

Wishfully routed logic, MemphisX. Do you really have that much faith in the NBA braintrust?

 

He's had that For Sale sign in the front lawn for a looooooong time.

 

back in 2008 this came up. here is what one of our newspaper columnist put it and the reason the grizzlies aren't going anywhere soon:

Starting in year 10 -- which is a full six years from now -- the team can move only if certain ticket and suite sales minimums are not met.
Even then, the city and county have the right to step in and buy enough tickets or suites to meet the minimums.
But say the city and county pass on that one. Say someone wants to buy the team and move it out of town. The city and county would still have the opportunity to find a local buyer to match the purchase price.
The hurdles are starting to stack up, aren't they, Velma? And we haven't even started talking about money yet.
Any out-of-town buyer would also have to pay off the debt service on FedExForum, a number that doesn't dip below $100 million until 2015. And the buyer would have to pay back FedEx for a portion of the naming rights.
And the buyer would have to get the NBA's approval and pay the NBA's relocation fee, which would surely be a good deal more than the $25 million the Grizzlies had to pay to leave Vancouver.
Translation: The team isn't moving anytime soon. It's just not. In this time of finger-pointing and misery, it seems important to recognize that.

 

Of course they would change their names to the San Jose Cougars.

 

If the NBA would rather buy the Hornets themselves than let Ellison buy them, I don't think they're going to be very cooperative about him moving the Grizzlies.

He should be buying the Hornets. New Orleans can't support them anyway.

 

this is true. also, a couple of things. first, sacramento and golden state would never stand for another california team in close proximity: san jose.

the other drama about this is on a local level. it has long been rumored that the local minority ownership and heisley are playing a game with each other.

part of the reason heisley wants to find a bidder is to force local ownership to pony up his asking price. the local ownership is betting that this won't happen so they have no reason to step in.

if and when that time comes, fred smith, autozone founder Pitt Hyde and other strong minority partners have enough juice to match the offer almost instantly.

in short, the grizzlies aren't going anywhere.