2023 NBA Offseason Thread

[kimball]

2 hours ago, BBTV said:

They're not going to move a team to Seattle and forego a $1B expansion fee.  There's also almost no way someone is going to pay to buy a team and then pay a huge relocation fee that would make up for the loss of the expansion money.

 

The story says that they're re-upping their lease in the Smoothie King arena till 2030, so it's moot anyway since Seattle will have a team by then (or I'll eat my hat) and LV likely will too.  I think the owners would choose sacrificing the Pelicans in exchange for raking in $2B in expansion fees.  If/when the Pelicans are sold and/or move, it will be to some "unsexy" place with an arena but without the cache of Seattle and LV.  Like Kansas City and their Sprint Center.  Something like that.

 

Just to push that back a bit, they'd still get a $1 billion expansion fee in Louisville, Vegas or wherever. But, that'd be in addition to a sizable relocation fee if a team moved to Seattle.

 

Granted, since we're going to be getting a Sonics 2.0 team either way, an expansion team would provide a cleaner history if they were to take Seattle's historical records from OKC.

[GDAWG]

Speaking of possible relocation, if former MLB player Alex Rodriguez and his business partner, Marc Lore take full control of the T'Wolves, would they stay in Minnesota?  I think they would unless they sell off the WNBA's Lynx.  

[Walk-Off]

• I think that Depressed Ginger has an unduly strong obsession with the exteriors of NBA arenas (if not of sports venues in general).  It is easy for me to imagine Adam Silver and other executives at the NBA's headquarters having concerns about the interior of an arena, the level and kinds of amenities available to spectators within an arena, and the level and kinds of facilities and equipment available to players, coaches, and league officials within an arena.  However, I cannot see why the NBA's leadership would care so much about how any given NBA team's home venue looks on the outside.
• One impression that I get from both that article from WWLTV.com and that video from Depressed Ginger is that Adam Silver and others at NBA HQ seem to have stronger concerns about the condition and features of the Smoothie King Center than do the Pelicans' own ownership and management.  In particular, I notice that even the WWLTV.com report does not have even any anonymous Pelicans official go on record as calling for that arena to be either aggressively renovated or replaced in order for the Pels to stay in the New Orleans area; the only people quoted directly in that whole article are an executive at the company hired to manage the arena for the Louisiana state government and the host of a podcast that covers the Pels, with a brief mention toward the end of that report of something that Silver said to another New Orleans-based news website.  If the NBA's commissioner and his lieutenants are indeed less content with the respective states of current arenas across the NBA than are the team owners themselves, then the commish is running a high risk of pushback from the people who are the most direct writers of his paychecks.
• If (a) the Smoothie King Center is outdated enough that the NBA and/or whoever owns the Pelicans would want that franchise to be relocated and (b) the NBA's bigwigs keep insisting upon saving at least Seattle for an expansion team, then which currently NBA-free places in North America have arenas that would be acceptable to the league's leadership and are deemed to be fair game to receive a relocated NBA team?  Does Kansas City, Missouri's T-Mobile Center still satisfy all of the NBA's present criteria?  Does any NHL team in a currently NBA-free market other than Seattle (e.g. Buffalo, Nashville, Pittsburgh, St. Louis) have ownership that can afford to own and run teams in both the NHL and the NBA?  Now that the Golden State Warriors have a state-of-the-art arena in San Francisco, would the NBA be finally willing to let the NHL Sharks' ownership buy the Pels and move them to San José as long as said ownership is both willing and able to pay a large enough indemnity to the Warriors organization?

[GDAWG]

Can't wait for a bunch of draft day trades to happen, only to not be finalized until days later.....it's an NBA Draft tradition.

[BBTV]

6 hours ago, GDAWG said:

Can't wait for a bunch of draft day trades to happen, only to not be finalized until days later.....it's an NBA Draft tradition.

 

That's like OITGDNHL levels of stupidity, and I can't think of any reasoning for it.  Why on earth should I tune in to a draft when I know that whoever my team picks has only a 50/50 chance of remaining with them past the night, and that most of the time, the deals have already been worked out so they're essentially lying to you when they say which team is doing the draftng?

 

It's ridiculous and frankly insulting.  As a fan, I'm not a fan.

 

  

7 hours ago, kimball said:

they'd still get a $1 billion expansion fee in Louisville,

 

Stop with Louisville.

[Digby]

Not to go down this rabbit hole again, but I really only think Seattle, Vegas and Kansas City are the only remotely viable future NBA markets (and I have questions about the latter of two of those). And the vibes to move the Pelicans seem to be a lot heavier amongst the subculture of people who love fantasizing about franchise moves more than anything rooted in reality. Sure, they're kind of a sad franchise, but someone needs to fill out the lottery.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

FWIW, I don't expect the Pelicans or any other franchise to move. Relocations are a last resort for sports leagues, and the NBA can find someone willing to pump money into any market. There's always some billionaire idiot ready to blow his money on something stupid, whether that's a sports team or an underwater refrigerator sealed from the outside and piloted by a player 2 controller.

[kimball]

5 hours ago, BBTV said:

Stop with Louisville.

 

I just used that as an example. I don't think they'll get a team, they're kind of like the NBA's Quebec. They have the arena, fan interest, etc. But, I don't think they have the money or overall market to be more appealing over, say, Tampa, Nashville, Kansas City or even Vancouver. Their shot ended when the Rockets, Grizzlies and Hornets passed them over in the early-2000s. 

[dont care]

13 hours ago, GDAWG said:

Speaking of possible relocation, if former MLB player Alex Rodriguez and his business partner, Marc Lore take full control of the T'Wolves, would they stay in Minnesota?  I think they would unless they sell off the WNBA's Lynx.  

If a WNBA team that also loses you money is the only reason you are staying in a market that’s given up on you, maybe you shouldn’t be running a multibillion dollar sports franchise.

[dont care]

26 minutes ago, kimball said:

 

I just used that as an example. I don't think they'll get a team, they're kind of like the NBA's Quebec. They have the arena, fan interest, etc. But, I don't think they have the money or overall market to be more appealing over, say, Tampa, Nashville, Kansas City or even Vancouver. Their shot ended when the Rockets, Grizzlies and Hornets passed them over in the early-2000s. 

Those 2 are nothing alike.

[GDAWG]

6 hours ago, BBTV said:

 

That's like OITGDNHL levels of stupidity, and I can't think of any reasoning for it.  Why on earth should I tune in to a draft when I know that whoever my team picks has only a 50/50 chance of remaining with them past the night, and that most of the time, the deals have already been worked out so they're essentially lying to you when they say which team is doing the draftng?

 

It's ridiculous and frankly insulting.  As a fan, I'm not a fan.

 

  

 

Stop with Louisville.

 

They should do what the NFL does on Draft Day.  First Adam Schefter or Ian Rapoport or Tom Pelissero report on a draft day trade.  Then minutes later, Roger Goddell announces "there has been a trade!" and announces who has acquired the pick he's about to announce.  Like when Houston acquired the #3 pick, Goddell announced that the Texans acquired the pick right before he announced Will Anderson for them.

 

Meanwhile in the NBA Draft, Woj announces a trade on draft day, and minutes later, Adam Silver announces a certain pick as if the trade never happened.  Let's say that the Dallas Mavericks have traded the #10 pick, well Silver has to announce whoever at 10 has to go to Mavericks and the trade likely doesn't become official until either the bottom of the first round (if the Mavs move down) or during the second round.  

[DG_ThenNowForever]

41 minutes ago, kimball said:

 

I just used that as an example. I don't think they'll get a team, they're kind of like the NBA's Quebec. They have the arena, fan interest, etc. But, I don't think they have the money or overall market to be more appealing over, say, Tampa, Nashville, Kansas City or even Vancouver. Their shot ended when the Rockets, Grizzlies and Hornets passed them over in the early-2000s. 

 

I think you need to show your work on Louisville having fan interest in pro sports, especially basketball.

 

I lived there a couple of years, and the city is quite content with Cards basketball and football, horse racing, and Cats basketball.

 

I never picked up on any particular interest in regional pro sports, whether that was the Reds, Bengals, Pacers or Colts.

[GDAWG]

There are fans who think that if the MLS expands to 40, that Lou City FC might move up.  

[dont care]

3 hours ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

 

I think you need to show your work on Louisville having fan interest in pro sports, especially basketball.

 

I lived there a couple of years, and the city is quite content with Cards basketball and football, horse racing, and Cats basketball.

 

I never picked up on any particular interest in regional pro sports, whether that was the Reds, Bengals, Pacers or Colts.

That and their “arena” is a college arena, not an NBA level arena with suites, and amenities that an nba arena has

[kimball]

3 hours ago, dont care said:

Those 2 are nothing alike.

 

Smaller market, rabid fan base of the sport (Kentucky, Louisville), had a taste of pro basketball, lost their team, and not remotely the top market without a team in the top tier pro league of their sport ... that's what I am basing my opinion off of, I know there are other differences between the two.

[kimball]

3 hours ago, GDAWG said:

 

They should do what the NFL does on Draft Day.  First Adam Schefter or Ian Rapoport or Tom Pelissero report on a draft day trade.  Then minutes later, Roger Goddell announces "there has been a trade!" and announces who has acquired the pick he's about to announce.  Like when Houston acquired the #3 pick, Goddell announced that the Texans acquired the pick right before he announced Will Anderson for them.

 

Meanwhile in the NBA Draft, Woj announces a trade on draft day, and minutes later, Adam Silver announces a certain pick as if the trade never happened.  Let's say that the Dallas Mavericks have traded the #10 pick, well Silver has to announce whoever at 10 has to go to Mavericks and the trade likely doesn't become official until either the bottom of the first round (if the Mavs move down) or during the second round.  

 

I agree. Especially, now that teams don't officially announce a lot of those trades until after July 1st. It would prevent awkward photo ops like this from happening ...

 

 

 

[The_Admiral]

16 minutes ago, kimball said:

 

 

 

Not sure why they bothered to photoshop a Hornets hat on his head if he wasn't gonna stay.

[tp49]

10 hours ago, BBTV said:

Stop with Louisville.

Agreed, add Kansas City to this list too.  The arena owners have said on multiple occasions they make more money without an NBA or NHL team than they would with.

[GDAWG]

I don't watch the NHL Draft, but I would assume that draft day trades are more like the NFL Draft than the NBA Draft

[BBTV]

2 hours ago, tp49 said:

Agreed, add Kansas City to this list too.  The arena owners have said on multiple occasions they make more money without an NBA or NHL team than they would with.

 

Didn't know that.  I thought they built it to lure the Penguins, so I just assumed they were looking to attract a pro sports team.  I can't believe that they're actually filling that thing with arena-level concerts and events on such a regular basis that they'd lose by having a pro sports team.  

 

Granted it's summer, but I simply can't believe that this lineup makes more than a team would (though obviously a team has higher operating expenses / salaries.)
https://www.t-mobilecenter.com/events