A few days ago Chris Hansen, the hedge-fund manager not the guy that would surprise diddlers on TV, received word that he could shop for a NBA team now that Seattle is getting a new arena. This of course is code for bringing back the Seattle SuperSonics, and while I'm sure every basketball fan on the planet would love to see that. The questions remains how it will happen though. We know that expansion is not an option as I've heard more contraction rumors run through the NBA than expansion ones in recent years. Also when you look at all the NBA teams, there just aren't many that pop out and say, 'Buy me and move me!' With this being said, I'm going to predict that either the Sacramento Kings or Toronto Raptors become the Sonics within the next few years.
The Raptors would be a good candidate because they aren't good, and haven't been good in their existence. They became a franchise in 1995, back when it was cool to expand into Canada, and they have only won one division title. They have only made the playoffs a handful of other times besides that too. Every star player they have had as left the franchise via free agency or trade, as well. First there Tracy McGrady left via sign-and-trade to the Orlando Magic in 2000. In 2004, the Raptors traded Vince Carter to the New Jersey Nets. Then, most recently, Chris Bosh left via sign-and-trade to the Miami Heat in 2010. Now the team's 'star' player is Andrea Bargnani who they chose over LaMarcus Aldridge with the number one pick in 2006. Aldridge was on the All-NBA Third Team in 2011 and an All-Star this past season while Bargnani has no honors other than NBA All-Rookie First Team, which Aldridge was also on. If none of this sells you, then I'll leave you with this parting note: the Raptors were sold in 1998, a mere three years into their existence. I think they can be sold again.
The Kings would be an even better choice because ownership is already talking about moving the team. The city of Sacramento is trying very hard to keep the Kings though. The Kings have not been good since the early 2000s with Webber, Bibby, and Stojakovic. The easiest way for ownership to deal with the headache they have gotten themselves into would be to the sell team. It's clear they don't want to be in Sacramento, and it's also clear that Sacramento is going down fighting. But if the Maloofs, owners of the Kings, decide to just say enough is enough and sell to Hansen and his group, Hansen won't care if he upsets the people of Sacramento by moving them because he's going to be a hero in Seattle. The Kings as a basketball team is just a hodge-podge of talent, like they are building a collection rather than a team. The Maloofs don't seem to be trying to make the team better as if they are preparing to sell the team. Another strong reason the Kings might move is that the team has changed cities five times already. They started in Rochester then moved to Cincinatti then moved to Kansas City/Omaha then only Kansas City and now Sacramento. I could see a move to Seattle in the near future.
While expansion is out of the question in reality, it still can be spoken for here. I think it'd be very easy to get another team to go along with Seattle in an expansion. There are plenty of sports cities without NBA teams like San Diego, Kansas City, Cincinnati, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh. The first three listed have had NBA teams in the past and I'm sure would love to have another. Also the expansion fees of two franchises would do wonders for a league that was supposedly losing hundreds of millions just a few years ago. The NFL has 32 teams and it is by far the richest American sports league. I don't understand why the NBA, MLB, and NHL haven't followed suit. Expanding would prevent having to move an existing team to Seattle and upsetting a fan base, as well. But I'm sure David Stern, NBA commissioner, and his staff looked into expansion and decided it wasn't worth it, which means if the SuperSonics are making a comeback someone else is going to have to bow out of the NBA. How is this going to be done? I don't know. Let's let Chris Hansen do his magic. He got the new arena, now he just needs the old team.
References
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8375689/seattle-arena-investor-now-shop-nba-team
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8365013/seattle-agrees-plan-build-new-nba-arena
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_Raptors
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_NBA_Draft
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Bargnani
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaMarcus_Aldridge
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacramento_Kings
No comments:
Post a Comment