2019 - 2021 Free-Agents

[Ranma]

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[Don Tommy]

Lowest attendance in the league.

There are conspiracy theories that the NBA promised them the top pick of the 2012 draft which turned into AD.

Benson completed the purchase just before that 2012 draft.

But it's a huge football city, state and region. Kids in the South aspire to become NFL players. Only a fraction of them want to be MLB or NBA players.

It would make all kinds of sense to move that club to Seattle or some other appreciative market.

There has been a lot of rumors here in Vegas that the Pelicans may be coming here now that the Suns are off limits. We have the arena, and the way the city has embraced the Golden Knights has surprised most people. Vegas was always a basketball town, but now with the Knights coming off their year last year and doing well again this year, the Running Rebels are struggling to remain relevant.

Add two teams, Vegas and Seattle, move Memphis and New Orleans to the Eastern Conference. That's what we want! And yes, this is way off topic!

[Ranma]

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[Ranma]

Woj & Marks discuss how the teams in Los Angeles and New York, except for the Lakers, each have 2 max-salary slots available for the loaded free-agency class this upcoming summer. There was a discussion of how alluring the New York market itself is but the Knicks still have to convince players that their organization finally has their stuff together. Woj noted that the Clippers have a shot to convince someone to join us if we get another star given our location in the Los Angeles market. Woj is also of the opinion that Kyrie will stay in Boston.

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Spoiler:

[Ranma]

There has been a lot of rumors here in Vegas that the Pelicans may be coming here now that the Suns are off limits. We have the arena, and the way the city has embraced the Golden Knights has surprised most people. Vegas was always a basketball town, but now with the Knights coming off their year last year and doing well again this year, the Running Rebels are struggling to remain relevant.

Add two teams, Vegas and Seattle, move Memphis and New Orleans to the Eastern Conference. That's what we want! And yes, this is way off topic!

That's interesting. No offense, but I've never been a fan of Las Vegas being a home city for professional sports given the gambling element, but current commissioner Adam Silver has been lax with a lot of things, so the Pelicans moving to Sin City makes sense, especially with how bad New Orleans has been as an NBA market. The ownership of the Pelicans is highly questionable to boot.

I don't see New Orleans getting another team if and when they lose the Pelicans. Seattle will get an expansion team and I'm guess the Grizzlies stay in Memphis for now for at least 5 years.

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[wco81]

The only issue with Seattle and NO is that the NBA team would be tenants to arenas owned by the NHL teams.

Seattle is building one for an NHL expansion team and the Knights in Vegas owns one already.

Not only is there less money from NBA games from being a tenant, the NBA team owner misses out on a chance for revenues from non NBA events at the stadium, which doesn't have to be shared with the league.

It would for instance be much more appealing to an NBA owner to own those arenas and collect rent on the NHL games, instead of the other way around.

Then there are concerts, NCAA games, mo0nster truck rallies, etc.

[Ranma]

The only issue with Seattle and NO is that the NBA team would be tenants to arenas owned by the NHL teams.

Seattle is building one for an NHL expansion team and the Knights in Vegas owns one already.

Not only is there less money from NBA games from being a tenant, the NBA team owner misses out on a chance for revenues from non NBA events at the stadium, which doesn't have to be shared with the league.

It would for instance be much more appealing to an NBA owner to own those arenas and collect rent on the NHL games, instead of the other way around.

Then there are concerts, NCAA games, mo0nster truck rallies, etc.

That's a good point about the shared arena issue, but with regards to a proposed SuperSonics team in Seattle, there have been difficulties funding and even securing land for a new arena there. You have to have an arena first before you can place an NBA team at any location and teams have and currently share stadiums for basketball and hockey. See Madison Square Garden. See Staples Center.

Building arenas are quite expensive endeavors. If the group in Seattle hasn't been able to accomplish securing a new stadium deal by now, the renovated Key Arena should be fine, especially since the Sonics used to play there.

In the case of the Pelicans, if a new owner wants to get into the business of building arenas, then maybe he shouldn't get into the business of buying an NBA team. As the NFL's Rams, Chargers, and Raiders have shown, it's not that easy to get any project started. If there is is a new ready-made arena available for a new team to play in, it takes one less concern of having to buy an NBA franchise off the table for a prospective owner. Let's not forget that the cost to buy NBA franchise can reach into the billions now, so not having to build a new arena on top of that should make it more affordable for prospective buyers.

Part of the problem with expansion franchises, has been building new arenas in order to woo teams to move to certain locations without the guarantee that there being an established market for that sport, team or whatever. See the Vancouver Grizzlies, the aforementioned Pelicans, and Charlotte Hornets. Seattle is already a proven NBA market and, as Don Tommy has pointed out, Las Vegas seems to be a burgeoning market for professional sports.

Having an enthusiastic market and a modern arena ready satisfies the major concerns any new team would have in entering or returning to a market location.

[wco81]

Pretty sure Seattle has their NHL expansion team so they're either building one or renovating one.

Gayle Benson is Tom Benson's widow. Actually she inherited the team over Benson's children. Gayle is not their mother.

So it was a mess there.

But she's minting money from the Saints. I don't know if she cares about trying to make a lot of money from the Pelicans, which have the lowest attendance in the league. If she could sell to someone for $2 billion that might be more attractive.

Any owner who pays that kind of money will want to see big revenue streams and you almost have to own the stadium to get that.

The Warriors owners haven't been touting it but it's been reported that they expect to make $100 million in additional profits the first few years at the new Chase Center.

Of course if the team falls apart with stars leaving, then they might not make that kind of money but I think they already lined up a lot of non basketball events. Plus they're going to make hundreds of millions from PSLs.

If the Warriors win this season and then re-sign KD and Klay and make a $300 million payroll work, you can bet other owners will look into building new arenas and selling PSLs. Then poaching all the non NBA events like concerts and stuff from other venues in the region.

[Ranma]

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Spoiler:

John Gonzalez, TheRinger.com (1/31/19)

At the beginning of the decade, two L.A. teams vied for a New Orleans All-Star who wanted out of town. Now, Anthony Davis may be destined to wear purple and gold, but the Clippers could get in the mix too. The question is: Should they?

Despite having Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, and JJ Redick, the Clippers never got out of the second round of the playoffs, and their overall profile didn’t change all that much, either. In the end, they were a good-not-great team of players who still got booed at Dodgers games.

In addition to money and roster flexibility, the Clippers can also offer prospective superstar free agents something the Lakers can’t: the opportunity to be a rock star in Southern California without being the backup singer in LeBron’s band. As Durant said in a stunning statement in December, playing with the greatest talent of his generation comes with a cost that not everyone is willing to pay. If the Clippers can convince Kawhi or KD or both to come to L.A., the Lakers would be faced with a genuine intercity fight on the court and the marquee.

What the 2011 Chris Paul Trade Tells Us About the 2019 Race for Anthony Davis

[Ranma]

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Zach Kram, TheRinger.com (1/31/19)

Is Anthony Davis the Most Squandered Superstar in NBA History?

[Ranma]

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[Ranma]

Let's be real. LeBron has always wanted to coach his teams himself. That's why he got Tyronn Lue the gig. He's partnered with Magic in order to also have more direct say into building the team as co-GM. To go from Jason Kidd to Mark Jackson is both hilarious and expected. Kidd and Jackson, like Byron Scott, coach by cozying up to their best player and riding him. I actually think Doc would be the best coach for LeBron's teams.

In any case, soap opera over at Lakers Land is both amusing and terrifying.

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[mkwest]

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[Quake Griffin]

Kyrie wants his own team.
He makes a lot of sense as the guy who wants to take the challenge to bring the Clippers to glory.

I could see him and Shai working at the 1 and 2 oddly enough.

[esqtvd]

Kyrie wants his own team.
He makes a lot of sense as the guy who wants to take the challenge to bring the Clippers to glory.

I could see him and Shai working at the 1 and 2 oddly enough.

We'll get somebody, somehow. Best weather, best owner. Jerry West.

Doc Rivers.

No need to empty the cupboard in trade. Wait it out.

[Quake Griffin]

Kyrie wants his own team.
He makes a lot of sense as the guy who wants to take the challenge to bring the Clippers to glory.

I could see him and Shai working at the 1 and 2 oddly enough.

We'll get somebody, somehow. Best weather, best owner. Jerry West.


No need to empty the cupboard in trade. Wait it out.

ftfy**

and with that....agreed.

[esqtvd]

Kyrie wants his own team.
He makes a lot of sense as the guy who wants to take the challenge to bring the Clippers to glory.

I could see him and Shai working at the 1 and 2 oddly enough.

We'll get somebody, somehow. Best weather, best owner. Jerry West.


No need to empty the cupboard in trade. Wait it out.

ftfy**

and with that....agreed.

I got your number

[mkwest]

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[Wammy Giveaway]

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Clippers have no assets except their current future pieces (Gilgeous-Alexander, Robinson, Motley, Wallace, Delgado, Thornwell), so this would have to be a farm trade of cataclysmic proportions. The Chris Paul-to-Rockets trade took seven players.

This one could take about 10. And some of them won't even be on the Pelicans, this could be a multi-team trade. Tyrone Wallace is ineligible to be traded to the Pelicans since the Clippers matched his contract.

[Galloisdaman]

If you can make a AD deal you have to consider it very hard. The Clipps missed out on KP. AD will obviously be much more expensive than the deal the Mavs were able to deal for KP.