Seahawks4Ever wrote:I think we can forget the NBA ever coming back to Seattle. The NBA wants to have monopolies in cities the size of Seattle (like they have in Portland and Oklahoma) there is just too much competition for sports dollars here with the success of the Seahawks, Sounders, and even the Mariners.
Besides, when Steve Ballmer left the Hansen Group and bought the Clippers NBA basketball returning to Seattle was probably doomed. Hansen needed Ballmer's ultra deep pockets to buy a team and he needed Ballmer's clout to be able to even get an audience with Adam Silver, now he has nothing. In fact, Hansen has less than nothing because all he did was anger the NBA with some of his antics in trying to buy the Kings. Hansen also failed to buy the Bucks and there isn't any other teams that remotely look to be sold and moved before the MOS Hansen made with the city of Seattle and King County runs out. Frankly, I don't know what else Hansen could have or should have done, it was a valiant effort but I feel it will fall short. At least Hansen will have some very valuable land to develop and return a nice dividend to those who invested with him on this venture.
There is a hope for an expansion franchise, but I agree, it doesn't look good for basketball returning to Seattle anytime soon. Not unlike the NFL, the NBA has their sights set on expanding overseas. Basketball is more popular in Europe than is American football and IMO has a better chance of succeeding there. Plus they might want to take a shot at putting a team in Mexico City some day. It would make for some great divisional rivalries with the Texas/Oklahoma teams.
There does seems to be some chance of an NHL franchise coming to Seattle, which might give Hansen a tenant to get his arena constructed while he continues his search for an NBA team. But even that seems to be a long shot, as the NHL seems even more reluctant to expand than does the NBA. Besides, I'm not sure that the Seattle sports pie is big enough for 4 (5 if you count MLS) professional franchises and a major college. If I had just two teams to choose from all the available leagues, I'd take what we have now, ie the NFL and MLB.