[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

 I wish I had gone to Vegas summer league this year.  Although it was SUPER hot, there are a lot of good players there, and lots of hype/excitement.

I think that Las Vegas COULD support an NBA team.  Any expansion team has a honeymoon period and I think that Las Vegas would sell out their season tickets pretty quickly, at least for the first few years.  Then you have Lakers and Clippers fans going to Vegas to watch their team play.  And, fans of other teams.  I also think that if any franchise forms a SUPER TEAM it will be Las Vegas.  I can see a bunch of guys wanting to go play there…

I would have LV as one of the cities on my short-list for NBA expansion with the others being Seattle, San Jose, and maybe Nashville.

San Jose might be too close to the Warriors (moving to San Francisco), and even the Kings are fairly close by.

I would go with Seattle first.  Put them out West.  They would have a great rivalry with the Blazers, and those other teams on the West Coast.

I like Nashville as an up and coming city and sports market.  Great NHL fan base, solid NFL fan base, might get an MLS team — but, I think they can support the NBA, too.  I think there are some Grizzlies fans in Nashville (lot of Memphians moving to Nashville), and I think they would support an expansion team.  They really don’t have a first rate basketball team in Nashville, unless you count Vandy or Belmont.  

If you can move the Grizzlies to the Eastern Conference then you have a GREAT intrastate rivalry between Memphis and Nashville.

If Seattle gets the other expansion team, then you move an East team to the West (Bucks?).

OR, you could do THIS.  I know NBA owners don’t like expansion, but if the expansion fees are high enough, then that would be a pretty good sized cash infusion.  Especially for smaller market teams who could use the money.  You would also have pretty good sized TV markets (and basketball fan bases) getting teams which would be good for overall ratings.

Why not just do 4 teams?  

Put Seattle, San Jose, and Las Vegas out West.  

Get Nashville to the Eastern Conference and move Memphis and New Orleans to the Eastern Conference, too.  

You would have a team in every major market that can support one (except for maybe some mid-size/large markets like San Diego, Columbus, OH, and Austin, TX, and a smaller market like Louisville, KY).  

Then you make THOSE TOWNS your premier D League towns.  

Memphis has a G League team just south of the border, and is bitter rivals with Louisville, so maybe Nashville’s G League team can go to Louisville.

Columbus gets the Cavs minor league team.

The California clubs get a blast from the past as the Clippers G League team brings back the San Diego Clippers name.  The Lakers get a team in Anaheim and bring back the name LA Stars (old ABA team) of Anaheim.  

You know what, just build a smaller basketball arena in Hollywood and call ’em the Hollywood Stars.  

Seattle Sonics get a minor league team in Vancouver.

Hey, would you start the G League season LATER?

Like, literally two weeks after the NBA Summer League?  

Run it from August to the NBA All Star Break?

Have the G League championship game during NBA All Star Weekend?

I think TV ratings would be GREAT for a G League that competed only with MLB games in the middle of the summer.

That way, you basically have a mini-season.  Guys can get called up in February and not miss any G League games.

I know that would be basically a never-ending season for the two way G League guys but it could be really good for ratings.

You could limit G League games to 2 games a week.  Then make the playoffs a 16 team single elimination tournament.  

Maybe you still have the entire week off for NBA All Star Weekend, but you do the G League Final Four at Madison Square Garden or something a few days after the NBA All Star Game.  Could be great ratings.

I think that Las Vegas deserves an NBA team, but so do other towns, especially Seattle, with San Jose being another deserving town.  Nashville probably gets the edge of other fringe expansion targets like Columbus, OH, San Diego, Louisville, and Austin, TX.  

If Las Vegas DOES NOT get an NBA expansion team, then they should have the LA Lakers G League team aka the Las Vegas Lakers.  They should be billed as the best/flashiest G League franchise… then I would give Las Vegas the NBA All Star Game every 5 years or so.

Every 5 years they should rotate the All Star Game between 3 major markets and 2 new towns.  Portland hasn’t had it ever I don’t think…. neither has Memphis.  They need to make their way through the list.  

Las Vegas, New York City, and Los Angeles should probably get an All Star Game every five years.  Then, give the All Star game to towns that have never had it, then rarely had it.  

After every team has had an All Star Game, then rotate between 4 consistent markets (LA, Las Vegas, New York City, and probably Miami, New Orleans, or somewhere in Texas), and 1 new town.

Oh, and get an All Star Game in Boston, ASAP!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Checkbook_docParticipant]

For 5 years I have been saying that any realistic expansion conversation must acknowledge Mexico. The NBA would be silly not to put a team there in the next expansion. I personally think the team should be in Monterrey (relatively safe, wealthy, close to US, etc.).

The next city up will be Seattle.

I think San Diego would also get serious consideration. (Great city, now no NFL competition).

I think Vegas would have been okay for the NBA before, but now that the NFL is in town I don’t think it is the best option. I like your idea of putting a G-league team there. Another option would be to have Vegas host a few games each year for teams that are close by (Jazz, Lakers, Suns, Clippers).

As for Nashville, the issue is that they have so many teams to compete against for interest that it doesn’t make sense to put a team there. Especially if they get an MLB team.

[EndlessknightParticipant]

If you think its hard to get young American millionaires to live in Canada just wait and see how difficult it is to get them them to live in Mexico City aka kidnapping capital of the world (with a murder rate that would make Chicago blush).

[HobbyOGParticipant]

 Vegas could support a team and players would play there. Cheaper taxes and it’s close to Cali which is home to alot of players. I think once the Raiders move and it’s successful then the NBA will create two new expansion teams (seattle the other) or a team will move there. 

[he_gets_bucketsParticipant]

 I don’t think Vegas is a good place to have a team. Its a great place for offseason tournaments, but think about the demographic that a large amount of NBA players come from. Low socioeconomic backgrounds, you always hear horror stories about guys going broke 2 years after playing- Vegas is not the place you want a 19/20 year old kid whose never had any money before but is now suddenly rich to be living in. 

[LA12Participant]

 Exactly what I was thinking. If people think the bright lights of LA are too much for guys like DLo, imagine what the party capital of the US would be like for them. As great of an idea as it sounds like, it’s a risky proposition for the well being of the players.

[ph90702]

 Las Vegas isn’t the problem.  The players are the problem.  No one is forcing them to go out and throw away their money.

[he_gets_bucketsParticipant]

 You’re taking a very black and white approach to this. Its neither the city nor the players fault, its just the culmination of factors. You have kids who grew up with nothing who all of a sudden can go out and buy whatever they want- no, no one is forcing them to go throw away their money, but Vegas is an extremely tempting city with many traps for a young, newly wealthy man. Its not to say all players would fall victim to said traps, but there would be a large amount. Its not the cities fault, its not like every person who lives there is a strip club owner, thats why I said its a great place for the offseason leagues, because the fans are great, UNLV has great facilities. But again, imagine you grew up your whole life with nothing, you get a million dollar signing bonus, and you get off a plane in Sin City- a whole lot of players arent going to have the mental fortitude required to navigate that situation appropriately at 19/20, and thats not strictly their fault either. Theres very little you could do to prepare yourself for that, and just saying "oh its their fault for not being smarter" is an ignorant point of view that completely disregards all the stipulating circumstances.

[ph90702]

 We’ve had about half a dozen NBA players over the last few years, and none of them have gotten into any trouble.  I think a large part of that is the fact that they are here for basketball.

[ph90702]

 I think the NBA would be a hit in Las Vegas.  We’re already a basketball town (UNLV, summer league, Team USA, high school tournaments), and we wouldn’t have a problem selling out games between the locals and tourists.

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