RIP, NBA basketball in the Pacific northwest

First the Grizz bolt Vancouver for Memphis. Recently, the Sonics are sold (pending league approval) to an Oklahoma City group. Now, Paul Allen pulls out of negotiations to sell the Jail Blazers and Rose Garden as a combined entity.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2538649

 

Somewhat odd, no? If it looks like the Sonics are leaving, or might leave, wouldn't you want to hang around and be the only team in the region?

 

Exactly. Although, I didn't blame the Grizzlies for leaving Vancouver....nor did Steve Francis.

 

You really think the NBA will be OK with Seattle not having a team? That's a big city, with a lot of money and a lot of big businesses.

 

And a lot of fish. Lots and lots of fish.

 

The NBA (or any major professional league for that matter) will go to any city it deems capable of producing millions of dollars in revenue. If a franchise can make a bigger profit in OKC than in the Emerald City, you better believe the NBA will approve the transfer.

Paul Allen apparently didn't like the bids that came in. So he now has four options -- renegotiate the lease terms to the Rose Garden, look for another place to play in Portland, move the team or sell the team on his own. My guess is it'll be the latter option and unless it's Phil Knight, it won't be to a local group.

 

The speculation is the Hornets would buzz right in to replace the Sonics, if they move in to OKC.

Probably involving a complete franchise swap as was done with the NFL Colts and Rams in the 1970s -- the team playing in Seattle would be called the Sonics, but the players would be the Hornets from the previous season.

Atlanta and Orlando would have to be considered franchises up for grabs, as well.

 

Holy Jeebus. ANOTHER market might have to deal with George Shinn? Guy's a world-class piece of shit.

 

Sure, he'd rake up the bucks in Seattle for a few years, then set sail for Anchorage or Hawaii. The traveling circus simply rolls down the road.

 

Look, I live in Louisiana, and I've always felt the Hornets thing was a short-term deal. New Orleans just ain't big enough to support an NBA team....maybe if you had a local owner who was really wealthy. But this is like dating a woman who's just out of your league...enjoy it while it lasts but don't look too far down the road.

 

Too bad.

 

You know, there are probably about 100 metropolitan areas in the U.S. all of which could perfectly adequately support franchises in any of the "major league" sports. New Orleans, Seattle, Portland, Kansas City, San Diego and Buffalo are all among them.

What it's become, is simply a floating crap game, where the billionaire owners simply extort brand-new, taxpayer-funded arenas and incredible sweetheart golden-goose money-factory lease arrangements from city to city, then wait 10 or 15 years, then start bitching that the previous stadium is outmoded, then start the whole process over again.

When franchises "fail," it's invariably because of the incompetence of the owners.