Future Vancouver (not grizzlies) NBA Team Thread

[Matt Damon]

With the ensuing 9-day all star break, I thought it would be a good time to hear the opinions of this forum on the feasibility of a Vancouver NBA team in the somewhat near future(the next ~20ish years).

Team names, potential fanbase, real chances of nba expansion/franchise relocation(ATL->VAN?), any thoughts?

[007]

I don't think Atlanta's going to move now that they're really good.

I would fucking love a Vancouver team though.

[ezz_bee]

Slim to none unfortunately. I think Seattle is number one on the list for NBA franchises. Unless the NBA expands to 32 teams, which I don't see happening in the next 20 years, NBA fans in VAN city are going to have to commute to Portland or Seattle to watch games in person (with the exception of the occasional promotional regular season/pre-season games.

[RandomGuy]

The only possibility of having NBA team there is to have two teams moved from Western Conference to Eastern conf., probably Pelicans and Grizzlies, maybe Timberwolves and have 2 team expansion in Seattle and Vancouver, that would work out pretty nicely. Or have team like Charlotte being sold, but I do not see that happening, even if it's happening I believe Seattle is first in the priority list.

[Mr.Z]

With the ensuing 9-day all star break, I thought it would be a good time to hear the opinions of this forum on the feasibility of a Vancouver NBA team in the somewhat near future(the next ~20ish years).

Team names, potential fanbase, real chances of nba expansion/franchise relocation(ATL->VAN?), any thoughts?

Sure it'd be cool... I'd never cheer for them though lol

[KeonClark]

Slim to none unfortunately. I think Seattle is number one on the list for NBA franchises. Unless the NBA expands to 32 teams, which I don't see happening in the next 20 years, NBA fans in VAN city are going to have to commute to Portland or Seattle to watch games in person (with the exception of the occasional promotional regular season/pre-season games.

You don't see 32 teams in the next TWENTY years? Holy cow, you're a damn prophet. Any world wars imminent? Will the ice caps melt? How about our fossil fuel consumption, is it feasible?

[KeonClark]

Sure it'd be cool... I'd never cheer for them though lol

Why not? I'd go hard for a second Canadian team, especially in a different conference. I didn't appreciate them last time but in this day and age you have hedge your bets on at least a second team once your team is out

[007]

Of course, the only bad thing would be they're in the West.

So they'd never make the playoffs lol

[octothorp]

Probably not. Relocation is unlikely, because the NBA is such a TV-revenue driven league (even more-so now), its largely immune from the conditions that affect any one market. So you won't see, say, Detroit or Cleveland moving because of the economics of their particular city, since an owner can still come out alright simply on television revenues, while their franchise values continue to increase. Expansion is unlikely, because it's going to dilute that massive TV-revenue pool that the current owners have (not to mention the talent-pool). They'd need to have crazy-high expansion fees to accommodate it. I think you'd be looking at expansion fees of as much as $1.5 billion. Anything lower than that and you'd be opening yourself up to short-term investors who want to buy a team and then resell it for profit, which the league would want to avoid.

I'd rather see the NBA focus on developing the d-league over the next decade. Make a 1-1 ratio of NBA teams to D-League teams, allow NBA teams to have some sort of development contract to keep players on this team without sacrificing NBA roster spots. That way, you're developing potential markets while at the same time developing your player pool.


I think it is possible that when the next TV deal is approaching its end (2024-25) that the deal was overvalued, that the next deal is going to be less, that franchise values then are somewhat overvalued, and there will be owners looking at getting out before any sort of franchise value bubble bursts. You might see some owner overturn and franchise movement at that point.

[Mr.Z]

Sure it'd be cool... I'd never cheer for them though lol

I guess since they'd be in the west I could cheer for them but Raps will always be my team

[Mr.Z]

Totally meant to quote KeonClark on that last post.

[Matt Damon]

Slim to none unfortunately. I think Seattle is number one on the list for NBA franchises. Unless the NBA expands to 32 teams, which I don't see happening in the next 20 years, NBA fans in VAN city are going to have to commute to Portland or Seattle to watch games in person (with the exception of the occasional promotional regular season/pre-season games.

Good point, Vancouver would probably struggle to get a large fanbase after Seattle gets a team given their close proximity to each other