hettinger_rl Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Interesting 5 on 5 discussion along these line on ESPN.com the other day: LINKI am of the opinion that Seattle and either Las Vegas or San Jose would be good additions (32 teams should be the cap in the NBA). If these teams would come into the league then obviously the Western Con. would be too large; solution - move Minnesota and Memphis to the Eastern Con. They would add some beef to the weaker half of the league and the expantion teams would dilute the stronger, possibly evenening out the league a little.Another idea floating around is adding teams in Europe to the NBA. I feel like this would be a failure... a costly failure. One way that it may work though is if they made a kind of mirror league with 2 conferences that operates in Europe only, except for a few games a year where the "EBA" teams play an NBA team and after the champions are crowned in their respective leagues they play a series to determine the true "World Champions." For this to work the NBA and FIBA would likely need to intermix rules for truely global gameplay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burmy Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 1. I agree that 32 teams should be the cap (if only because I've always believed that the other major leagues should have as many teams as the NFL does). Seattle's a given, but I've always thought Kansas City or St. Louis should get the other team (basketball is HUGE in the Heartland, and yet they don't have an NBA team?)2. If contraction is what happens, then expect the Bucks to end up on the chopping block...of course, contraction SCREAMS "minor league" to me.3. WHY DOES EVERY LEAGUE BOSS WANT GLOBAL EXPANSION TO HAPPEN?! It won't.4. SOMETHING has to change...that's something we can all agree on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcgd Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 St Louis has zero demand for NBA basketball nor the corporate sponsorships necessary with the Rams still in town. If they move, you could see a MLS team be supported well but not NBA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerslionspistonshabs Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 No expansion. The league is too watered down as it is. Seattle needs a franchise and is definitely next in line for whoever moves. At the moment, In the end, Milwaukee is the only team with any real venue problems and I think there'll be a resolution when it's all said and done. Beyond that, I don't think there's a real demand in any vacant city. The NBA has always seemed to thrive when they enter virgin territory. Salt Lake City, Portland, OKC, Sacramento, San Antonio, Phoenix at the time, etc. I guess Las Vegas fits that bill but there are a lot of X-Factors. Maybe Virginia Beach/Norfolk if they get a solid plan for an arena. The Kings flirted with the idea a couple of years ago but it was just a flash in the pan due to no real substance. St. Louis is a no for the reasons listed above. Kansas City for similar reasons and also it's a college ball town. That's a big reason Memphis has had some growing pains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flasah Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Seattle is the obvious favorite, but Louisville is basketball crazy, and has a new arena that needs some financial help. Realignment would be easy, with four 4-team divisions per conference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DG_ThenNowForever Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 I think concurrent American and European leagues would be cool, with a global All-Star game and an exhibition (or even for reals) world series after the NBA/NBAE Finals.However, I don't think Milwaukee should be playing Berlin on a Tuesday night in April. That would be dumb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfwabel Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Seattle is the obvious favorite, but Louisville is basketball crazy, and has a new arena that needs some financial help. Realignment would be easy, with four 4-team divisions per conference.As said many times before, Louisville would be much like Memphis. But the University of Louisville controls the building in terms if scheduling, signage, and premium seating revenue.Plus, AEG took over operations of the facility from the Fair Board and turned a profit as of late. It has less to do with the events held, rather the lack of other businesss in the taxing district around the arena.http://insiderlouisville.com/news/2013/08/12/arena-authority-board-declares-victory-says-profit-marks-turning-point-in-kfc-yum-center-finances/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbadefense1990 Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Seattle is the obvious favorite, but Louisville is basketball crazy, and has a new arena that needs some financial help. Realignment would be easy, with four 4-team divisions per conference.I can't see Louisville as a professional basketball city, as the region is too absorbed between the Wildcats and Cardinals rivalry in the NCAA. I don't either see an NBA team being in Missouri, as St. Louis is mostly a baseball-1st city while Kansas City already makes profit from the Sprint Arena without the needs of an NHL or NBA team.I prefer contraction and player displacement over expansion, anyway. The optimal number of NBA teams I'd prefer is between 22-24; then I'd decrease the number of playoff teams per conference to 6. That way, the regular season games matter more to players and fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rams80 Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Regarding Louisville:The ABA Colonels did reasonably well IIRC and would have been a viable NBA team had John Y. Brown not gotten an "in" into NBA ownership. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DustDevil61 Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 I think concurrent American and European leagues would be cool, with a global All-Star game and an exhibition (or even for reals) world series after the NBA/NBAE Finals.However, I don't think Milwaukee should be playing Berlin on a Tuesday night in April. That would be dumb.Full-fledged European NBA teams is a bad idea, but this...this may have legs.The NBA has always seemed to thrive when they enter virgin territory. Salt Lake City, Portland, OKC, Sacramento, San Antonio, Phoenix at the time, etc. I guess Las Vegas fits that bill but there are a lot of X-Factors. Maybe Virginia Beach/Norfolk if they get a solid plan for an arena. The Kings flirted with the idea a couple of years ago but it was just a flash in the pan due to no real substance. I don't either see an NBA team being in Missouri, as St. Louis is mostly a baseball-1st city while Kansas City already makes profit from the Sprint Arena without the needs of an NHL or NBA team.Jefferson City? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colortv Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Euroleague CEO Jordi Bertomeu was present in Athens, Greece, and before the game between Olympiacos and Anadolu Efes he spoke about almost every matter of the competition. However the most important part of the press conference was the way he presented the possible expansion of the NBA to Europe under the terms of the American league as almost an impossible plan. That’s why according to him the cooperation with Euroleague should be considered the only way for this to be done."There should be 5-6 really strong European teams in a league with a 130 million USD financial turnover. That means tickets which will cost 100 euros per average and at least 150 sellouts per season. Our television partners should pay ten times more for the rights. And we also have to answer how the salary cap will work under a possible six different taxation laws in different countries. There are many legal issues. A lot of people talk about NBA in Europe, but not about those matters. My place is to give answers. It’s easy to make the questions. Adam Silver, the new commissioner, is a great contributor to the sport. We have met and I think that we have a future together. We want to increase our cooperation and we want to see things realistically”.Asked about the Euroleague’s relationship with the NBA, Mr. Bertomeu expressed his admiration for new NBA commissioner Adam Silver, who he called “a great contributor to the sport.” Mr Bertomeu added, “We have met and I think that we have a future together. We want to increase our cooperation and we want to see things realistically”.http://www.eurohoops.net/2014/02/dribbling/42340http://www.euroleague.net/news/i/132109/180 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CubsFanBudMan Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 I think concurrent American and European leagues would be cool, with a global All-Star game and an exhibition (or even for reals) world series after the NBA/NBAE Finals.However, I don't think Milwaukee should be playing Berlin on a Tuesday night in April. That would be dumb.Limiting the crossover to All-Star games and preseason could be the magic formula.I'm not sure a "World" Series makes sense, as the NBA Finals become a play-in and over time the Super Bowl replaces the NFL championship, so to speak. Play it as an exhibition the next year after roster turnover and you get a talker and a lot of "what ifs" without diluting the brand or having anything real at stake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcgd Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 The one thing for Louisville is…there is no other professional game in town. It's one of the largest cities in the country without a professional (big 4) team. Only Austin & El Paso are bigger without pro teams. (Ft. Worth is bigger and technically doesn't have a team but its part of the Metroplex so I left that off)Not saying NBA would be a no-brainer, but I think some professional sport could do well there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hettinger_rl Posted February 19, 2014 Author Share Posted February 19, 2014 If one or two teams would be added in the west do you guys think that MN and Memphis should be slid into the east? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Telemundo219 Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 If one or two teams would be added in the west do you guys think that MN and Memphis should be slid into the east?Minnesota??? How about New Orleans? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buzzcut Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 If one or two teams would be added in the west do you guys think that MN and Memphis should be slid into the east?Minnesota??? How about New Orleans?If two teams get added to the West, I think that the Timberwolves should be the only ones moving to the East. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerslionspistonshabs Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 If one or two teams would be added in the west do you guys think that MN and Memphis should be slid into the east?Minnesota??? How about New Orleans?If two teams get added to the West, I think that the Timberwolves should be the only ones moving to the East.It does make more sense. New Orleans makes more sense on a map, but Minnesota is closer to the entire Central division than it is to any other Western Conference team. Travel-wise, Minnesota makes more sense than even Memphis to go East.Closest Western Conference team to Minneapolis= OKC= 788 mi.to Milwaukee= 337 mito Chicago= 409 mito Indianapolis= 592 mito Detroit= 694 mito Cleveland= 750 mi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackieMoon Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 I don't think St. Louis would work, too close to Memphis. Seattle should definitely be the first city to get a NBA team. Other cities I think could work: Birmingham, Pittsburgh, or possibly Kansas City. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfwabel Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 I don't think St. Louis would work, too close to Memphis. Seattle should definitely be the first city to get a NBA team. Other cities I think could work: Birmingham, Pittsburgh, or possibly Kansas City.Meanwhile Birmingham is even closer to Atlanta and the BJCC Arena essentially has no premium seating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DnBronc Posted February 20, 2014 Share Posted February 20, 2014 I don't think St. Louis would work, too close to Memphis. Seattle should definitely be the first city to get a NBA team. Other cities I think could work: Birmingham, Pittsburgh, or possibly Kansas City.Pittsburgh isn't a pro hoops market. And, I don't see it having more than three major teams like it has now.As for KC, I could maybe see them having one eventually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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