2022 NBA Offseason

[sky1324]

8 minutes ago, DEAD! said:

... and the Charlotte Hornets.

Well, yes, but it's a bit cliche for me to mention them

[IceCap]

1 hour ago, CDCLT said:

Interesting, I knew the rights to the history and trophies stayed in Seattle but I thought that included the name and colors like the Cleveland deal did. There's no way that the league lets Bennett just sit on the name, right? The Seattle SuperSonics is like the Cleveland Browns or Winnipeg Jets - it has to be that name otherwise it's incomplete.

The way I remember it was that the city and team would share custody of the Sonics' name and records for five years. If Seattle got a new team in that time they'd get the Sonics' identity and records. That didn't happen though, so the rights to the Sonics' records and identity reverted back to the Thunder.

 

I remember when the NBA added those gold championship tags to the teams. They were actually going to add one to the Thunder's jerseys but the Thunder asked them not to, because they wanted to de-emphasize the Seattle connection. The key thing is though that the NBA considered the Sonics' history the Thunder's, and the Thunder had to opt out of that.

 

I'm sure the Sonics' name and logos are Seattle's first choice and I'm sure that the NBA would prefer to have it too. The Hornets/Bobcats/Pelicans cluster shows they'll move the lineage around to accommodate fans and teams. I guess it all comes down to how accommodating Clay Bennett wants to be.

[DoctorWhom]

Wrong Topic 

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

I would assume that Memphis and Minnesota would shift East.

[SeaTac]

58 minutes ago, tigerslionspistonshabs said:

I would assume that Memphis and Minnesota would shift East.

 

Only one of them would move east if you put Seattle & Las Vegas in the west. 

[Digby]

4 divisions of 8 teams could make for nice scheduling, though I'm having trouble figuring out a good way to put everyone into sensible pods of 8. This being the NBA, I could also see expansion being the reason to nuke the divisions and do something -edgy-, anyway. Maybe just do pure conferences with a rotation of who you play extra games against.

[Indigo]

1 hour ago, Digby said:

4 divisions of 8 teams could make for nice scheduling, though I'm having trouble figuring out a good way to put everyone into sensible pods of 8. This being the NBA, I could also see expansion being the reason to nuke the divisions and do something -edgy-, anyway. Maybe just do pure conferences with a rotation of who you play extra games against.

Either they split into 8 divisions (2 in each conf.) of 4 like the NFL, or they go outrageous and delete divisions, change the schedule to like 70 games, and add a midseason tournament.

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

Also, how in the :censored: can Lebron own a team, while still being an active player, assuming he still is? Isn't that the definition of conflict of interest?

 

[Indigo]

31 minutes ago, tigerslionspistonshabs said:

Also, how in the can Lebron own a team, while still being an active player, assuming he still is? Isn't that the definition of conflict of interest?

 

He wouldn't be able to until he retires, which, by the time Vegas gets a team (2025-ish), could be a very real possiblity.

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

Oh OK, that makes more sense lol.

[Digby]

2 hours ago, LA Fakers+ LA Snippers said:

Either they split into 8 divisions (2 in each conf.) of 4 like the NFL, or they go outrageous and delete divisions, change the schedule to like 70 games, and add a midseason tournament.

 

Sounds like the midseason tournament will be mostly designated "special" regular season games the way the WNBA is doing it... but, I guess it doesn't have to stay that way. 2 games against everyone, 1 extra against your conference (rotate home and away yearly), 1 extra extra against a regional rival maybe. 78 is probably an acceptable drop with some tournament nonsense to make up for it.

[Gary]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/34584665/phoenix-suns-owner-robert-sarver-suspended-year-fined-10-million-investigation-finds-conduct-clearly-violated-workplace-standards
 

Good now can we force him to sell the team? I love the Suns, but can’t stand Sarver. Giving them a black eye for sure

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

I've tried to make four 8 team divisions. The west is easy, but once you hit the east it turns into a clusterf***

[Digby]

28 minutes ago, tigerslionspistonshabs said:

I've tried to make four 8 team divisions. The west is easy, but once you hit the east it turns into a clusterf***

 

It's a similar problem to what the NHL ran into with this -- the Great Lakes, and also Boston, and also Florida division.

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

This is really the only way I could see it, but one team from the eastern seaboard would have to move to what's now the central. I threw Washington over because they don't really have any intense rivalries with any of those teams. I suppose you could keep Minnesota out west and move New Orleans over as well. 

 

 

Seattle

LAL

LAC

Golden State

Sacramento

Vegas

Portland

Phoenix

 

Utah

Denver

OKC

Dallas

San Antonio

Houston

Memphis

New Orleans

 

Detroit

Chicago

Minnesota

Milwaukee

Indiana

Toronto

Cleveland

Washington

 

Miami

Orlando

Atlanta

Charlotte

New York

Boston

Brooklyn

Philly

 

 

 

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

1 minute ago, tigerslionspistonshabs said:

Double post sorry

 

 

 

 

[MadmanLA]

23 hours ago, Gary said:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/34584665/phoenix-suns-owner-robert-sarver-suspended-year-fined-10-million-investigation-finds-conduct-clearly-violated-workplace-standards
 

Good now can we force him to sell the team? I love the Suns, but can’t stand Sarver. Giving them a black eye for sure

 

I just can't see how Sarver would be allowed back in the NBA, even if he does the one-year suspension.  I'm sorry, but a $10 million fine (for a man worth at least $850 million), a year suspension, and sensitivity training isn't punishment enough--it's a classic, rich people "slap on the wrist" type of punishment.  Outside of Devin Booker becoming a superstar-level player and Chris Paul bringing his services to downtown Phoenix in the last few years, Sarver has been a terrible owner for the Suns for the vast majority of his tenure in charge.  He's accused of the same transgressions that rightfully got Donald Sterling booted the hell out of the Association, with the only difference was that Sterling (thanks to one of his mistresses) got caught running his mouth about Magic Johnson and not wanting her to bring Black people to his games (among other things said).  Let's not forget that Sterling did far more egregious :censored: that David Stern turned a blind eye to for 30 years, but it was an incoming commissioner with three months on the job, a lady of the evening, and ultimately his estranged wife that finally brought Donald Tokowitz down. LOL. 

 

I believe the NBA would prefer to quietly have the other partners buy-out Sarver's share (which only is 35 percent), so as to minimize the PR hell the team is already suffering with.  Phoenix Magazine has an article for earlier this year that details Sarver's behavior as Suns owner, and how one of the minority owners (Jahm Najafi, the second-largest shareholder in the team) wants to a play to buy-out Sarver.  The article came out a couple days after the initial ESPN report about the allegations involving Sarver.  Given that Sarver reportedly doesn't have a lot of allies amongst the other owners, and just like with Sterling, the NBA Players Association (whose ex-president plays for the Suns, but still has some pull) may be the real deciding factor in whether Sarver goes.

[The_Admiral]

Well, the HR Superstar LeBron James is demanding that the NBA ban Sarver for life. I think what Sterling did was far worse, though (and often funnier). The Jordan-LeBron debate rages on, but LeBron has a commanding lead in "demanding that people get fired from places."

[DG_ThenNowForever]

1 hour ago, the admiral said:

Well, the HR Superstar LeBron James is demanding that the NBA ban Sarver for life. I think what Sterling did was far worse, though (and often funnier). The Jordan-LeBron debate rages on, but LeBron has a commanding lead in "demanding that people get fired from places."

 

How is he wrong?

[The_Admiral]

I agree with Silver that as bad as Sarver's misdeeds were, he'd have to do worse, namely the overt racism of Donald Sterling, to have the franchise revoked altogether. This is just typical LeBron pleading with the refs of life.