NBA Relocation: Where Will These NBA Franchises Soon Be Taking Their Talents
Relocation in the NBA has been an inevitable process for the better part of the past decade, and has suddenly become a trend.
Between 1986 and 2000, there wasn't a single relocation. However, there were a handful of expansion teams breaking in during this time period (Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, Orlando Magic and Charlotte Hornets).
Since 2001, the Vancouver Grizzlies moved to Memphis, the Charlotte Hornets moved to New Orleans only to have another expansion franchise replace them, the New Orleans Hornets became the NOK Hornets in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the Seattle Supersonics relocated to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder.
That's quite a bit of movement considering the NFL and NHL haven't relocated since 1997 and MLB has only relocated once since 1972 (2005, Montreal Expos to Washington).
With the recent news that the NBA has purchased the New Orleans Hornets on a interim basis until a new owner takes over, it begs the question, what cities are the candidates to take on the next NBA franchise?
Let's take a look at the franchises in question and the top three cities that will get first dibs at a new sports product.
New Orleans Hornets
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Established: 2002
Arena: New Orleans Arena (18,500)
Lease: Expires in 2014
Attendance rank: 21st (79.9% capacity)
Summary: Most recently, the NBA purchased the Hornets for $300 million and, according to a recently released report, an audit of the Hornets' finances shows that the franchise is buried in $111 million in long-term debt and a negative operating income the past two years.
The franchise is facing the burden of possibly moving the franchise player, Chris Paul, and if a new owner moves in, which is likely to occur once a collective bargaining agreement is in place, he might deal Paul to completely rebuild in a new city.
(Attendance statistics updated as of December 11th, 2010; attendance rank based on capacity percentage, not total figures.)
Sacramento Kings
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Established: 1985
Arena: Arco Arena (17,317)
Lease: None; the Maloof family owns the arena
Attendance rank: 24th (76.3% capacity)
Summary: At one point this decade, the Kings had a packed house every home game, during the glory days of Mike Bibby, Chris Webber and Brad Miller. However, the sellouts, which began in 1999, lasted to 2007, when all three of those players were on the outs.
Their efforts for a new arena have been thwarted again and again and, with a new CBA coming in, this makes for an interesting cutoff point between what is now the Sacramento Kings and what can soon be the latest relocation project.
The fact that they have the ability to bolt when things get desperate makes them the team likely to relocate before any of the others.
(Attendance statistics updated as of December 11th, 2010; attendance rank based on capacity percentage, not total figures.)
Memphis Grizzles
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Established: 2001
Arena: FedEx Forum (18,119)
Lease: Expires 2014
Attendance rank: 23rd (78.8% capacity)
Summary: The Memphis Grizzlies are in much better shape to stay where they are than the other two franchises because their home arena is only six years old (opened in 2004). It may not be a strong argument, but it keeps the franchise in Memphis until 2014, when it is likely to relocate because owner Michael Heisley has already been pushing to sell the team.
The franchise hasn't had postseason success and it is looking at its last stand with a young nucleus to, perhaps, keep the team established in Tennessee for years to come.
(Attendance statistics updated as of December 11th, 2010; attendance rank based on capacity percentage, not total figures.)
Their Talents Will Go to.....
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...................The top three cities (in no particular order) and the NBA team they are likely to land.
Kansas City
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The Sprint Center opened in 2007 after breaking ground in the summer of 2005. Kansas City already has the Royals (baseball) and the Chiefs (football) with hopes of obtaining either an NBA or NHL franchise with the newly-minted facility. The area adores the Kansas Jayhawks, so an NBA franchise should only make it that much better.
If you remember, Kansas had a franchise from 1972 to 1985 before the Kansas City Kings bolted for Sacramento because of a series of unfortunate events. The reason Kansas City is a candidate, even with the fact it isn't a large market, is because it has an open arena, ready for use with a capacity of 18,555.
Likely Franchise: New Orleans Hornets
The Hornets' situation is one that is fluid because the NBA wants the Hornets to stay, but if the situation unravels, Kansas City is waiting with open arms.
Las Vegas
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Las Vegas is perhaps the most attractive place for a relocation and when All-Star Weekend was held there three years ago, Mayor Oscar Goodman and David Stern discussed the possibility of a franchise playing there.
The league has an anti-gambling stance and after the referee scandal, one wonders whether this can still be possible. However, this may end up being a jackpot for an owner or player who takes their talents here because of scenery.
Likely Franchise: Sacramento Kings
In 1994, the Maloof family bought the Fiesta Hotel in Las Vegas but later sold it in 2000. However, the money obtained in selling it was put forth towards the building of The Palms hotel and casino. The bottom line here is the Maloof family has business ties to the area and would like to relocate to Vegas if it had to bail out of the West Coast.
The Las Vegas Kings name has a nice ring to it and makes sense considering the area.
Seattle
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Seattle had its team leave before it was returning back to glory. Now the team is built around Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, but on the bright side, the Sonics can be resurrected with that name if another franchise relocates to the area.
However, the area needs a new arena before a new franchise can relocate there. Even if the situation gets tense elsewhere, there is not going to be an NBA team in Seattle in the near future.
Likely Franchise: Memphis Grizzlies
Memphis could end up here, for a couple of reasons. For starters, if there are any leftover Vancouver Grizzlies fans out there, relocating to Seattle serves them well, while getting Sonics fans back in it as well.
The second reason is that I don't see the Hornets or the Kings heading to Seattle because of the situation at hand. The Hornets are on the fence of relocation and if they relocate, they may want to do it to nearby Kansas and the Kings' owners won't want to head up north.
