2022 NBA Offseason

[Digby]

I don’t know, maybe it’s been sitting through years of “can Tatum and Brown play together?”, but I do question somewhat the all-encompassing fear of being stuck on a treadmill of mediocrity, or second-round exits in this case. I can see both sides of the argument re Utah, but I wonder if a new owner who’s clearly eager for a fresh start/new FO whose reputation is Assets were maybe thumbing the scale a bit.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

9 minutes ago, Digby said:

I don’t know, maybe it’s been sitting through years of “can Tatum and Brown play together?”, but I do question somewhat the all-encompassing fear of being stuck on a treadmill of mediocrity, or second-round exits in this case. I can see both sides of the argument re Utah, but I wonder if a new owner who’s clearly eager for a fresh start/new FO whose reputation is Assets were maybe thumbing the scale a bit.

 

I know it's not a title, but a couple of ECF and a Finals appearance is pretty good, isn't it?

[buckeye]

 

[Dynasty]

Both cities seem to have very good followings in the WNBA and after the NHL expansions into those cities, they have the resources to make it happen.

 

I would be excited, especially if I'm in Seattle.

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

Not to jump the gun, but what would potential Vegas nicknames be?

 

Aces would've been cool, but that's gone.

 

Outlaws works, but A. not sure what the Vegas XFL team is going, or B. if the NBA team would want to name themselves after a team from a horribly failed league.

 

Wranglers has been done over and over and I'm not sure it would fit a basketball team anyways.

 

Scorpions?

 

Something completely unrelated to gambling or the desert?

[JayHawk786]

Las Vegas or Vegas Jokers has a nice ring to it.

 

 

[DoctorWhom]

Just move The Sacramento Kings to Vegas, and force the Thunder to relinquish the SuperSonics name. 

[sky1324]

13 minutes ago, DoctorWhom said:

Just move The Sacramento Kings to Vegas, and force the Thunder to relinquish the SuperSonics name. 

Any new Seattle team owns the rights to the name, colors, and history of the Sonics (officially they'll share the history with the Thunder), so there's no way it won't be a green and gold Seattle SuperSonics return.

[Kooky01]

Seattle would have to be the Sonics or else the city would riot. Bring the Gold and Green colors back as well. 

 

For Vegas, you could go in many, many directions but my top 4 would be (in no particular order)

 

Rat Pack (After the famous trio that frequently preformed in the city)

Monsters (After the Gila Monster, an animal native to the area)

Blackjacks (Or Jacks) (After the world-famous gambling industry)

 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Vegas Waterhogs

[kimball]

I think there are a number of directions a Las Vegas NBA team can go with a name.

 

Tie-in with the Golden Knights/MGM/Arena

1 - Las Vegas Gladiators

2 - Las Vegas Avengers

3 - Las Vegas Lions

 

Tie-in with Vegas Sports Teams of the Past

1 - Las Vegas Stars

2 - Las Vegas Dustdevils

3 - Las Vegas Wranglers

 

Tie-in with The Strip

1 - Las Vegas Royals

2 - Las Vegas Flamingos

3 - Vegas Gamblers

 

Tie-in with Nevada

1 - Las Vegas Battlers

2 - Las Vegas Bighorns

3 - Las Vegas Quicksilvers

 

Tie-in with the Desert

1 - Las Vegas Vipers

2 - Las Vegas Outlaws

3 - Vegas Desert Eagles

 

Personally I like --

• Las Vegas Stars
• Las Vegas Royals
• Las Vegas Flamingos
• Las Vegas Gladiators
• Vegas Desert Eagles

[kimball]

1 hour ago, CDCLT said:

Any new Seattle team owns the rights to the name, colors, and history of the Sonics (officially they'll share the history with the Thunder), so there's no way it won't be a green and gold Seattle SuperSonics return.

 

I remember when this deal was made. However, I'd put money on the NBA just giving the Sonics 2.0 the Supersonics history from 1967-2008 and then playing make believe that the Thunder started in 2008 just like they did with the Hornets and Pelicans.

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

1 hour ago, kimball said:

I think there are a number of directions a Las Vegas NBA team can go with a name.

 

Tie-in with the Golden Knights/MGM/Arena

1 - Las Vegas Gladiators

2 - Las Vegas Avengers

3 - Las Vegas Lions

 

Tie-in with Vegas Sports Teams of the Past

1 - Las Vegas Stars

2 - Las Vegas Dustdevils

3 - Las Vegas Wranglers

 

Tie-in with The Strip

1 - Las Vegas Royals

2 - Las Vegas Flamingos

3 - Vegas Gamblers

 

Tie-in with Nevada

1 - Las Vegas Battlers

2 - Las Vegas Bighorns

3 - Las Vegas Quicksilvers

 

Tie-in with the Desert

1 - Las Vegas Vipers

2 - Las Vegas Outlaws

3 - Vegas Desert Eagles

 

Personally I like --

• Las Vegas Stars
• Las Vegas Royals
• Las Vegas Flamingos
• Las Vegas Gladiators
• Vegas Desert Eagles

 

Flamingoes would be cool. I think Desert Eagles would be a no-go due to the relation to the gun.

 

Vegas Vipers rolls off the tongue as well. 

[who do you think]

My only wishes regarding a team in Las Vegas would be: red-dominant identity, NOT a desert-themed nickname (or anything animal related), and for "Las Vegas" to be the location name, not just "Vegas", or some other silliness.

[GDAWG]

12 hours ago, buckeye said:

 

 

I wonder what he's going to say if those dates come and go and nothing is announced?

[gosioux76]

As much as I'd like to be wrong, I wouldn't get too excited about this news just yet.

 

If I'm following along correctly, the source of this story was a tweet from the Associated Press sports writer who is based in Las Vegas. That tweet has since been deleted, though prior to that it was picked up and aggregated by other media outlets. 

 

Noticeably quiet, however, are the major daily newspapers in both Seattle and Las Vegas. That's almost certainly because the tweet -- citing only unnamed sources -- likely didn't pass the smell test for being legitimate, at least not enough to run with. Chances are their reporting teams saw that tweet, started calling their sources, and have yet to corroborate it.

 

Another thing:  Like with most other speculative discussions about expansion, the narrative thus far is limited to sports-related issues. A blog on Sports Illustrated's site, for example, used it as an opportunity to prematurely ponder conference realignment. That's because many sports reporters (not all, but many) tend to stay in the lanes they know rather than veering into things like investing and finance. Because you can't have expansion without asking about who will own the franchise and how it will be financed.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

I haven't said anything either because, like you, I'll believe it when I see it.

 

And I don't see the NBA making an announcement of that size in Seattle; not if it includes Vegas as well.

[IceCap]

On 9/7/2022 at 3:25 PM, CDCLT said:

Any new Seattle team owns the rights to the name, colors, and history of the Sonics (officially they'll share the history with the Thunder), so there's no way it won't be a green and gold Seattle SuperSonics return.

 

https://seattle.sbnation.com/platform/amp/2012/2/20/2811279/nba-in-seattle-supersonics-team-name

 

Quote

For longtime basketball fans in the region, invoking the name of the Seattle SuperSonics can still rankle, even years after the team left town and left many diehards heartbroken. A recent spate of rumors has cropped up surrounding the possibility that Seattle may soon receive another NBA franchise to fill the void left in the region.

John Hopperstad of Q13 FOX News reports that although many fans -- including the mayor of Seattle -- assume that any team that might wind up in Seattle would be rebranded as the Sonics, the reality may be far more complicated. The "Seattle SuperSonics" name still has an owner; Oklahoma City Thunder owner Clay Bennett still owns the rights to the name and team logo that fell by the wayside when he relocated and rebranded the team.

 

A spokesperson with the City Attorney’s Office said that while there is the possibility of using the Sonic name again, the NBA would need to approve the use of the name for a team in Seattle and "the Oklahoma City team has some rights to the team history that would need to be transferred."

 

It's in no way guaranteed it'll be the SuperSonics. I'm sure the NBA would try to broker a deal to transfer the name and records to a new Seattle team, but Bennett may decide to try and squeeze as much out of that IP as possible.

[sky1324]

25 minutes ago, IceCap said:

 

https://seattle.sbnation.com/platform/amp/2012/2/20/2811279/nba-in-seattle-supersonics-team-name

 

 

It's in no way guaranteed it'll be the SuperSonics. I'm sure the NBA would try to broker a deal to transfer the name and records to a new Seattle team, but Bennett may decide to try and squeeze as much out of that IP as possible.

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.

[DEAD!]

9 minutes 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.

... and the Charlotte Hornets.