As a fan of the NBA I am hoping to see additional teams added in the next round of expansion. I am thinking two teams. It appears Las Vegas is on the short list of potential cities. Certainly the new arena and the initial support for the Knights in the NHL certainly makes an appealing case for Las Vegas.
Myself I am hoping to see one team added to each conference. My hope would be Seattle, especially now city is investing in Key Arena and has an NBA fan base established from the Supersonics years. I think the NBA made a mistake by backing a group keeping the Kings in Sacramento. That and added costs to tax payers for a new arena to keep them was a mistake. Moving the team to Anaheim or San Diego(although not sure if San Diego has NBA ready venue).
For the eastern conference Louisville, Pittsburgh, St Louis are likely candidates. Long shot could be Cincinnati but not sure if their arena meets NBA requirements, Kansas City,Omaha probably better suited for a western conference expansion team in the future. With the NBA finding success in smaller cities where they are only game in town I could see Louisville being the choice for an eastern conference expansion team.
Your thoughts
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- LittleFokker
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Re: Next cities to be granted NBA expansion teams
I don't see expansion happening, there's quite a bit of talk about the talent pool already being a little thin for the league, and expansion won't help that.
Vegas is intriguing, and the way the city is getting behind the Knights is stupendously exceeding my expectations, but the team has also been good this year, and winning help. It will take a few seasons of the team not being good to gauge how strong the fan support really is.
Another thing to consider is after the fleecing the Kings put on Sacramento for new digs, cities are starting to get wiser to coughing up public money for new stadiums. Warriors are getting a new arena in two seasons, and public financing was never on the table (deal got hung up because of environmental impact study). The days of holding a city hostage for public money are over, so I don't see expansion or relocation occurring soon, at least unless a team is willing to fund their own arena.
Vegas is intriguing, and the way the city is getting behind the Knights is stupendously exceeding my expectations, but the team has also been good this year, and winning help. It will take a few seasons of the team not being good to gauge how strong the fan support really is.
Another thing to consider is after the fleecing the Kings put on Sacramento for new digs, cities are starting to get wiser to coughing up public money for new stadiums. Warriors are getting a new arena in two seasons, and public financing was never on the table (deal got hung up because of environmental impact study). The days of holding a city hostage for public money are over, so I don't see expansion or relocation occurring soon, at least unless a team is willing to fund their own arena.
Re: Next cities to be granted NBA expansion teams
Vegas seems like a no brainer but they would have no chance for a long time with the West the way it is. Winning would be tough. I wouldn't mind it but 5-10 years out maybe.
Re: Next cities to be granted NBA expansion teams
Vegas seems more likely to be used by an existing team to use as a threat to attempt to grift money out of existing cities.
Re: Next cities to be granted NBA expansion teams
I always wondered why St. Louis didn't have an NBA team (they had the Hawks a long time ago). If not St. Louis why not Kansas City. Missouri can support, two MLB teams, an NFL franchise and an NHL franchise. You'd think the NBA could fit in there somewhere. Memphis and Oklahoma City have the NBA, but neither have other major pro teams.
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- cranberrysaus
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Re: Next cities to be granted NBA expansion teams
No chance expansion occurs without Seattle in the picture.
Re: Next cities to be granted NBA expansion teams
falstaff wrote:I always wondered why St. Louis didn't have an NBA team (they had the Hawks a long time ago). If not St. Louis why not Kansas City. Missouri can support, two MLB teams, an NFL franchise and an NHL franchise. You'd think the NBA could fit in there somewhere. Memphis and Oklahoma City have the NBA, but neither have other major pro teams.
You are right, ST Louis did have the Hawks long ago - Kansas City had the Kings (shared with Omaha) before they moved to Sacramento. They were known as the Cincinnati Royals before they moved to Kansas City/Omaha.
As for the OP's hope for a new Seattle franchise now that Key Arena is being renovated. I had hoped that the SODO arena that Chris Hansen wanted to build would have been chosen instead. That location has easy freeway and light rail access. Key Arena is in the middle of downtown on surface streets in the midst of the "Mercer Mess" with no direct access to I-5 and not close the the light rail either.
Re: Next cities to be granted NBA expansion teams
Austin would be a good place for an expansion team in the west, and Nashville for the east.
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- northstardc4m
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Re: Next cities to be granted NBA expansion teams
Seattle should get a team back... or Vancouver should... either way that area went from 2 teams to 0.
It might be interesting to poll the D/G-League attendance numbers and TV ratings to see where is pulling interest(with exclusions for teams close to NBA franchises, like I know Raptors 905 blew the top off the max attendance last year but wouldn't count) at least if there are teams away from the NBA franchises pulling in numbers?
And how many teams is another question...
2 one per conference... 6 on per division (no probably not)?
So if 1 west for Seattle or Vegas or whatever, East then there are big gaps in area... St Louis or Kansas City or maybe Omaha... Nashville is probably too close to Memphis. Pittsburgh or Buffalo maybe?
It might be interesting to poll the D/G-League attendance numbers and TV ratings to see where is pulling interest(with exclusions for teams close to NBA franchises, like I know Raptors 905 blew the top off the max attendance last year but wouldn't count) at least if there are teams away from the NBA franchises pulling in numbers?
And how many teams is another question...
2 one per conference... 6 on per division (no probably not)?
So if 1 west for Seattle or Vegas or whatever, East then there are big gaps in area... St Louis or Kansas City or maybe Omaha... Nashville is probably too close to Memphis. Pittsburgh or Buffalo maybe?
Re: Next cities to be granted NBA expansion teams
ER757 wrote:As for the OP's hope for a new Seattle franchise now that Key Arena is being renovated. I had hoped that the SODO arena that Chris Hansen wanted to build would have been chosen instead. That location has easy freeway and light rail access. Key Arena is in the middle of downtown on surface streets in the midst of the "Mercer Mess" with no direct access to I-5 and not close the the light rail either.
I agree about the access issue but I'd disagree about the Key Arena in the middle of downtown part. The Seattle Center is no more in the "middle' of downtown than SODO, in fact SODO is just blocks from the courthouses and closer(?) to Westgate. Speaking of which, is the monorail still running?
Re: Next cities to be granted NBA expansion teams
Route66 wrote:ER757 wrote:As for the OP's hope for a new Seattle franchise now that Key Arena is being renovated. I had hoped that the SODO arena that Chris Hansen wanted to build would have been chosen instead. That location has easy freeway and light rail access. Key Arena is in the middle of downtown on surface streets in the midst of the "Mercer Mess" with no direct access to I-5 and not close the the light rail either.
I agree about the access issue but I'd disagree about the Key Arena in the middle of downtown part. The Seattle Center is no more in the "middle' of downtown than SODO, in fact SODO is just blocks from the courthouses and closer(?) to Westgate. Speaking of which, is the monorail still running?
To someone like me who lives in suburbia, South Lake Union and the Seattle Center area are "downtown" so I'll stick with my nomenclature tough your point is taken.
Yes, the monorail is running but that hardly helps - again, Westalke Center isn't near the freeway and there's nowhere to park there either once the pay garages fill up
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- georgiabill
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Re: Next cities to be granted NBA expansion teams
I am guessing one team per conference should NBA decide to expand. Seattle would be my choice for the western conference, but it looks like the fix is in for Las Vegas especially now all NBA teams will be fielding summer league teams there this summer.
For the eastern conference I concur with St. Louis(former home to Atlanta Hawks) Cincinnati(former home to a team named Royals, now know as Kings in Sacramento) as candidates. But NBA commissioner said the recently the NBA had found a niche in being markets like OKC, Memphis where they were the only game in town. That leads me to think a city like Louisville might be a candidate.
Would the NBA consider adding two teams to the western conference with expansion teams added in Las Vegas and Seattle and wait a few years and then add expansion teams to eastern conference? Or would they add Las Vegas and Seattle and transfer New Orleans to eastern conference?
Your thoughts
For the eastern conference I concur with St. Louis(former home to Atlanta Hawks) Cincinnati(former home to a team named Royals, now know as Kings in Sacramento) as candidates. But NBA commissioner said the recently the NBA had found a niche in being markets like OKC, Memphis where they were the only game in town. That leads me to think a city like Louisville might be a candidate.
Would the NBA consider adding two teams to the western conference with expansion teams added in Las Vegas and Seattle and wait a few years and then add expansion teams to eastern conference? Or would they add Las Vegas and Seattle and transfer New Orleans to eastern conference?
Your thoughts
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- northstardc4m
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Re: Next cities to be granted NBA expansion teams
You could do it with 2 new western teams...
Flip the Grizzlies to the Southeast division.
Move Thunder from Northwest to Southwest
Add Seattle to Northwest
Add Las Vegas to Pacific
Pacific and Southeast end up with 6 teams each... Southeast could move Wizards to Atlantic to rebalance if that works better.
Flip the Grizzlies to the Southeast division.
Move Thunder from Northwest to Southwest
Add Seattle to Northwest
Add Las Vegas to Pacific
Pacific and Southeast end up with 6 teams each... Southeast could move Wizards to Atlantic to rebalance if that works better.
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- georgiabill
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Re: Next cities to be granted NBA expansion teams
It appears Seattle has paid a fee of 10 million to NHL for a future expansion franchise. Hopefully when and if the NBA expands again Seattle will be one of the cities chosen. Does anyone think NBA might consider adding another team internationally? Perhaps Mexico City or Vancouver?
Re: Next cities to be granted NBA expansion teams
falstaff wrote:I always wondered why St. Louis didn't have an NBA team (they had the Hawks a long time ago). If not St. Louis why not Kansas City. Missouri can support, two MLB teams, an NFL franchise and an NHL franchise. You'd think the NBA could fit in there somewhere. Memphis and Oklahoma City have the NBA, but neither have other major pro teams.
I'm an NBA fan living in Kansas City, and it's amazing how many people here dislike the NBA. It's such a college basketball town, and a lot of people genuinely dislike the NBA and prefer college. As much as I would love to see an NBA team in Kansas City, I think it would be a terrible idea.
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