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Post by spacejammer on Oct 26, 2023 14:14:25 GMT
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Post by colicab85 on Oct 26, 2023 19:23:24 GMT
Would love to see a return to Seattle. I saw the Sonics years and years ago and it’s a great basketball city.
Simple answer to the disparity between the conferences would be the move the TWolves or Memphis over to the East. Geographically they are pretty much in line with Chicago, especially Memphis.
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Post by naenia on Oct 26, 2023 21:01:20 GMT
If they expand, Seattle has got to be a must surely.
I’m not too fussed about Vegas but it makes sense given the market and the stigma about gambling and sports seems to have disappeared.
Would love to see another Canadian team personally but I guess that’s unrealistic.
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Post by spacejammer on Oct 26, 2023 21:04:18 GMT
If they expand, Seattle has got to be a must surely. I’m not too fussed about Vegas but it makes sense given the market and the stigma about gambling and sports seems to have disappeared. Would love to see another Canadian team personally but I guess that’s unrealistic. I think their was talks of a Mexico team joining the NBA at one point but I think now that's just for the G-League. But I wouldn't rule it out. It is funny to see Toronto as the only Canadian team in the NBA. Makes me wonder what they'd be like if they entered their own national league. I imagine it would look similar to London Lions right now in the BBL compared to the rest of the BBL. |
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Post by SamH on Oct 26, 2023 21:55:39 GMT
They did have the Grizzlies in Vancouver of course, but the team was moved after only 5 or 6 years to Memphis as it just wasn't doing good business. I suppose Canadians are much more into their ice hockey, although the Raptors do seem popular. There have been rumours about Seattle and Vegas for a long time now - as a Sonics turned Thunder fan I'd love to see it. Although it's tough supporting an expansion team, usually it means several years of losing, but I think I would have to revert back to being a Seattle fan if there was a team there. It was terrible that the league approved the new owner, Clay Bennett, in moving the team to his home city of Oklahoma, under the ridiculous farce that the city wouldn't pay for a new arena and the existing one wasn't up to scratch. It was so bogus. Well, there is a very good new arena there now, ready to be used! As for Vegas, they have a WNBA team. You could see it being a destination market for the players. Imagine if there had been a team there when Rodman was around!  Of course it would mean watering down the talent pool again, but I think with an increasing number of players coming from around the world now, the talent pool is much bigger than it used to be when only Americans were good enough to make the cut. Now they have the play in, meaning a top 10 finish in the conference is meaningful, it shouldn't be a problem adding 2 more. |
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Post by spacejammer on Oct 26, 2023 22:27:13 GMT
They did have the Grizzlies in Vancouver of course, but the team was moved after only 5 or 6 years to Memphis as it just wasn't doing good business. I suppose Canadians are much more into their ice hockey, although the Raptors do seem popular. There have been rumours about Seattle and Vegas for a long time now - as a Sonics turned Thunder fan I'd love to see it. Although it's tough supporting an expansion team, usually it means several years of losing, but I think I would have to revert back to being a Seattle fan if there was a team there. It was terrible that the league approved the new owner, Clay Bennett, in moving the team to his home city of Oklahoma, under the ridiculous farce that the city wouldn't pay for a new arena and the existing one wasn't up to scratch. It was so bogus. Well, there is a very good new arena there now, ready to be used! As for Vegas, they have a WNBA team. You could see it being a destination market for the players. Imagine if there had been a team there when Rodman was around! Of course it would mean watering down the talent pool again, but I think with an increasing number of players coming from around the world now, the talent pool is much bigger than it used to be when only Americans were good enough to make the cut. Now they have the play in, meaning a top 10 finish in the conference is meaningful, it shouldn't be a problem adding 2 more. To be fair with 32 teams I'm suprised they don't consider adding like a FA Cup style competition whilst their at it. I suppose this new tournament their introducing is something different. But to have a one off style game then maybe a finals at All Star weekend would be interesting to see. I have heard some people say the All Star game isn't as interesting as what it used to be. I think that would be quite cool to see. |
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Post by SamH on Oct 26, 2023 22:38:54 GMT
Yeah I mean this new in-season tournament is a bit like the FA Cup although only the last 8 is played on a straight knock out basis. Perhaps with 32 teams they could do it, although they could do it now and just give a bye through round 1 to last season's 2 finalists or something.
Last I saw about the all star game, Silver was thinking of going back to East v West. But he needs to remember why they changed it in the first place! In the end I don't think it matters how you slice it, it just doesn't seem possible to get the players to play hard and compete in this game. So yes, maybe scrap it completely and instead have the in-season final but keep the other events around it like the 3 point and slam dunk. At least then in the main game it would be a proper, competitive game with a trophy up for grabs at the end of it.
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Post by milehigh on Oct 27, 2023 2:53:45 GMT
The all star game is returning to the East v West format, with 4 12 minute quarters, actually going back to a traditional gqme format.
The changes will avoid the embarressment of a 2 time NBA MVP been selected last when the sides are selected.
The all star weekend is a great opportunity to showcase the best positive features of the league, but only if the selection of the teams is fair.
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Post by spacejammer on Oct 27, 2023 7:39:09 GMT
The all star game is returning to the East v West format, with 4 12 minute quarters, actually going back to a traditional gqme format. The changes will avoid the embarressment of a 2 time NBA MVP been selected last when the sides are selected. The all star weekend is a great opportunity to showcase the best positive features of the league, but only if the selection of the teams is fair. It should definately go back to the West vs East in my view. It would then mean their's have to be some more criteria rather than just allowing the captains to pick their teams. |
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Post by colicab85 on Oct 27, 2023 8:05:49 GMT
The all star game is returning to the East v West format, with 4 12 minute quarters, actually going back to a traditional gqme format. The changes will avoid the embarressment of a 2 time NBA MVP been selected last when the sides are selected. The all star weekend is a great opportunity to showcase the best positive features of the league, but only if the selection of the teams is fair. It should definately go back to the West vs East in my view. It would then mean their's have to be some more criteria rather than just allowing the captains to pick their teams. It is going back to East v West, officially. No weird points target or spread either. Just normal basketball. It would be good if they could somehow put an incentive on winning the All Star Game. Like they do in MLB, although I can remember exactly what it is, I think it might be home ballpark advantage in the first round of the playoffs or something like that. |
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Post by dexter on Oct 27, 2023 8:27:19 GMT
They did have the Grizzlies in Vancouver of course, but the team was moved after only 5 or 6 years to Memphis as it just wasn't doing good business. I suppose Canadians are much more into their ice hockey, although the Raptors do seem popular. I think you're right. I just looked it up and Vancouver and Memphis are both the same size. Obviously Toronto is huge and can support a team in every sport. However, I do think basketball has probably become more popular in Canada with the success of the national team and with CEBL. Vancouver might be ready now for an NBA team. |
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Post by spacejammer on Oct 27, 2023 8:32:56 GMT
To be fair I'm suprised the NBA doesn't consider a Copa Del Rey style tournament.
I.e. have all 32 teams meet somewhere like Las Vegas and then play a straight knockout tournament.
Have the 1st week be for the round of 32 and round of 16.
Then maybe later on in the season invite the remaining 8 teams back for a week for the Quarter Finals, Semi Finals and then finish with a Grand Final.
I reckon you could really market that as a huge Basketball festival bigger then the All Star Game!
Although that being said American sports do seem to have a theme of everything needs to be settled via a series.
So would a one off game really catch on over there I wonder?
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Post by isthaturinal on Oct 27, 2023 9:06:59 GMT
To be honest I’m not a big follower of the NBA
But I’m a big follower of Las Vegas…
So Vegas for me and Id definitely go to the game if it was on next time that I’m in Sin City
Which fingers crossed won’t be long.
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Post by LTfan on Oct 27, 2023 11:21:18 GMT
The all star game is returning to the East v West format, with 4 12 minute quarters, actually going back to a traditional gqme format. The changes will avoid the embarressment of a 2 time NBA MVP been selected last when the sides are selected. The all star weekend is a great opportunity to showcase the best positive features of the league, but only if the selection of the teams is fair. It's a great showcase event, sure. But I can't remember it ever being a competitive game in the 30 years I've followed basketball. It's always been a bit 'Harlem Globetrotter-ry'. It'll be interesting to see if the new BBL All-Star Game can provide a competitive game and start a genuine north/south rivalry, or will it go the way of the NBA All-Star Game. |
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Post by LTfan on Oct 27, 2023 11:26:25 GMT
To be honest I’m not a big follower of the NBA But I’m a big follower of Las Vegas… So Vegas for me and Id definitely go to the game if it was on next time that I’m in Sin City Which fingers crossed won’t be long. And that's why Las Vegas seems to make sense for an NBA franchise. I'd suspect there'd never be much of a problem selling tickets, either with the many tourists in town or with the fans of visiting teams looking for an excuse for a few days in Vegas. The only issue I can see is how many actual home fans of an NBA Las Vegas team there would be? But there's now NHL and NFL teams in Las Vegas. And I believe a MLB team is on it's way. So it's a logical move for the NBA. And I don't think this is the first time the NBA has been considering it. |
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Post by isthaturinal on Oct 27, 2023 12:44:34 GMT
Not sure if they are tourists or not but there are plenty of people all along the strip wearing Vegas Golden Knights and Vegas Raiders merchandise.
We went to a pre season game at the Mandalay Bay hotel to see the Nuggets Vs Clippers, it had a pretty decent attendance so the audience is definitely there.
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Post by SamH on Oct 27, 2023 23:24:57 GMT
Yeah they would sell out the arena I think. I always thought Orlando was similar, full of tourists - but there are locals as well.
As for Canada, I don't know if they would invest in Vancouver again now - what other cities could there be? Montreal? Winnipeg? No idea if those are good basketball markets.
Fun fact - when the Grizzlies moved to Memphis there was talk of changing the name to Memphis Express, I guess because of the Fed-Ex connection, their HQ is in Memphis. I do think it would have been a better name, Memphis Grizzlies sounds naff and has no relevance to the city.
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Post by milehigh on Oct 28, 2023 16:06:23 GMT
I understand that the Las Vegas hockey team focus their marketing on attracting local fans, which is more sustainable with th number of home games in the NHL season.
The Oakland A's MLB team are planning to move to Las Vegas, but their published plans are hoping to sell c30% of the seats for all 81 home games to tourists. It seems an unrealistically high figure, especially, except for a few exceptions, baseball does not have many fans travelling to away games.
To be successful a Las Vegas based NBA team would have to aim to sell at least 80% of the seats to locals.
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Post by SamH on Oct 28, 2023 23:27:21 GMT
Also there would be a lot of competition especially for attracting tourists. Think how many other things people can do in Vegas, all the shows and other events that are on every night. But I think it could work, they would certainly attract good free agents so they'd have some star power on the court most of the time.
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