NBA Expansion

[DoItALL9]

Ideally, the Los Angeles Clippers should be relocated to Seattle and the league should expand to Louisville & Vancouver.

[SupaManu]

Please no more teams, the league needs less teams.

[RaptorsLife]

Vancouver doesn't make sense. Both would be pacific west teams.

If they want to expand to a big city. Montreal in 19th biggest metropolitan in North America and have a ton of rich sponsors

[Euroballer]

Where is the option for retraction?

Considering sports stations, larger markets and large market fans think they are owed all of the star players and small market teams should accept it, they should cut the league down to 20 teams, if not 10 teams.

After seeing Lebron James, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Deron Williams, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Chris Paul, Stephon Marbury... that doesn't even include non-midwest guys like Shaq, Dwight, Vince who hated their market....

Point is, there is no longer a point in being a fan of a small market team as they're mistreated by the league, mistreated by sports hosts, mistreated by fans etc. Unless the league has equal revenue sharing for small market teams to go into the luxury cap, then the NBA will forever be unfairly operated.

When you start seeing sports hosts and fans saying Pacers should trade one of their all-time greats for 2 years of Kevin Love, I see no point in watching the NBA if people think that's in any way fair or accurate judgement of a trade that should occur. Same way they all put Lavar Ball on tv and claim it's what we want. Tons of NBA fans have been brainwashed into thinking the NBA is doing a good job in running itself. It's doing a good job in running itself off a cliff. Other than Chicago and maybe Detroit... Indiana, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Denver, Utah, New Orleans, Memphis should all be retracted since large markets piss all over them and steal their talent because the league is set up to allow it. If large markets want these teams to stick around, how about they split the revenue with them equally and implement some type of tag of one player per roster. Wouldn't want that, gotta rob the Midwest of Lebron, Melo, Durant, Deron, CP3, Garnett, Ray, Marbury etc. Gordon Hayward may go to Boston, Paul George will be gone and Anthony Davis along with DeMarcus Cousins will both be pilfered.

Congrats to California, New York, Chicago, Texas and Florida for owning the league, good job. Now give money to the teams you're stealing from to stack the deck. Pay for all the Midwest teams expenses so those teams can quit robbing their taxpayers to fix up the arenas we aren't even going to. That, or retract them altogether, because most of us Midwest fans now loathe the NBA until they decide to once again become a legit league instead of scripting it like the WWF. You think Donaghy was only one rigging games? The NBA execs and refs rate other refs in the league, but they still couldn't tell Lakers/Blazers, Lakers/Kings, Mavs/Heat 06, Pacers/Heat all 3 series in 2010's, Cavs/Warriors 16 etc. were all rigged? So very blatantly rigged.

It's shocking that people are talking about expansion when half the current fan bases in the league no longer trust the NBA nor do they care if their favorite team is relocated. Let them relocate to another city where they can be taken advantage of, because we see locally how bad we're getting f'ed up by the corrupt league and sports stations who are as credible as CNN and their fake news.

Man, this was just such an all time great post bro.



It's particularly true how the NBA rigs the games. Fact is Indiana should have been in the finals at least one year, not Heat. That was some extreme rigging by the league.

[QCalloway25]

Vancouver and Seattle are too close to each other to put two teams in at the same time, though I think Vancouver does deserve a team.

There are a lot of good choices for a 2nd expansion team site. Kansas City, Louisville, Montreal, and Las Vegas would all be great choices.But of those cities Kansas City and Vegas make the most sense geographically. That said I agree that Seattle and Vancouver are too close for both to get expansion teams, but one of them will 100% be getting a team when expansion happens.

Edit: And when it happens the Timberwolves absolutely need to be moved to the Eastern conference. They have by far the highest burden when it comes to travel, that needs to change. They belong in the Eastern conference with teams that are actually relatively close to Minneapolis. Both New Orleans and Memphis would be poor choices to move east. They are both close to OKC, Dallas, and Houston. Minneapolis isn't close to any teams in the Western conference. Their geographic isolation is a substantial competitive disadvantage for them.

I've been banging the "Timberwolves to the East" drum hard for a long time. It just makes sense, right now they have no clear rival and no one in the west is really anywhere near them. They already have cross sports rivalries with Chicago (Twins-White Sox / Vikings-Bears, Wild-Blackhawks) / Detroit (Twins - Tigers, Vikings - Lions) / Cleveland (Twins - Indians) / Milwaukee (Vikings - Packers).

I'd like to see 4 franchises added:

Seattle - obvious reasons
Vancouver - willing to give them a second chance
San Diego - with the Chargers leaving town there's a vacuum, it would likely be a destination team for players
Columbus - selfish reasons, but it easily makes more sense than those throwing out Pittsburgh / Cincinnati / Louisville for a variety of reasons, IMO most people throwing out those cities are either residents of those cities or have zero understanding of the area.

Shift the Timberwolves to the East

I'd be willing to entertain the idea of St. Louis / Kansas City, though I don't see any way the NBA unseats the Chiefs, Royals, Blues and Cardinals in fan interest (not to mention Kansas Jayhawks basketball), Kansas City would have to build a new arena and the lack of support for the Rams in St. Louis is concerning. If a major heartland city doesn't have great support for the NFL, the NBA has no chance.

Las Vegas I don't agree with at all, they are adding the Raiders and the NHL, it would be nonsensical to go from 0 to 3 teams in a short window.

You are aware Kansas City literally just got a state of the art arena like 4 years ago right? The Sprint Center where they hold the Big 12 tourney each year. Hell, that's one of the reasons they want an NBA team is because the arena has open dates and no one to fill it.

As for Vegas, I thought it could work as Vegas does like basketball and it makes more sense than hockey. The problem though is Vegas is like Los Angeles East and that is Lakers country. A lot of games would end up like Raiders games will end up as well, where it's more of a "let's take a trip to Vegas and see the game" as opposed to a legit homecourt and fanbase imo.

[The Penguin]

There are a lot of good choices for a 2nd expansion team site. Kansas City, Louisville, Montreal, and Las Vegas would all be great choices.But of those cities Kansas City and Vegas make the most sense geographically. That said I agree that Seattle and Vancouver are too close for both to get expansion teams, but one of them will 100% be getting a team when expansion happens.

Edit: And when it happens the Timberwolves absolutely need to be moved to the Eastern conference. They have by far the highest burden when it comes to travel, that needs to change. They belong in the Eastern conference with teams that are actually relatively close to Minneapolis. Both New Orleans and Memphis would be poor choices to move east. They are both close to OKC, Dallas, and Houston. Minneapolis isn't close to any teams in the Western conference. Their geographic isolation is a substantial competitive disadvantage for them.

I've been banging the "Timberwolves to the East" drum hard for a long time. It just makes sense, right now they have no clear rival and no one in the west is really anywhere near them. They already have cross sports rivalries with Chicago (Twins-White Sox / Vikings-Bears, Wild-Blackhawks) / Detroit (Twins - Tigers, Vikings - Lions) / Cleveland (Twins - Indians) / Milwaukee (Vikings - Packers).

I'd like to see 4 franchises added:

Seattle - obvious reasons
Vancouver - willing to give them a second chance
San Diego - with the Chargers leaving town there's a vacuum, it would likely be a destination team for players
Columbus - selfish reasons, but it easily makes more sense than those throwing out Pittsburgh / Cincinnati / Louisville for a variety of reasons, IMO most people throwing out those cities are either residents of those cities or have zero understanding of the area.

Shift the Timberwolves to the East

I'd be willing to entertain the idea of St. Louis / Kansas City, though I don't see any way the NBA unseats the Chiefs, Royals, Blues and Cardinals in fan interest (not to mention Kansas Jayhawks basketball), Kansas City would have to build a new arena and the lack of support for the Rams in St. Louis is concerning. If a major heartland city doesn't have great support for the NFL, the NBA has no chance.

Las Vegas I don't agree with at all, they are adding the Raiders and the NHL, it would be nonsensical to go from 0 to 3 teams in a short window.

You are aware Kansas City literally just got a state of the art arena like 4 years ago right? The Sprint Center where they hold the Big 12 tourney each year. Hell, that's one of the reasons they want an NBA team is because the arena has open dates and no one to fill it.

As for Vegas, I thought it could work as Vegas does like basketball and it makes more sense than hockey. The problem though is Vegas is like Los Angeles East and that is Lakers country. A lot of games would end up like Raiders games will end up as well, where it's more of a "let's take a trip to Vegas and see the game" as opposed to a legit homecourt and fanbase imo.

Fair enough, KC built a new arena that opened 10 years ago (so not that much different than Columbus's nationwide arena). I still don't see a NBA team beating out the Chiefs / Royals / Jayhawks for local interest, but I see the merit in having the NBA in that area. I don't have anything against KC getting a team, there's none within ~5 hours. I have more of an issue with people saying Cincy, Pittsburgh, Louisville, when Columbus is clearly a better choice.

[QCalloway25]

Where is the option for retraction?

Considering sports stations, larger markets and large market fans think they are owed all of the star players and small market teams should accept it, they should cut the league down to 20 teams, if not 10 teams.

After seeing Lebron James, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Deron Williams, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Chris Paul, Stephon Marbury... that doesn't even include non-midwest guys like Shaq, Dwight, Vince who hated their market....

Point is, there is no longer a point in being a fan of a small market team as they're mistreated by the league, mistreated by sports hosts, mistreated by fans etc. Unless the league has equal revenue sharing for small market teams to go into the luxury cap, then the NBA will forever be unfairly operated.

When you start seeing sports hosts and fans saying Pacers should trade one of their all-time greats for 2 years of Kevin Love, I see no point in watching the NBA if people think that's in any way fair or accurate judgement of a trade that should occur. Same way they all put Lavar Ball on tv and claim it's what we want. Tons of NBA fans have been brainwashed into thinking the NBA is doing a good job in running itself. It's doing a good job in running itself off a cliff. Other than Chicago and maybe Detroit... Indiana, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Denver, Utah, New Orleans, Memphis should all be retracted since large markets piss all over them and steal their talent because the league is set up to allow it. If large markets want these teams to stick around, how about they split the revenue with them equally and implement some type of tag of one player per roster. Wouldn't want that, gotta rob the Midwest of Lebron, Melo, Durant, Deron, CP3, Garnett, Ray, Marbury etc. Gordon Hayward may go to Boston, Paul George will be gone and Anthony Davis along with DeMarcus Cousins will both be pilfered.

Congrats to California, New York, Chicago, Texas and Florida for owning the league, good job. Now give money to the teams you're stealing from to stack the deck. Pay for all the Midwest teams expenses so those teams can quit robbing their taxpayers to fix up the arenas we aren't even going to. That, or retract them altogether, because most of us Midwest fans now loathe the NBA until they decide to once again become a legit league instead of scripting it like the WWF. You think Donaghy was only one rigging games? The NBA execs and refs rate other refs in the league, but they still couldn't tell Lakers/Blazers, Lakers/Kings, Mavs/Heat 06, Pacers/Heat all 3 series in 2010's, Cavs/Warriors 16 etc. were all rigged? So very blatantly rigged.

It's shocking that people are talking about expansion when half the current fan bases in the league no longer trust the NBA nor do they care if their favorite team is relocated. Let them relocate to another city where they can be taken advantage of, because we see locally how bad we're getting f'ed up by the corrupt league and sports stations who are as credible as CNN and their fake news.

I'm not even gonna get into the conspiracy theory stuff cause that's way OT, but a lot of this angst seems unfounded to me. Do I agree that star players seems less likely to "do it on their own" now, yes. That is true, do I think that means contracting teams. Hell no and let me tell you why.

You point to the big bad markets who steal all the players, yet, pretty much all the big market teams are suffering right now. The Lakers haven't landed a star in years, the Knicks have been trash since 2001(with the outlier of 2013), the Nets are the Nets, the Clippers got good after the CP3 fiasco (remember they drafted Blake which in turn enticed CP3) but NO was gifted AD, Dallas has landed no one, Chicago has landed no one, Houston just got their biggest FA ever(technically a trade & he left a larger market), and the list goes on.

So please explain to me how they are taking all these stars from the small markets? Let me guess, Gordon Hayward right? Like the Celtics being in the ECF and having Brad Stevens had nothing to do with him leaving...Who else? KD? It's not like he played with another top 5 player in one of the smallest markets for years or anything...

It's time people start holding their damn front offices accountable instead of blaming big markets. Big markets are already subsidizing some of these small markets as it is, now it's their faults Dell Demps just gave Jrue Holiday a max contract and traded picks like Billy King light? It's their fault Dwight's best teammate on the Magic through those years was probably Jameer Nelson? It's their fault Paul George's 2nd best teammate was either George Hill or Lance "blow in ya ear" Stephenson?

At some point, San Antonio, Boston, Miami, Charlotte, OKC, even Utah to an extent should show you building the right way works. With the salary cap and salary differences, people need to realize that this is as close to a level playing field as it's been when it comes to FA's. But bigger than anything market related is star players all talking to each other unlike the past. The only reason CP3 is in Houston is because of Harden. KD went to GS mainly because they were recruiting him. Russ can convince PG to stay especially if they have a good season. Wade brought his friends to Miami and now Melo wants Houston because of CP3. Stars want to play with stars, period. You win when surrounded by other talent. You draft talent, keep flexibility, and strike when the opportunity arises ala a Morey or Presti and you'll land guys. If you don't, you'll end up like New Orleans or Orlando. It's that simple.

[LouisLitt]

Why force an expansion to Seattle and another team, when we really need less teams in this league.

[LakerLegend]

Vancouver doesn't make sense. Both would be pacific west teams.

If they want to expand to a big city. Montreal in 19th biggest metropolitan in North America and have a ton of rich sponsors

Would people there support basketball?

[infintybeyond]

Expansion? I already think the talent pool is diluted because of super teams. They want to dilute it more? The Association is making too much money for such a poor product. The regular season was saved by Westbrook's tripdub chase. This years playoffs was pretty forgettable. Imagine how many bad contracts are going to come from this.

For the casual fan, this stuff is great. For a diehard fan, it's getting hard to watch this stuff. It's not competitive anymore.

[Mr.Raptorsingh]

Put a team in Seattle in a couple years, and have Kyrie and Klay team up there. It's possible Durant returns to Seattle, too, if a team is there.

[Asif16]

Still don't understand why LA has 2 teams. Move the Clippers to Vancouver. Expand another team to Seattle.

[SDANNIE]

SAN DIEGO!!! PLEASE PLEASE SAN DIEGO!

All would be right in the world of SDANNIE. But I would still be a Thunder fan first.

[Cactus Jack]

Still don't understand why LA has 2 teams. Move the Clippers to Vancouver. Expand another team to Seattle.

Ballmer lives in Seattle. He was planning on building an arena with land that he still owns in Seattle. He wouldn't move the team to Vancouver.

[Cactus Jack]

Why force an expansion to Seattle and another team, when we really need less teams in this league.

No problem. I'll buy the Raptors & move the team myself!

[Asif16]

Still don't understand why LA has 2 teams. Move the Clippers to Vancouver. Expand another team to Seattle.

Ballmer lives in Seattle. He was planning on building an arena with land that he still owns in Seattle. He wouldn't move the team to Vancouver.

Then move the clippers to Seattle and expand to Vancouver

[Village Idiot]

Why force an expansion to Seattle and another team, when we really need less teams in this league.

Fewer teams.

New Orleans and Memphis are barely viable as things are now so you do have a point. It remains to be seen whether OKC can be viable either if they have a team with a losing record. The other teams are in decent shape though.

[RaptorsLife]

Vancouver doesn't make sense. Both would be pacific west teams.

If they want to expand to a big city. Montreal in 19th biggest metropolitan in North America and have a ton of rich sponsors

Would people there support basketball?

Yeah I'm sure they would. Raptors had pre season games over the years there and they sold out every time

They only have 1 sports franchise, montreal hates Toronto. So it would definitely be a big rivalry in Canada for ratings here

[Enso]

Montreal.

Yes Plz!

[LouisLitt]

Why force an expansion to Seattle and another team, when we really need less teams in this league.

No problem. I'll buy the Raptors & move the team myself!

Don't care to be honest.

I just want to watch good basketball, if that means the Raptors leaving, then that means the Raptors leaving. I wouldn't cry about it, it's necessary for the league to move forward and be more exciting. Would be much harder to tank with less teams, since there's a much higher chance that every team will have all-star caliber players.

If we could shed 4 teams per conference, that would be great.