OT: Hornets could be contracted?

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Natebishop3

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Conspiracy theories suggesting that one of the league's motivations in buying the Hornets was to give itself the ability to easily contract one team for leverage in upcoming labor negotiations

"Well, I guess all I would say to that is that wouldn't be a conspiracy. I know that there are some owners who might share that view. ... Anything that we do gets done by a majority of the owners. All you're stating is a potential third option. But right now we are steaming full speed ahead with every single possible [intent] to make that team successful in New Orleans, and I think we're going to succeed. So we're going to make it unattractive to move it or contract it."

What would happen to the players on that team?
 
Great question. Either the team with the worse record gets first choice and so on OR Stern just lets the Lakers have CP3 and West.
 
I have to laugh at the ham-handedness of the NBA. Letting this potential contraction leak is simply a negotiating tactic with the union. It's the loss of 15 slots. And 29 teams? It's a scheduling impossibility.

Nothing is going to happen with the Hornets other than that they'll move.
 
well west is gone. hornets cut off extension talks. bye bye there, and paul is 100% gone when his deal runs out. that means you are looking at the worst team in the nba in the near future.
 
I have to laugh at the ham-handedness of the NBA. Letting this potential contraction leak is simply a negotiating tactic with the union. It's the loss of 15 slots. And 29 teams? It's a scheduling impossibility.

Nothing is going to happen with the Hornets other than that they'll move.

Im pretty sure we had 29 teams for several years before the hornets moved to NO and Charolotte got the Bobcats. Plus Stern mentioned contracting back to 27; having one of them ready to go right then would be a handy weapon.

I agree though that it's mostly a bluff though.
 
vancouver_.jpg


sorry, couldn't help it.

I have no idea how anyone could be opposed to the Hornets leaving New Orleans for Seattle or Vancouver.
 
Vancouver, BC might be my favorite city I've ever been to. Not just because I can walk down the street and smoke a J.
 
Vancouver, BC might be my favorite city I've ever been to. Not just because I can walk down the street and smoke a J.

One of my buddies just went there and told me about a metal bar named after the band Iron Maiden. I must go check that out. Too cool.
 
sorry, couldn't help it.

I have no idea how anyone could be opposed to the Hornets leaving New Orleans for Seattle or Vancouver.
I just moved to Seattle 4 months ago from Portland. I have never been to Vancouver or even seen photographs of it, but that is an amazing photo! What a beautiful city. I am definitely going to check it out this Summer (need to get my passport renewed first). I would love for Seattle to get another team so I can watch the Blazers play up here and also so I can get some good NBA talk up here too. I just don't see it happening. No team is going to want to play in Key Arena.
 
basketball failed miserably in Vancouver already. plus with the extra taxes players have to pay, cold weather, etc, no one will want to play there.
 
Why did they fail? No fans?

Nope, the Grizzlies drew bigger crowds in Vancouver than they ever have in Memphis. It was a combination of tightwad ownership, unfavorable exchange rates (at the time), the lock out shortened season and a better arena deal from another city looking to steal a team.

So, don't blame the fans in Vancouver, they came out and supported what was an absolutely horrible team that never won more than 23 games in the six seasons they were there (15 wins, 14 wins, 19 wins, 8 wins - lockout season, 22 wins and 23 wins) didn't have a superstar, and never came close to being in play-off contention. Remember what it was like that ONE season when the Blazers won only 21 games? Imagine being that bad, or worse, for six straight years with no prior history of succes and no established fan base. The Grizzlies in Vancouver drew bigger crowds during those six seasons than the Blazers did when they were rebuilding. I don't have the numbers in front of me, but U have looked this up in the past and the Grizlies drew an average of 16,000 - 17,000 fans while they were in Vancouver.

With the right ownership group and a much more favorable exchange rate these days, Vancouver could be a viable destination for relocating an struggling franchise. I'd love to see the NW Division actually have a second team located in the NW. Two more would be even better. Move the Hornets to Vancouver and the Kings to Seattle (seems appropriate since Seattle is in King County) and re-align the divisions.

BNM
 
I don't think Vancouver would be a draw. Its second fiddle to Hockey. And its not the exchange rate, its the international tax rate, having to go through customs every road trip..probably annoying.
 
I don't think Vancouver would be a draw. Its second fiddle to Hockey. And its not the exchange rate, its the international tax rate, having to go through customs every road trip..probably annoying.

Getting marginally more fans than Memphis is one thing, but then again, nobody is calling Memphis a model franchise. Another big concern in BC is that basketball just isn't really that popular, so that limits the size and scope of a local TV contract. I'd love to see a team back in Vancouver, but frankly, Seattle makes much more sense if they can agree on an arena. Or, play at Key Arena again for a while. The Sonics didn't leave because they lacked local support, which became the case in Vancouver for the Grizzies.
 
I don't know how you can say it won't be a big draw. The CDN dollar is up to par with ours and it's a beautiful city.

Plus, Vancouver is crazy about basketball. They love it so much they refuse to root for Toronto ;). Attendance in Vancouver wouldn't be a problem.
 
I don't know how you can say it won't be a big draw. The CDN dollar is up to par with ours and it's a beautiful city.

Plus, Vancouver is crazy about basketball. They love it so much they refuse to root for Toronto ;). Attendance in Vancouver wouldn't be a problem.

Again, Canadian taxes. Its that god damned universal healthcare!
 
I don't think Vancouver would be a draw. Its second fiddle to Hockey. And its not the exchange rate, its the international tax rate, having to go through customs every road trip..probably annoying.

When you're an NBA team customs is easy peasy. With Stern talking about expansion to Europe, bringing a team back to Vancouver would be a piece of cake. The climate is no different than Seattle, unless you go a little further up into Whistler. You also have to consider basketball is growing big time in Canada. Look around the NCAA and recruiting websites, high school basketball in Canada is bigger than it has ever been.

Plus, I would love to road trip up to BC.

Its not as far-fetched an idea as your making it out to be.
 

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