NBA Expansion ???

Friday the Thirteenth fell on a Wednesday this month.  Funny how that happens sometimes …

The NBA regular season is underway.  I feel the need to remind folks about this because almost no one cares about the NBA while the NFL is still in operation even though the NBA has just begun its in-season NBA Cup competition that was intended to grab everyone’s attention.  Now you know – – at least – – that the NBA Cup games have begun, meaning that you can ignore them instead of merely being oblivious to their existence.

There is one thing about the NBA that might be interesting to think about having nothing to do with the slog of games being presented.  The NBA should be poised for expansion.  The Commish said that a new CBA and a new media rights deal were more important than expansion and that any thought of expansion would have to wait until those bigger things were done.  Well, they are done – – and that means expansion should be under consideration.

The NBA has 30 teams; mathematically, a league with 32 teams is more balanced.  So, if the NBA were to expand, the logical thinking would be to find two new cities – – or at least one new city in Year 1 and then another new city in Year 2.  So, where might the NBA find new homes?

• Las Vegas:  The success of the NHL franchise and the off-field success of the NFL franchise there have made Las Vegas the top attraction for expansion by the NBA.  The city would have to come up with a new arena and in a site that is considered “posh” by the league and the prospective owners and real estate along the Strip and in the downtown area is not plentiful.
• Kansas City:  They have an arena, and they have other pro franchises that have survived there for a long time.
• Seattle:  They had a team there in the past that drew well until it needed a new arena to maintain competitiveness.  When that was not forthcoming, the team was sold and moved to Oklahoma City.  That hurdle has been crossed with the construction of a new arena that is home to the NHL’s Seattle Kraken.
• Vancouver:  They too used to have a team.  Maybe like Seattle it is worth a try for a new franchise?  The NBA seeks to have an “international image” so adding a Canadian team would assist the league on that dimension.

            As I look at that list, it is “unbalanced” to the western portion of the North American continent.  Certainly, Las Vegas, Seattle and Vancouver would have to be added to the NBA’s Western Conference and Kansas City is a more “western” venue than it is an “eastern” venue.  Such additions would mean that one current team in the Western Conference would have to be shuffled to the Eastern Conference to have 16 teams in both conferences.  Should that become necessary here are the candidates for “Conference Relocation”

• Minnesota:  The Wolves are close enough to Chicago, Detroit and Milwaukee to have natural rivalries develop.
• Memphis:  The Grizzlies are in a “no-man’s land” regarding close by rivalry cities in the West as well as in the East.

Some folks may be thinking that the NBA would not be best served by diluting the talent in the league any more than it is now; it seems as if there are at least a half-dozen – – and maybe ten – – teams that are talent-deficient to the point that they have no realistic chance to do anything more than make a cameo appearance in the playoffs six months from now.  And that thinking would be far closer to correct than to mistaken.

HOW-EVAH, here is why expansion is going to happen one of these days soon – –  geography and talent availability be damned:

• The last NBA franchise that was sold went for $4B.  That was the asking price for the Phoenix Suns and that was the purchase price.
• So, let me assume that the absolute smallest buy-in fee for two new owners would be $3.5B apiece.  More likely it will be $4B, but just to make a point let me pretend that the NBA owners would exhibit generosity to the new “fraternity members”.
• That gives the league $7B to divvy up.  Assume the NBA Front Office takes 5% off the top.  That leaves 6.65B to go to the existing owners and that comes out to be $221.7M each.
• Money talks and bullsh*t walks …

Having gone through the reasons why the league will want to expand, how would the NBPA respond to such a proposal by the league.  My guess is that the NBPA would take the suggestion under advisement because that is the professional thing that a union does to any management proposal and would do everything in its power to pretend to study the proposal before agreeing that it is a good idea because it would give the union more members.  Those sorts of ideas that increase membership are near and dear to the hearts of labor unions everywhere.

Finally, since today had been about money – – and lot of it – – let me close with these observations about money:

“When I was young I thought that money was the most important thing in life; now that I am old I know that it is.”  [Oscar Wilde]

And …

“Money can’t buy love, but it improves your bargaining position.”  [Christopher Marlowe]

And …

“I’ve got all the money I’ll ever need, if I die by four o’clock.”  [Henny Youngman]

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………