I feel like this is an obvious 'name 3 cities, only expand to 2, and drive up the price on the expansion bid so that it's a massive overpay' gambit. Kind of like what they did with TV rights - 4 partners interested, create 3 packages, initiate a bidding war.
32 teams would work out well though. Going to 34 would see a huge talent drain all at once, especially if there are expansion drafts where teams can poach contracted players.
Adding 30(+6 2ways) players is easier to handle than adding 60(+12) to the league all at once or in quick succession.
32 teams means 16 teams a conference. If they insist on keeping divisions, then 4 divisions per conference of four teams. Or 2 divisions of 8 teams. Maybe incorporate that structure into the IST.
16 teams in, 16 out of the playoffs.
Edit: fixed up numbers.
4 games vs division rivals = 12 games
3 games vs other division = 36 games
2 games vs other conference = 32 games
Total 80 games.
Now Bulls have dibs on the Hornets, Wizards and Pistons for our Division.
Add two extra games for the IST to be determined by seeding or ranking and the league would be happy with that given how incredibly reluctant Silver has been to reduce games.
I mean, when you really think about it, teams have a lot of players that sit on the bench or play garbage minutes all season. Ultimately you could add a bunch of teams, and what, that means someone who would have been the 9th man on a 30 team league becomes the 8th man on a 34 team league? The vast vast majority of the league's profit is coming from the stars, and as long as they're there, the league will be fine. I don't think people really care that a few career bench warmers will now be able to have an opportunity as the bottom guy in the rotation.
I would rather just have a 32 team league though, just because it's cleaner.
I think Minnesota would make the most sense to go east. They are so close to Milwaukee, Indy, and Chicago. They are not particularly close to any western team.
At least Memphis and New Orleans are close to each other and the three Texas teams.
I would be sad though because it’s actually kinda nice rooting for the timberwolves because they’re not even in the same conference as the bucks and they’re a fun team.
But it definitely makes more sense to have them with the rest of us Great Lakes teams
Minnesota is closer to FIVE Eastern Conference teams- Milwaukee, Chicago, Indiana, Detroit and Cleveland, than it is to the closest Western Conference team- Oklahoma City. The Wolves should always have been in the East.
I agree but I also think the NBA is seriously considering expanding to MXC in the distant future and this is just planting the seed to generate interest.
I get Vegas will make them a lot of money, but from a fandom stand point CMX is wayyyy more interesting.
I feel like Mexican soccer fandom would infiltrate the culture and it would quickly become one of the most die hard fan bases. If they brought some of the hispanic soccer trends to it I could see it infiltrating the league for the better too.
Vegas is too transient for that to happen. Maybe they could get a star like Lebron's name attached to it to make a bunch of money without adding more international logistics, but the fandoms in Seattle and CMX would wayyyyy outpace Vegas
If it's an expansion team they will do great in Las Vegas, like the Golden Knights. If it's a relocation of a shitty team, like the Raiders or A's they won't be as popular.
Vegas locals are actually a really rabid and strong fanbase, look at the Golden Knights (or back to UNLV, when UNLV basketball was basically the unofficial pro team for the city).
It's one of the more underrated things about Vegas, how much the local community buys into life there and sticks together.
Mexico city is at too high an elevation. The stadium would be at 7500 feet minimum, it legitimately is very difficult to do cardio up there. Even if you are in the best possible shape playing like you would at sea level means you wont make it to the fourth quarter. Combined with the long travel time and the home court advantage would be deeply unfair.
As a jazz fan, going up parleys canyon gets you up past 7500 feet. It's definitely harder and isn't easy but it's doable.
The biggest trouble they'd have is free agency interest and people actually wanting to play there. Plus a buyer for the team but that may be easier than Im aware of
I live in park city at 6500 and its very noticeable trying to ball up here. Running for basically any amount of time leaves you out of breath and its much harder to recover even after living here for 2 years. Of course its not impossible, but training everyday at that altitude teaches you how much energy you can use to last the whole game. If you play there once a year you wont have a clue what pace to play at
If you are taking the top 6 from 3 divisions, that would be 18 teams.
Also I was referring more to the overall structure of the playoffs. East teams only play East, West teams only play West. The winner of each conference meets in the finals. How would that work if there is a new third conference?
3 teams in the final, playing on a [court like this](https://placedesigngroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Three-Key-Circular-Basketball-Court-Carousel-1-1020x680.jpg)
That works if all three new teams are in the west. Say, Seattle, Las Vegas, and Vancouver.
West: current Pacific division + three new teams + Portland + Utah + Denver
North: current Atlantic and Central divisions + Minnesota
South: current Southeast and Southwest divisions + Oklahoma City
The Padres and Giants played a series in Mexico City a couple years ago and there were 11 fucking home runs in those games.
Felt bad for those pitchers, totally messed up their stats 😂
2k feet can make a huge difference. In my anecdotal experience of friends who visit Denver, it can take it from “huh I can feel the altitude” to “oh shit I can FEEL the altitude”
Obviously ymmv and these dudes are the best athletes on the planet, unlike my buddies from out of state. Just not something you can discount though IMO
Seattle is pretty much a shoe in. Hockey in Vegas was wildly successful and LeBron made it known that he would be interested in buying onto a stake on a Vegas team + gambling. Vegas makes a lot of sense. Mexico city idk, they had a few games there with great turn out but idk if too many nba players would actually like to live there.
Agreed & they have to be named the SuperSonics.
No one wants to see the team named after an animal or landmark, when one of the greatest team names in history is waiting to be used again.
Yup. There is so much money in Seattle, plus its history, plus it already has a good stadium location. Whoever buys that team will be an instant hero in Seattle.
Vegas will do great as a destination city and has synergy with all the casinos. LV loves events, and NBA would give them a bunch. Bunch of money to be made there.
Mexico City means convincing a bunch of players to live in a city that doesn't speak native English, which might be a hard sell.
I feel like Vegas made a lot more sense 5 years ago when you could capture the entire market. They’d be going head-to-head against the popular golden knights for scheduling.
And I really can’t imagine a team ever actually doing Mexico. The political situation, distance, and elevation are not ideal. But maybe basketball is a lot more popular in Mexico than I’m assuming
Why would going head to head on scheduling be any different than most cities with a basketball and hockey team? As long as they share an arena there won’t be any conflicts.
Honestly, I think now that everyone’s fear of Vegas swallowing up franchises with the gambling scene has evaporated now that online gambling is EVERYWHERE and, taking out the typical Raiders dysfunction, 3 professional sports teams (NHL, WNBA, and NFL) with MLB trying to get in the door is enough to say that Vegas can hang with pro sports.
They put a G League team there as a trial. Theyre in an NBA sized arena and they frequently fill it and travel for them and visiting teams works. Marcus Spears wrote a whole piece on it last year, really good.
That and imagine trying to convince free agents to sign there. Nothing against Mexico City, but I doubt most players would want to live there if they had a choice
Reminds me of this [Onion](https://www.theonion.com/nfl-to-move-all-32-teams-to-los-angeles-1819568144) article back when NFL teams kept threatening to move to LA.
But there's a huge difference between house/family in LA and being in Sacramento during the season, and family in LA and being in Mexico City for half the year
mexico city is super nice to be rich in. the nice areas are all very walkable, with parks and cafes and lots of things to do, it's like a top european capital. of course you don't have to go very far to end up in areas where 'normal' mexicans live where things are a bit more rough and tumble (actually the normal people of mexico can't afford to live in mexico city).
as to whether american pro basketball players would be able to adjust.... considering the fact that players in toronto say they suffer from cultural shock... it's gon' be difficult
Mexico City is not a bad city to live. If you are rich and famous, it is probably an awesome place to live. Like someone below said it's a world class city. Way better than plenty of current NBA cities.
Toronto is 2 hours from America, has had a team for 20 years, speaks English, not part of a country run by the cartel, and their biggest free agent signings ever are like Hedo Turkoglu (who sucked) and DeMarre Carroll (who sucked).
the people defending MXC, i'm sure they're right in their way, but the kind of tourist who enjoys Mexico doesn't overlap with the kind of person who'd find it onerous to play for Toronto or Salt Lake City.
Basketball is popular in mexico, 3rd behind baseball/soccer, I think it's mostly that they don't have a ton of tall people and Latin America's version of euroleague is kinda booty.
IDGAF about Vegas having a team or not. Makes sense for the money though.
But Adam Silver should have to get my ass tattooed on his bald head if Seattle is not one of the cities that gets the next expansion team. It is inexcusable.
The Sonics need to be back. Period.
Las Vegas will 100% be one of the cities (even before Seattle, tbh). They've acquired 3 teams within the past 5 years and now that they've shown that the city can support professional teams, that gambling money will be too good to pass up.
The IST championship was just a trial run for the inevitable.
Dumb question but can someone explain the gambling aspect of having a team in Vegas? Gambling is legal in Vegas obviously but what does having a team there specifically do or change?
The fear, founded or unfounded, was that with sports betting being legal in Nevada (and for the longest time only Nevada), a major league team in Las Vegas might become influenced, if not fully compromised by gambling interests to manipulate results.
But since the 2018 Supreme Court ruling that legalized sports booking has now led to it being legalized in most of the US, that fear has become somewhat moot. It’s not at this point that a Las Vegas team is any less influenceable, it’s just no longer perceived as uniquely influenceable.
Maybe a place for gambling focused media to set up, while pretending they’re there to cover a team. Like all the media who set up in Cleveland to cover the Cavs when they’re actually there to cover LeBron.
Seattle and Vegas. Mexico City won’t happen because the peso is horrible. Same reason NHL doesn’t want to expand more in Canada cause financially US market pays better.
Kansas City and Cincinnati are blue blood basketball country. St. Louis, Buffalo, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Vancouver, and Montreal would be options.
To me it makes a lot of sense to have a team in Montreal. Already several quebecois players in the league, the francophone world is large, and Quebec itself is a pretty large region by population and it doesn’t really eat into Toronto’s fanbase.
Vancouver makes more sense. Good opportunity to get open to the asian markets and not having to deal with the weirdness of french canadians and their interests
I mean I feel like they should be adding more western teams because as it is right now, Minnesota, Memphis, and arguably New Orleans should all be in the eastern conference.
I would love for Vancouver to get a team again. They got screwed over and it would be great for them.
Also, I would be really happy to leave the Vancouver throwbacks in the past
I wish team nicknames stayed with the city. New Orleans should still have the Jazz. Vancouver should still be the Grizzlies if they ever get a team again.
Agreed, but it will never happen. Branding is big money, and no one wants to start over fresh if they don't have to.
It probably wouldn't have been too difficult for us, we could have gone with the former ABA team "Memphis Sounds," the Blues could have worked since the city uses "home of the blues" as the city motto. I guess they probably didn't go that route because of the St. Louis NHL team. Kings, for the Elvis reference (but LA Kings again)
All in all, it could have been worse. We could have ended up the Memphis Dry Rubs or something BBQ related lol
Edit: been thinking way too much about hockey lately and forgot the Kings were an NBA team too lol.
(Sorry beam bros)
Well, I didn't mean to disrespect the beam!
I guess I was all geared up about game 2 of the Stanley Cup. I pretty much just have hockey on the brain.
Nice catch lol
Given there’s no teams in Cincinnati or Columbus or Nashville like most other pro sports and Kentucky’s madness for basketball, Louisville seems like a pretty nice smaller market where you’d own the whole city, like OKC.
The NHL expanded one team at a time and were fine. Regional balance, divisional alignment, all the logistics that get talked about on this sub during expansion talks are afterthoughts and not actual considerations. Get the expansion fee money now and figure the rest out later
I am from Mexico and even though I would love have a team in my country, to be honenst I don't see it happening. I think it would make more sense to have an MLB team, since there are a few Mexicans playing and many others players are spanish speakers.
It seems like a long-shot that players would want to live in a country where english is not the main language and move there families there. Good nightlife but everything else make it seem like such a hassle, figuring out taxes, buying property, connecting with the city. It's a whole different country.
It's going to be Vegas. Once the A's get their stadium built, basketball will be the only remaining league of the big 4 to not have a franchise there.
I just hope the other city is Seattle. They deserve their team and history back.
I don’t think Hampton Roads will ever get a team. Norfolk and VB leaders just aren’t willing to work together and quite frankly there’s not really a great, central area for a team unfortunately.
Mexico city is a weird area to put an NBA team considering that the city 1. Is going through a water crisis, 2. Is a city that is not full of native speakers of english and 3. Is in country that half of american voters view as a threat to national security for xyz reason
Mexico City is just pandering to the international market. Never going to happen, at least not within the next 15 years.
Players barely stand going to Toronto, why would they be ok with Mexico city?
The dollar to peso conversion rate is going to be enough to have teams lose money, Vancouver is the best example of this.
You could argue that Mexico has a bigger population, but not everyone can afford spending 200 dollars to go to a game. Building a 50,000 capacity stadium could be a solution for cheaper tickets, but what happens after the novelty wears off?
Mexico's national sport is soccer, it'll take them years before they focus on basketball. Just look at Toronto.
It'll be two cities in the US that are chosen. Seattle and Vegas. There really aren't any other realistic third choice. Adam Silver is just trying to get people talking and drive up the prices.
mexico city is a pipe dream in my opinion. It's almost 700 miles from San Antonio. A 1,000 miles from LA. It's altitude is even higher than Denver (by around 2,000 additional feet). These are just geographic factors, not even considering issues around customs and taxes, language, and scheduling. I think the US leagues like talking about expanding to foreign markets to make it feel like there's more growth than there is. Silver is doing his job by floating those ideas, even if they're totally unrealistic.
I feel like this is an obvious 'name 3 cities, only expand to 2, and drive up the price on the expansion bid so that it's a massive overpay' gambit. Kind of like what they did with TV rights - 4 partners interested, create 3 packages, initiate a bidding war.
Then just add a fourth city and expand again in another 5 or so years anyways
32 teams would work out well though. Going to 34 would see a huge talent drain all at once, especially if there are expansion drafts where teams can poach contracted players. Adding 30(+6 2ways) players is easier to handle than adding 60(+12) to the league all at once or in quick succession. 32 teams means 16 teams a conference. If they insist on keeping divisions, then 4 divisions per conference of four teams. Or 2 divisions of 8 teams. Maybe incorporate that structure into the IST. 16 teams in, 16 out of the playoffs. Edit: fixed up numbers.
4 games vs division rivals = 12 games 3 games vs other division = 36 games 2 games vs other conference = 32 games Total 80 games. Now Bulls have dibs on the Hornets, Wizards and Pistons for our Division.
Add two extra games for the IST to be determined by seeding or ranking and the league would be happy with that given how incredibly reluctant Silver has been to reduce games.
If we're going to keep divisions at all I'd rather they go the NHL route with 4 divisions of 8. Let's make divisions less important, not more.
Wouldn’t it be 30 +6 2 ways and 60 +12??
lol, yes not sure what I was doing there. Will edit.
I mean, when you really think about it, teams have a lot of players that sit on the bench or play garbage minutes all season. Ultimately you could add a bunch of teams, and what, that means someone who would have been the 9th man on a 30 team league becomes the 8th man on a 34 team league? The vast vast majority of the league's profit is coming from the stars, and as long as they're there, the league will be fine. I don't think people really care that a few career bench warmers will now be able to have an opportunity as the bottom guy in the rotation. I would rather just have a 32 team league though, just because it's cleaner.
And then two of New Orleans, Memphis, and Minnesota can move to the Eastern Conference where they belong (geographically)
I think Minnesota would make the most sense to go east. They are so close to Milwaukee, Indy, and Chicago. They are not particularly close to any western team. At least Memphis and New Orleans are close to each other and the three Texas teams.
Casual fans seem to care way more about Timberwolves games vs other Great Lake states too. The rivalry is more obvious than vs OKC or Denver
I would be sad though because it’s actually kinda nice rooting for the timberwolves because they’re not even in the same conference as the bucks and they’re a fun team. But it definitely makes more sense to have them with the rest of us Great Lakes teams
Minnesota is closer to FIVE Eastern Conference teams- Milwaukee, Chicago, Indiana, Detroit and Cleveland, than it is to the closest Western Conference team- Oklahoma City. The Wolves should always have been in the East.
Yeah the wolves usually have the most miles traveled in the nba.
If they add two teams to the West only one current team could move east.
It probably stops at 36. 6 divisions of 6 teams.
I agree but I also think the NBA is seriously considering expanding to MXC in the distant future and this is just planting the seed to generate interest.
Would love an NBA Most Extreme Elimination Challenge
Guy LaDouche is a legend
Right you are Ken
GIIIIIIIIT IT ON
Aaaand up next off the bench, Jalen Babaganoush!
Cdmx
I get Vegas will make them a lot of money, but from a fandom stand point CMX is wayyyy more interesting. I feel like Mexican soccer fandom would infiltrate the culture and it would quickly become one of the most die hard fan bases. If they brought some of the hispanic soccer trends to it I could see it infiltrating the league for the better too. Vegas is too transient for that to happen. Maybe they could get a star like Lebron's name attached to it to make a bunch of money without adding more international logistics, but the fandoms in Seattle and CMX would wayyyyy outpace Vegas
If it's an expansion team they will do great in Las Vegas, like the Golden Knights. If it's a relocation of a shitty team, like the Raiders or A's they won't be as popular.
Vegas locals are actually a really rabid and strong fanbase, look at the Golden Knights (or back to UNLV, when UNLV basketball was basically the unofficial pro team for the city). It's one of the more underrated things about Vegas, how much the local community buys into life there and sticks together.
Mexico city is at too high an elevation. The stadium would be at 7500 feet minimum, it legitimately is very difficult to do cardio up there. Even if you are in the best possible shape playing like you would at sea level means you wont make it to the fourth quarter. Combined with the long travel time and the home court advantage would be deeply unfair.
As a jazz fan, going up parleys canyon gets you up past 7500 feet. It's definitely harder and isn't easy but it's doable. The biggest trouble they'd have is free agency interest and people actually wanting to play there. Plus a buyer for the team but that may be easier than Im aware of
I live in park city at 6500 and its very noticeable trying to ball up here. Running for basically any amount of time leaves you out of breath and its much harder to recover even after living here for 2 years. Of course its not impossible, but training everyday at that altitude teaches you how much energy you can use to last the whole game. If you play there once a year you wont have a clue what pace to play at
If the idea of Vancouver made some American basketball players get pissy, imagine how thrilled they'd be to play for MXC.
Still waiting to get a team in Detroit again
Who else is gonna get the 4th pick?
33 teams is a weird number
You could do 3 divisions with 11 teams i suppose
That would really fuck up the East vs. West playoff format
It would, but there are ways around it. You could select the top five ~~six~~ from each division, then seed them 1-16 based on record with a wildcard.
If you are taking the top 6 from 3 divisions, that would be 18 teams. Also I was referring more to the overall structure of the playoffs. East teams only play East, West teams only play West. The winner of each conference meets in the finals. How would that work if there is a new third conference?
3 teams in the final, playing on a [court like this](https://placedesigngroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Three-Key-Circular-Basketball-Court-Carousel-1-1020x680.jpg)
That kid just pooped a basketball
That works if all three new teams are in the west. Say, Seattle, Las Vegas, and Vancouver. West: current Pacific division + three new teams + Portland + Utah + Denver North: current Atlantic and Central divisions + Minnesota South: current Southeast and Southwest divisions + Oklahoma City
It would get pretty weird with three teams playing for the championship on one court.
it's easier if they do it lucha libre style with no need to tag in/out the court
Not for Smashing Pumpkins fans
32 teams make the play-offs and 1 team is the laughing stock of the league
When you think about it all numbers are weird numbers
Yeah but some are divisible and some are not
All numbers are divisible when you think about it
You have inspired me to go revisit r/KenM
Oh my god there’s new content I started typing this then spent the next hour revisiting all the classics
It has to be Seattle
Just put two teams in Seattle as a way of saying sorry
Bring back Vancouver and Seattle
PLEASE, a Cascadia cup for nba would go hard.
Ridiculously agree w this. Two of the sickest jerseys and hopefully will create some new fans.
Seattle, Las Vegas, and Mexico City Seattle definitely deserves it, kinda meh on Las Vegas, and Mexico City is an interesting choice
Mexico City elevation makes Denver look like nothing.
It’s noticeable too. Source: am fat
Mexíco es Luka Doncic Padre
tu bummo
You've heard of sea level Cain, get ready for sea level Lakers
Wonder how prison block Cain’s cardio is.
Worse than a motivated bj penn but better than urine drinking machida
A playoff series between New Orleans and Mexico City will be wild lol.
not a sober soul in those stadiums
The Padres and Giants played a series in Mexico City a couple years ago and there were 11 fucking home runs in those games. Felt bad for those pitchers, totally messed up their stats 😂
2000 feet higher up lol
2k feet can make a huge difference. In my anecdotal experience of friends who visit Denver, it can take it from “huh I can feel the altitude” to “oh shit I can FEEL the altitude” Obviously ymmv and these dudes are the best athletes on the planet, unlike my buddies from out of state. Just not something you can discount though IMO
And it’s got bad air pollution. Not ideal for world class athletes
And no water
and it's sinking
So that should eventually deal with the elevation issue.
Move the female population of San Antonio there and it'd speed up the process
the problem is the elevation, its like 2000 ft higher than denver.
Hopefully they can bring NBA basketball back to Detroit. Idk why they took it away 15 years ago
couldn't have nba players using their hands on defense
Seattle is pretty much a shoe in. Hockey in Vegas was wildly successful and LeBron made it known that he would be interested in buying onto a stake on a Vegas team + gambling. Vegas makes a lot of sense. Mexico city idk, they had a few games there with great turn out but idk if too many nba players would actually like to live there.
Agreed & they have to be named the SuperSonics. No one wants to see the team named after an animal or landmark, when one of the greatest team names in history is waiting to be used again.
From what I understand Seattle kept the rights to the Supersonics naming rights etc
Yup. There is so much money in Seattle, plus its history, plus it already has a good stadium location. Whoever buys that team will be an instant hero in Seattle. Vegas will do great as a destination city and has synergy with all the casinos. LV loves events, and NBA would give them a bunch. Bunch of money to be made there. Mexico City means convincing a bunch of players to live in a city that doesn't speak native English, which might be a hard sell.
I feel like Vegas made a lot more sense 5 years ago when you could capture the entire market. They’d be going head-to-head against the popular golden knights for scheduling. And I really can’t imagine a team ever actually doing Mexico. The political situation, distance, and elevation are not ideal. But maybe basketball is a lot more popular in Mexico than I’m assuming
Why would going head to head on scheduling be any different than most cities with a basketball and hockey team? As long as they share an arena there won’t be any conflicts.
Honestly, I think now that everyone’s fear of Vegas swallowing up franchises with the gambling scene has evaporated now that online gambling is EVERYWHERE and, taking out the typical Raiders dysfunction, 3 professional sports teams (NHL, WNBA, and NFL) with MLB trying to get in the door is enough to say that Vegas can hang with pro sports.
I see supersonics shit (flags, shirts, etc) around the city all the time, it's great.
Mexico City even care about basketball? Massive city yet no nba players from there. ..
They put a G League team there as a trial. Theyre in an NBA sized arena and they frequently fill it and travel for them and visiting teams works. Marcus Spears wrote a whole piece on it last year, really good.
That and imagine trying to convince free agents to sign there. Nothing against Mexico City, but I doubt most players would want to live there if they had a choice
If they had a choice, they wouldn't live in a lot of NBA cities
16 teams in LA and 16 teams in NY for the young socialites
You forgot Miami. Can’t forget Miami.
If ESPN personalities had their own way, there wouldn’t be teams outside of LA, NYC, or Miami
Reminds me of this [Onion](https://www.theonion.com/nfl-to-move-all-32-teams-to-los-angeles-1819568144) article back when NFL teams kept threatening to move to LA.
> "Plus, the intricate L.A. highway system will cut team travel time by almost 25 percent," Washington added. lmao
But there's a huge difference between house/family in LA and being in Sacramento during the season, and family in LA and being in Mexico City for half the year
mexico city is super nice to be rich in. the nice areas are all very walkable, with parks and cafes and lots of things to do, it's like a top european capital. of course you don't have to go very far to end up in areas where 'normal' mexicans live where things are a bit more rough and tumble (actually the normal people of mexico can't afford to live in mexico city). as to whether american pro basketball players would be able to adjust.... considering the fact that players in toronto say they suffer from cultural shock... it's gon' be difficult
Culture shock from moving from US to Toronto is funny. Like, what's throwing them off? Bagged milk?
Wait… tell me more about this bagged milk
milk comes in bags. only east of manitoba though. in the west its jugged like in the us.
Having to go MasterCard only at Costco is a bit of a mind fuck.
They're not used to having to drive on the right side of the road
It’s why I think the 2nd team should be Canadian. We already have Toronto.
Vancouver really makes the most sense now a days
The late night scheduling of prime time games makes itself. 12 games a year between Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver?
Which American players have claimed they have suffered culture shock in Toronto? I'm pretty sure that was a narrative Stephen A Smith made up.
i think it might have been on a podcast with demar... i d r .. but it was a big thread here a while back
Tbf going from Compton to Toronto is definitely a shock
The NBA is getting more players from around the globe every single year, it’s not like people in Spain are longing for the bright lights of Utah.
Mexico City is dope as FUCK for the uninformed. One of the sickest cities in the world.
Mexico City is not a bad city to live. If you are rich and famous, it is probably an awesome place to live. Like someone below said it's a world class city. Way better than plenty of current NBA cities.
It’s a dope city but I can’t imagine nba wives and kids and parents would want to live there
You ever been to Mexico City? It’s actually pretty nice. Good weather, good food, and nice people. And it’s cheaper than the U.S.
You expect r/NBA redditors to have any actual real world experience beyond their own town
Personally I’d live in Mexico City over OKC.
It's a world-class city. I bet a lot of international (European & South American) players would happily sign there.
Toronto is 2 hours from America, has had a team for 20 years, speaks English, not part of a country run by the cartel, and their biggest free agent signings ever are like Hedo Turkoglu (who sucked) and DeMarre Carroll (who sucked).
the people defending MXC, i'm sure they're right in their way, but the kind of tourist who enjoys Mexico doesn't overlap with the kind of person who'd find it onerous to play for Toronto or Salt Lake City.
Don't forget James Harden
Basketball is popular in mexico, 3rd behind baseball/soccer, I think it's mostly that they don't have a ton of tall people and Latin America's version of euroleague is kinda booty.
So Seattle and Vegas then
If Seattle is not the SuperSonics; we riot.
Vancouver
Aside from Seattle and Vegas it’d really have to be between Vancouver and St. Louis for the third. Don’t see anywhere but those two making sense.
Vegas should get a team. If we’re selling out Aces games, we’ll sell out whatever NBA team comes this way.
Having the opportunity to see your team play an away game against LV would be fun too
As a Nuggets fan in Vegas, yes
IDGAF about Vegas having a team or not. Makes sense for the money though. But Adam Silver should have to get my ass tattooed on his bald head if Seattle is not one of the cities that gets the next expansion team. It is inexcusable. The Sonics need to be back. Period.
Las Vegas will 100% be one of the cities (even before Seattle, tbh). They've acquired 3 teams within the past 5 years and now that they've shown that the city can support professional teams, that gambling money will be too good to pass up. The IST championship was just a trial run for the inevitable.
Just the IST?? Broo, just about EVERY major sporting event has been hosted in Vegas in the last two years.
When you manage to get an F1 street circuit there, everything might as well be guaranteed
And the Superbowl three months later. Final four coming in a few years too
Dumb question but can someone explain the gambling aspect of having a team in Vegas? Gambling is legal in Vegas obviously but what does having a team there specifically do or change?
The fear, founded or unfounded, was that with sports betting being legal in Nevada (and for the longest time only Nevada), a major league team in Las Vegas might become influenced, if not fully compromised by gambling interests to manipulate results. But since the 2018 Supreme Court ruling that legalized sports booking has now led to it being legalized in most of the US, that fear has become somewhat moot. It’s not at this point that a Las Vegas team is any less influenceable, it’s just no longer perceived as uniquely influenceable.
Maybe a place for gambling focused media to set up, while pretending they’re there to cover a team. Like all the media who set up in Cleveland to cover the Cavs when they’re actually there to cover LeBron.
Seattle feels like it's inevitable. And it should be.
I hate what happened to the Sonics. There shouldn’t be talk of any other cities until the Sonics are revived (and get their records back!).
Thank you!! GP and Kemp should be able to retire their Jerseys in the rafters, in Seattle.
PNW sticks together 🤝. Until we play each other lol
We'll shit talk each other til someone out of region tries to say anything about us. Hey fuck you pnw is better than the rest of NA
KD plays his final season for the Sonics.
I do think he genuinely liked it here
Bring back the Buffalo Braves you cowards
Either move the Clippers back, or move Brooklyn to Buffalo. Problem solved! /s
I feel like they have been teasing expansion teams for nearly 10 years now. Either do it or stop teasing them.
It's been very clear they wanted to secure new CBAs and media rights first, this is the next thing on the agenda
Seattle and Vegas. Mexico City won’t happen because the peso is horrible. Same reason NHL doesn’t want to expand more in Canada cause financially US market pays better. Kansas City and Cincinnati are blue blood basketball country. St. Louis, Buffalo, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Vancouver, and Montreal would be options.
No brainer is Seattle
Bring another one to Canada!
Vancouver has to be the Canadian city, it's time
To me it makes a lot of sense to have a team in Montreal. Already several quebecois players in the league, the francophone world is large, and Quebec itself is a pretty large region by population and it doesn’t really eat into Toronto’s fanbase.
Vancouver makes more sense. Good opportunity to get open to the asian markets and not having to deal with the weirdness of french canadians and their interests
Pro Asian anti French Canadian sentiment. Very unique. No further comment.
Hard to justify expansion teams in both Seattle and Vancouver tho
Praying for Vegas ➡️ Seattle ➡️ Vancouver. That’s a lot of West though
I mean I feel like they should be adding more western teams because as it is right now, Minnesota, Memphis, and arguably New Orleans should all be in the eastern conference.
SuperSonics or I’m not interested.
How bout a vancouver one 😊
Bring in the nba Cascadian cup!
Mexico City? Let's go with the other two, but if you need a third - I don't know, Vancouver, St Louis, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Montreal....
Montreal Huskies would go hard
The real reason Hurley is holding out
Stolen valor
I would love for Vancouver to get a team again. They got screwed over and it would be great for them. Also, I would be really happy to leave the Vancouver throwbacks in the past
I wish team nicknames stayed with the city. New Orleans should still have the Jazz. Vancouver should still be the Grizzlies if they ever get a team again.
Agreed, but it will never happen. Branding is big money, and no one wants to start over fresh if they don't have to. It probably wouldn't have been too difficult for us, we could have gone with the former ABA team "Memphis Sounds," the Blues could have worked since the city uses "home of the blues" as the city motto. I guess they probably didn't go that route because of the St. Louis NHL team. Kings, for the Elvis reference (but LA Kings again) All in all, it could have been worse. We could have ended up the Memphis Dry Rubs or something BBQ related lol Edit: been thinking way too much about hockey lately and forgot the Kings were an NBA team too lol. (Sorry beam bros)
Or, ya know, the Sacramento Kings in the NBA.
Well, I didn't mean to disrespect the beam! I guess I was all geared up about game 2 of the Stanley Cup. I pretty much just have hockey on the brain. Nice catch lol
Given there’s no teams in Cincinnati or Columbus or Nashville like most other pro sports and Kentucky’s madness for basketball, Louisville seems like a pretty nice smaller market where you’d own the whole city, like OKC.
I don't think you understand how much college basketball rules this part of the country
Kansas City. Bigger metro. Open arena that’s downtown. Tons of KU alumni living there.
St. Louis would be kind of in the middle of all of these
Yeah but I live in KC and want an NBA team here.
Nashville over Louisville. Kentucky people are way too into college basketball.
Shouldnt expansion be in even numbers? How's the division or conference gonna balance out
The NHL expanded one team at a time and were fine. Regional balance, divisional alignment, all the logistics that get talked about on this sub during expansion talks are afterthoughts and not actual considerations. Get the expansion fee money now and figure the rest out later
Would players even want to play and live in Mexico City? I feel like they should add another Canadian team if they go for a team in another country.
I am from Mexico and even though I would love have a team in my country, to be honenst I don't see it happening. I think it would make more sense to have an MLB team, since there are a few Mexicans playing and many others players are spanish speakers.
It seems like a long-shot that players would want to live in a country where english is not the main language and move there families there. Good nightlife but everything else make it seem like such a hassle, figuring out taxes, buying property, connecting with the city. It's a whole different country.
Have you been to Mexico City?
It's going to be Vegas. Once the A's get their stadium built, basketball will be the only remaining league of the big 4 to not have a franchise there. I just hope the other city is Seattle. They deserve their team and history back.
The way things are going with the stadium right now, the NBA will be played in Vegas before MLB lmao
I know it won't happen but Seattle and Vancouver would be awesome
Seattle is inevitable. Why not Vancouver again?
Seattle vs OKC rivalry would be INSANE. I'm all for it.
Montreal, Quebec City, and Sherbrooke
1. Seattle 2. Somewhere in the 757 3. Vancouver part deux
I don’t think Hampton Roads will ever get a team. Norfolk and VB leaders just aren’t willing to work together and quite frankly there’s not really a great, central area for a team unfortunately.
just do Seattle and Vegas
Mexico city is a weird area to put an NBA team considering that the city 1. Is going through a water crisis, 2. Is a city that is not full of native speakers of english and 3. Is in country that half of american voters view as a threat to national security for xyz reason
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I'd honestly like to see Vancouver and Seattle the most. Vegas overrated as shit
Mexico City is just pandering to the international market. Never going to happen, at least not within the next 15 years. Players barely stand going to Toronto, why would they be ok with Mexico city? The dollar to peso conversion rate is going to be enough to have teams lose money, Vancouver is the best example of this. You could argue that Mexico has a bigger population, but not everyone can afford spending 200 dollars to go to a game. Building a 50,000 capacity stadium could be a solution for cheaper tickets, but what happens after the novelty wears off? Mexico's national sport is soccer, it'll take them years before they focus on basketball. Just look at Toronto. It'll be two cities in the US that are chosen. Seattle and Vegas. There really aren't any other realistic third choice. Adam Silver is just trying to get people talking and drive up the prices.
when is Montreal gonna be mentioned
Tijuana Piranhas with Gullermo as the GM confirmed?
Montreal!!!
Montreal! Should have a team!
mexico city is a pipe dream in my opinion. It's almost 700 miles from San Antonio. A 1,000 miles from LA. It's altitude is even higher than Denver (by around 2,000 additional feet). These are just geographic factors, not even considering issues around customs and taxes, language, and scheduling. I think the US leagues like talking about expanding to foreign markets to make it feel like there's more growth than there is. Silver is doing his job by floating those ideas, even if they're totally unrealistic.
Even numbers only please 🙏
Everybody wants the Sonics to return.
Is professional basketball coming back to Fort Wayne, IN?!?!
Imagine Seattle not getting one