NBA Expansion On The Way - Bill Simmons

[UnFadeable21]

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Bill Simmons said this week that his NBA sources are saying the NBA will indeed expand to Seattle and Las Vegas next

Time for wolves to move to the east!

“I have some intel. I think the [NBA] is going to expand to Vegas and Seattle.” -- Bill Simmons

6.5 billion expansion fees split between the 30 teams

Vegas 3 Billion Fee
Seattle 3.5 Billion Fee

So every current team gets 216 million when Vegas and Seattle join the West. Timberwolves move east to play regional rivals like NFL and MLB.

[UnFadeable21]

Seattle has their new arena for the Kraken which can hold 17,000 people for NBA. They also already have the WNBA Seattle storm.

Las Vegas has the TMobile Arena which holds 18,000 for the Golden Knights. They also already have WNBA team the Las Vegas Aces.

[UnFadeable21]

New NBA Expansion

West:

Northwest: UTH, POR, DEN,
Seattle

Pacific: LAL, LAC, SAC, GS

South: NO, DAL, OKC, MEM

S-West: PHX, SAS, HOU,
Las Vegas

East:

Central: MIL, CHI, DET,
Minnesota

Atlantic: IND, CLE, TOR, WSH

South: ATL, ORL, MIA, CHA

N-East: NYK, BRK, PHI, BOS

[Mattya]

I really don’t believe Las Vegas can bring the support for NFL, NHL and NBA, but whatever gets us to the eastern conference.

[UnFadeable21]

I really don’t believe Las Vegas can bring the support for NFL, NHL and NBA, but whatever gets us to the eastern conference.

Gambling supports the leagues.

So far the knights and raiders have been sellouts for Las Vegas.

Seattle and Vegas are locks

[Mattya]

I really don’t believe Las Vegas can bring the support for NFL, NHL and NBA, but whatever gets us to the eastern conference.

Gambling supports the leagues.

So far the knights and raiders have been sellouts for Las Vegas.

Seattle and Vegas are locks

And just like with every other city when too many teams are operating at the same time, attendance will eventually dip. There are 1 million less people in Vegas than Minneapolis, yet will have every major pro sport besides MLB? This isn’t a once a week thing like the NFL, or major UFC or boxing event that happens every so often. I don’t think tourists are going to drive NBA ticket sales in Vegas, when you can see that in 30 other cities.

[Calinks]

I like being in the west mainly because they have been the top dogs forever and its cool to play the best teams. That said, the east is a lot more even now and it makes way more sense logistically and rivalry-wise to be playing teams in the east. On paper we should be having heated rivalries with Wisconsin, Illinois, and Detroit like we do in other sports. It would also fuel the Butler with the Heat and Embiid with the 76ers flames we got brewing too.

[Battletrigger]

I really don’t believe Las Vegas can bring the support for NFL, NHL and NBA, but whatever gets us to the eastern conference.

Gambling supports the leagues.

So far the knights and raiders have been sellouts for Las Vegas.

Seattle and Vegas are locks

And just like with every other city when too many teams are operating at the same time, attendance will eventually dip. There are 1 million less people in Vegas than Minneapolis, yet will have every major pro sport besides MLB? This isn’t a once a week thing like the NFL, or major UFC or boxing event that happens every so often. I don’t think tourists are going to drive NBA ticket sales in Vegas, when you can see that in 30 other cities.

It's surprising to me that cities about 700.000 or 1.000.000 have problems to fill a small stadium like 15.000 or 17.000 persons since I live in a 250.000 city with a non pro football team and have about 25.000 people every game.

[shrink]

And just like with every other city when too many teams are operating at the same time, attendance will eventually dip. There are 1 million less people in Vegas than Minneapolis, yet will have every major pro sport besides MLB? This isn’t a once a week thing like the NFL, or major UFC or boxing event that happens every so often. I don’t think tourists are going to drive NBA ticket sales in Vegas, when you can see that in 30 other cities.

It's surprising to me that cities about 700.000 or 1.000.000 have problems to fill a small stadium like 15.000 or 17.000 persons since I live in a 250.000 city with a non pro football team and have about 25.000 people every game.

The thing I try to keep in mind is that Las Vegas is a city people go to for entertainment. Gambling is just one of the types of entertainment. There are plenty of visitors, nationally and internationally, that may not have the chance to see a pro sport locally, that will buy tickets.

As for Minnesota, we have every major sport and a Big Ten university. If the Wolves are bad, people can go buy tickets to enjoy a win with the Wild, or see a Gophers game, etc. The Wolves always bring in the fans when they are winning - that just hasn’t happened a lot lately.

[Battletrigger]

And just like with every other city when too many teams are operating at the same time, attendance will eventually dip. There are 1 million less people in Vegas than Minneapolis, yet will have every major pro sport besides MLB? This isn’t a once a week thing like the NFL, or major UFC or boxing event that happens every so often. I don’t think tourists are going to drive NBA ticket sales in Vegas, when you can see that in 30 other cities.

It's surprising to me that cities about 700.000 or 1.000.000 have problems to fill a small stadium like 15.000 or 17.000 persons since I live in a 250.000 city with a non pro football team and have about 25.000 people every game.

The thing I try to keep in mind is that Las Vegas is a city people go to for entertainment. Gambling is just one of the types of entertainment. There are plenty of visitors, nationally and internationally, that may not have the chance to see a pro sport locally, that will buy tickets.

As for Minnesota, we have every major sport and a Big Ten university. If the Wolves are bad, people can go buy tickets to enjoy a win with the Wild, or see a Gophers game, etc. The Wolves always bring in the fans when they are winning - that just hasn’t happened a lot lately.

That's not a fan, it's a bandwagon.

[m2002brian]

It's surprising to me that cities about 700.000 or 1.000.000 have problems to fill a small stadium like 15.000 or 17.000 persons since I live in a 250.000 city with a non pro football team and have about 25.000 people every game.

The thing I try to keep in mind is that Las Vegas is a city people go to for entertainment. Gambling is just one of the types of entertainment. There are plenty of visitors, nationally and internationally, that may not have the chance to see a pro sport locally, that will buy tickets.

As for Minnesota, we have every major sport and a Big Ten university. If the Wolves are bad, people can go buy tickets to enjoy a win with the Wild, or see a Gophers game, etc. The Wolves always bring in the fans when they are winning - that just hasn’t happened a lot lately.

That's not a fan, it's a bandwagon.

Bandwagon Fan
Anyone who claims they are a "fan" of a particular sports team, even though they had no prior support for/interest in the team until that team started winning. These types of fans only show playoff interest, have probably never watched a regular season game, don't own any type of team merchandise, nor would they buy any.




As such. It’s rather rude to call many fans bandwagon fans because they wouldn’t drive hours to see a team that isn’t competitive. Who says they aren’t watching from home, not wearing their favorite teams apparel, talking about and debating with other fans about their favorite team? One does not need attend games to be a fan.


Same fan might drive many hours to enjoy a game of another favorite team because the experience will involve seeing a competitive and meaningful match.

[winforlose]

This is great news because it helps keep the Wolves here. I know Glen put some language in the sale agreement to keep us here, but ultimately it would be up to the new ownership and the league. The league will not want us moved for quite a while and it is not immediately clear what cities the Wolves could move to now that Vegas and Settle are off the market.

The Wolves moving east will mean less travel distance and should make things easier logistically. From a competition standpoint it is a mixed bag. Depends on what happens with the expansion itself as well as free agency and cap management moving forward.

[Battletrigger]

The thing I try to keep in mind is that Las Vegas is a city people go to for entertainment. Gambling is just one of the types of entertainment. There are plenty of visitors, nationally and internationally, that may not have the chance to see a pro sport locally, that will buy tickets.

As for Minnesota, we have every major sport and a Big Ten university. If the Wolves are bad, people can go buy tickets to enjoy a win with the Wild, or see a Gophers game, etc. The Wolves always bring in the fans when they are winning - that just hasn’t happened a lot lately.

That's not a fan, it's a bandwagon.

Bandwagon Fan
Anyone who claims they are a "fan" of a particular sports team, even though they had no prior support for/interest in the team until that team started winning. These types of fans only show playoff interest, have probably never watched a regular season game, don't own any type of team merchandise, nor would they buy any.




As such. It’s rather rude to call many fans bandwagon fans because they wouldn’t drive hours to see a team that isn’t competitive. Who says they aren’t watching from home, not wearing their favorite teams apparel, talking about and debating with other fans about their favorite team? One does not need attend games to be a fan.


Same fan might drive many hours to enjoy a game of another favorite team because the experience will involve seeing a competitive and meaningful match.

Well, I suppose that it's different here in Europe.

As I said I live in a city with a football team that was professional, in fact, won more than 20 years ago the Spanish Leage and was in semis of the Champions Leage and now it's in the third league of Spanish football and still 25.000 persons go to the stadium.

I am not a fan of that team, I went to the stadium several matches but only interested in Champions League top teams, like United, Arsenal or Milan and never claimed to be a fan of that team, only used their success to see good football, but for me that it's not a fan.

I have never been in the USA but I watched too many bad games from this team and only a few goods. Since Telfair, Gomes, Brewer, Big AL or Love to the actual team.

I don't know if in the NFL have the same problem, but I follow NBA and NHL and with so small arenas and big cities, the stadiums should be full every game.

[old school 34]

This is great news because it helps keep the Wolves here. I know Glen put some language in the sale agreement to keep us here, but ultimately it would be up to the new ownership and the league. The league will not want us moved for quite a while and it is not immediately clear what cities the Wolves could move to now that Vegas and Settle are off the market.

The Wolves moving east will mean less travel distance and should make things easier logistically. From a competition standpoint it is a mixed bag. Depends on what happens with the expansion itself as well as free agency and cap management moving forward.

It's good to here more reports that this is actually getting closer...Vegas & Seattle seemed like no brainers & absolutely benefits Wolves staying in MN...but at the EOD, it will still require a new stadium.

Did Simmons say for sure it's us east? That seems odd (the rivalries help), but they've been very travel conscious for the players lately which really lead me to believe it would probably end up being the Pels or even Mem before us?

Sent from my SM-G973U using RealGM mobile app

[TaylorTag]

I’m confused why the Wolves would move and not Memphis

Edit: To clarify, I’m asking why would the Wolves move to the Eastern Conference over Memphis?

Beyond the fact that Memphis is further east, Tennessee has ties to the South, which is associated with the East (maybe this is a personal opinion not observed by everyone else?). Memphis could develop rivalries with Charlotte and Atlanta. Sure those may be short of a Minnesota/Milwaukee rivalry or even Minnesota/Chicago, but would still be valuable for the league nonetheless.

This is the long game. The West’s dominance won’t always last and so might be useful to think bigger picture about expansion

[Klomp]

This is great news because it helps keep the Wolves here. I know Glen put some language in the sale agreement to keep us here, but ultimately it would be up to the new ownership and the league. The league will not want us moved for quite a while and it is not immediately clear what cities the Wolves could move to now that Vegas and Settle are off the market.

The Wolves moving east will mean less travel distance and should make things easier logistically. From a competition standpoint it is a mixed bag. Depends on what happens with the expansion itself as well as free agency and cap management moving forward.

It's good to here more reports that this is actually getting closer...Vegas & Seattle seemed like no brainers & absolutely benefits Wolves staying in MN...but at the EOD, it will still require a new stadium.

Did Simmons say for sure it's us east? That seems odd (the rivalries help), but they've been very travel conscious for the players lately which really lead me to believe it would probably end up being the Pels or even Mem before us?

This reasoning is exactly WHY it would be us. Look at the landscape of the Northwest and tell me it makes sense. Also look at a 32-team map and draw the most logical travel-conscious lines.

[Klomp]

I’m confused why the Wolves would move and not Memphis

Because Memphis is closer to Southwest Division opponents than we are to Northwest. And we're closer to Central opponents than Memphis is to Southeast. It's just the far more logical outcome.

[TaylorTag]

I’m confused why the Wolves would move and not Memphis

Because Memphis is closer to Southwest Division opponents than we are to Northwest. And we're closer to Central opponents than Memphis is to Southeast. It's just the far more logical outcome.

Hmm I didn’t even take that into account. Makes sense

[shrink]

I’m confused why the Wolves would move and not Memphis

Because Memphis is closer to Southwest Division opponents than we are to Northwest. And we're closer to Central opponents than Memphis is to Southeast. It's just the far more logical outcome.

That’s the right answer. I looked at the total distance a team has to travel in a season, and the Wolves always lead the league. What I found interesting though was that Milwaukee was #21.

[wolves_89]

I used to look at the Wolves travel distance compared to other teams, and pretty much every season they were in the top 3 for most miles accumulated. Being grouped with MIL/DET/CHI makes a lot of sense.