NBA Expansion

[DoItALL9]

Tampa will not get a team as long as the Magic exist, they are far too close.

Why? There is no cross pollination in the market shares and each of the markets has 3 million households in it, making them both top 20 markets each.

The NBA will not cannibalize itself like that. Orlando is what, 90-120 miles from Tampa? Of course they draw fans from Tampa.

It doesn't make any business sense to put a team there over more isolated markets.

100 miles is nothing, I think realistically the NBA wouldn't any new team within 200 miles of an existing team.

Would you say the Cavaliers will prevent Pittsburgh from ever truly being considered as an expansion site?

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[DoItALL9]

pretty shocked to see Virginia Beach mentioned in OP. The entire statistical area is about 1.7 million people, it is the largest place outside of DC in the state of VA but does it really warrant a franchise?

I mean don't get me wrong, if they started a franchise for that area, you'd get the entire Hampton Roads area and Richmond on board which would combine for a total of at least 3 million potential fans. Some parts of NC would also be on board. You'd also get celebrity support from the hip-hop community, Pharrell Williams, Pusha T, Timbaland, Missy Elliott. The area has produced some notable basketball players, two of the most notable being Allen Iverson and Moses Malone. The state of VA in general has produced many HoFers due to Oak Hill Academy.

Tons of great basketball schools aren't too far. Virginia and VTech are regulars at the NCAA, Virginia won in 2019. VCU and George Mason have made historical runs into the tournment. You still have other schools with programs that show up once in a while, JMU, William and Mary, Virginia State, ODU, etc.

Not to mention the area isn't too far from Duke and UNC and could be appealing to talents that don't want to move too far to play in the league.

I'd love to see a VA Beach or Norfolk franchise but it's unlikely to really happen. There are bigger cities without one and it would also hurt the Wizards since basically anyone that lives there has no choice but to be a fan of the DC teams.

̷V̷i̷r̷g̷i̷n̷i̷a̷ ̷s̷t̷a̷t̷e̷ Norfolk State

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[DoItALL9]

Apples and oranges.

Seattle is a legacy franchise, and Portland/Seattle are technically in different states. They don't have the fan/business overlap that Orlando/Tampa do.

Seattle is also a much wealthier area, the GDP of the metro area is much larger than Tampa's.

Goalpost moving at its finest ladies and gents.

Clearly the NBA thought there was something to Tampa. They could have put them in Jacksonville if they specifically wanted the Raps to spend the year in Florida or some reason. They picked Tampa as a try out.

Raptors players chose Tampa... not the NBA. Mainly because of the weather, ironically. There’s lots of articles on that. They regretted that decision, by the end of it. Tampa fans booed them and cheered for the visiting team almost every night. Lol.

https://www.tampabay.com/sports/2020/11/21/how-the-toronto-raptors-landed-in-tampa/

Buffalo would've been if they decided to play in the Braves jerseys for a year

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[DoItALL9]

The NBA will not cannibalize itself like that. Orlando is what, 90-120 miles from Tampa? Of course they draw fans from Tampa.

It doesn't make any business sense to put a team there over more isolated markets.

100 miles is nothing, I think realistically the NBA wouldn't any new team within 200 miles of an existing team.

I'm glad you said that. Seattle to Portland is only ~160 miles, so they shouldn't get a team either.

175 miles to be precise. It's closer to Vancouver B.C.

Tbf you have to leave the State.

I'm sure Kentucky would use this exact argument about its proximity to Indianapolis

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[turnaroundJ]

hell no. cut two franchises and allow rosters to have more players. the more competitive the better.

[John Murdoch]

Ppl saying vegas..idk they are pretty much a Lakers town . I think Seattle makes the most sense

[Karmaloop]

Ppl saying vegas..idk they are pretty much a Lakers town . I think Seattle makes the most sense

I would assume that the NBA doesn't want an odd number of teams, so you'll bring in 2 teams and have 8 divisions of 4 teams each.

Pacific: LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Sacramento, Golden State
Northwest: Portland, Utah, Denver, Seattle
South: Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio
Central: Charlotte, Oklahoma City, Memphis, TBD
Midwest: Minnesota, Milwaukee, Chicago, Detroit
Southeast: Miami, Orlando, Atlanta, New Orleans
Atlantic: Toronto, Washington, Cleveland, Indiana
Northeast: Boston, New York, Brooklyn, Philadelphia

Or something along those lines. Could effectively abandon conferences at that point.

[John Murdoch]

Ppl saying vegas..idk they are pretty much a Lakers town . I think Seattle makes the most sense

I would assume that the NBA doesn't want an odd number of teams, so you'll bring in 2 teams and have 8 divisions of 4 teams each.

Pacific: LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Sacramento, Golden State
Northwest: Portland, Utah, Denver, Seattle
South: Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio
Central: Charlotte, Oklahoma City, Memphis, TBD
Midwest: Minnesota, Milwaukee, Chicago, Detroit
Southeast: Miami, Orlando, Atlanta, New Orleans
Atlantic: Toronto, Washington, Cleveland, Indiana
Northeast: Boston, New York, Brooklyn, Philadelphia

Or something along those lines. Could effectively abandon conferences at that point.

Would make more sense to move clipps to vegas

[LakerLegend]

Instead of adding 2 teams they should be reducing them, spread the talent around

There’s no need for LA to have 2 teams, so you can start there and you may as well get rid of the Wolves

Take the players from the Clippers & Wolves and have a draft

There are 20 million people in Southern California, it could support 4 teams if it had them.

[LakerLegend]

pretty shocked to see Virginia Beach mentioned in OP. The entire statistical area is about 1.7 million people, it is the largest place outside of DC in the state of VA but does it really warrant a franchise?

I mean don't get me wrong, if they started a franchise for that area, you'd get the entire Hampton Roads area and Richmond on board which would combine for a total of at least 3 million potential fans. Some parts of NC would also be on board. You'd also get celebrity support from the hip-hop community, Pharrell Williams, Pusha T, Timbaland, Missy Elliott. The area has produced some notable basketball players, two of the most notable being Allen Iverson and Moses Malone. The state of VA in general has produced many HoFers due to Oak Hill Academy.

Tons of great basketball schools aren't too far. Virginia and VTech are regulars at the NCAA, Virginia won in 2019. VCU and George Mason have made historical runs into the tournment. You still have other schools with programs that show up once in a while, JMU, William and Mary, Virginia State, ODU, etc.

Not to mention the area isn't too far from Duke and UNC and could be appealing to talents that don't want to move too far to play in the league.

I'd love to see a VA Beach or Norfolk franchise but it's unlikely to really happen. There are bigger cities without one and it would also hurt the Wizards since basically anyone that lives there has no choice but to be a fan of the DC teams.

They tried to move the Kings to VB.

They failed.

Money.

They tried to move the Kings to LA, as a third team.

They tried to move the Kings to Seattle.

Failed and failed.

Why?

Money. Sac’s mayor Burkle bombed them. Google it.

The Kings are the oldest operating professional basketball franchise in the world. And the NBA was happy to eliminate them over money.

Loyalty got nothing to do with it.

Let’s be clear, relocation and expansion is about money.

The very existence if the NBA itself is about making money, it's a business what's your point?

[Slim Charlez]

hell no. cut two franchises and allow rosters to have more players. the more competitive the better.

I keep hearing this argument being thrown around yet the league hasn't been this open in years.

[SNPA]

pretty shocked to see Virginia Beach mentioned in OP. The entire statistical area is about 1.7 million people, it is the largest place outside of DC in the state of VA but does it really warrant a franchise?

I mean don't get me wrong, if they started a franchise for that area, you'd get the entire Hampton Roads area and Richmond on board which would combine for a total of at least 3 million potential fans. Some parts of NC would also be on board. You'd also get celebrity support from the hip-hop community, Pharrell Williams, Pusha T, Timbaland, Missy Elliott. The area has produced some notable basketball players, two of the most notable being Allen Iverson and Moses Malone. The state of VA in general has produced many HoFers due to Oak Hill Academy.

Tons of great basketball schools aren't too far. Virginia and VTech are regulars at the NCAA, Virginia won in 2019. VCU and George Mason have made historical runs into the tournment. You still have other schools with programs that show up once in a while, JMU, William and Mary, Virginia State, ODU, etc.

Not to mention the area isn't too far from Duke and UNC and could be appealing to talents that don't want to move too far to play in the league.

I'd love to see a VA Beach or Norfolk franchise but it's unlikely to really happen. There are bigger cities without one and it would also hurt the Wizards since basically anyone that lives there has no choice but to be a fan of the DC teams.

They tried to move the Kings to VB.

They failed.

Money.

They tried to move the Kings to LA, as a third team.

They tried to move the Kings to Seattle.

Failed and failed.

Why?

Money. Sac’s mayor Burkle bombed them. Google it.

The Kings are the oldest operating professional basketball franchise in the world. And the NBA was happy to eliminate them over money.

Loyalty got nothing to do with it.

Let’s be clear, relocation and expansion is about money.

The very existence if the NBA itself is about making money, it's a business what's your point?

It’s a counter to those stating Seattle gets a team because of nostalgia.

The NBA was ready to eliminate the oldest franchise in the world (which is super bush league and hard to imagine in other sports), yet people think the Sonics are so historic and important that they have to be first. Maybe they will be next but only if Seattle pays up more than others and has an arena that is preferably tax funded in part.

Then there is the bogus distance argument. The Kings would have been the third LA team and the league was cool with it. Chicago, the Bay and other cities with teams nearby aren’t going to be treated differently. The NBA will put a team where the expansion fee makes the most for the other owners, 100 miles or 200 miles is a big whatever.

[Cactus Jack]

It’s a counter to those stating Seattle gets a team because of nostalgia.

The NBA was ready to eliminate the oldest franchise in the world (which is super bush league and hard to imagine in other sports), yet people think the Sonics are so historic and important that they have to be first. Maybe they will be next but only if Seattle pays up more than others and has an arena that is preferably tax funded in part.

Seattle is under strong consideration because they have a wealthy investment group with strong NBA ties. It's the same group that paid for an expansion NHL team (Kraken). It also paid for a Billion $ dollar makeover of Seattle Center (new arena).

David Bonderman, is the principle owner of the Hockey team & will write a check for an expansion fee. He's currently a minority owner of the Celtics (10%).

The league will give Seattle an expansion team. It's all but a done deal.

[SNPA]

It’s a counter to those stating Seattle gets a team because of nostalgia.

The NBA was ready to eliminate the oldest franchise in the world (which is super bush league and hard to imagine in other sports), yet people think the Sonics are so historic and important that they have to be first. Maybe they will be next but only if Seattle pays up more than others and has an arena that is preferably tax funded in part.

Seattle is under strong consideration because they have a wealthy investment group with strong NBA ties. It's the same group that paid for an expansion NHL team (Kraken). It also paid for a Billion $ dollar makeover of Seattle Center (new arena).

David Bonderman, is the principle owner of the Hockey team & will write a check for NBA expansion. He's currently a minority owner of the Celtics (10%).

The league will give Seattle an expansion team. It's all but a done deal.

Maybe. But not over a group offering a few hundred million more.

[Cactus Jack]

It’s a counter to those stating Seattle gets a team because of nostalgia.

The NBA was ready to eliminate the oldest franchise in the world (which is super bush league and hard to imagine in other sports), yet people think the Sonics are so historic and important that they have to be first. Maybe they will be next but only if Seattle pays up more than others and has an arena that is preferably tax funded in part.

Seattle is under strong consideration because they have a wealthy investment group with strong NBA ties. It's the same group that paid for an expansion NHL team (Kraken). It also paid for a Billion $ dollar makeover of Seattle Center (new arena).

David Bonderman, is the principle owner of the Hockey team & will write a check for NBA expansion. He's currently a minority owner of the Celtics (10%).

The league will give Seattle an expansion team. It's all but a done deal.

Maybe. But not over a group offering a few hundred million more.

Spoiler:

They're not getting outbid.

[Lalouie]

vegas,,,to balance out the geography

vegas/phx/utah/denver

vancouver next to seattle sounds crowded for that part of north america, and there would already be six on the west coast

i wonder how many people think vegas is not a "real city", and chose vancouver instead ?

[NZB2323]

Vegas or Vancouver make sense, they will both be in the NW conference, Minny will move east and OKC will move to the SW.

Personally I think it will be Vancouver... Vegas now has two pro teams... supporting three is... iffy.

32 is not divisible by 6, so they couldn’t maintain the current divisions. They could do 4 division:

Pacific
Vancouver/Vegas
Seattle
Portland
Sacramento
Oakland
LA
LA
Phoenix

Southwest
Utah
Denver
OKC
Houston
Dallas
San Antonio
Memphis
New Orleans

Midwest
Minnesota
Milwaukee
Chicago
Indiana
Detroit
Cleveland
Toronto
Atlanta

Atlantic
New York
Brooklyn
Boston
Philly
DC
Charlotte
Miami
Orlando

Atlanta is the odd team out, but otherwise it works.

[NZB2323]

vegas,,,to balance out the geography

vegas/phx/utah/denver

vancouver next to seattle sounds crowded for that part of north america, and there would already be six on the west coast

i wonder how many people think vegas is not a "real city", and chose vancouver instead ?

People in Vancouver aren’t SuperSonics fans. They want to root for a team in Canada, just like how people in Wisconsin aren’t Chicago fans.

[karkinos]

vancouver
it's a great flourishing city

[Secret Lover14]

Vegas or Vancouver make sense, they will both be in the NW conference, Minny will move east and OKC will move to the SW.

Personally I think it will be Vancouver... Vegas now has two pro teams... supporting three is... iffy.

32 is not divisible by 6, so they couldn’t maintain the current divisions. They could do 4 division:

Pacific
Vancouver/Vegas
Seattle
Portland
Sacramento
Oakland
LA
LA
Phoenix

Southwest
Utah
Denver
OKC
Houston
Dallas
San Antonio
Memphis
New Orleans

Midwest
Minnesota
Milwaukee
Chicago
Indiana
Detroit
Cleveland
Toronto
Atlanta

Atlantic
New York
Brooklyn
Boston
Philly
DC
Charlotte
Miami
Orlando

Atlanta is the odd team out, but otherwise it works.

I like this but I would change Southwest to Midwest and Midwest to Central. Those were the original division names before the current one.