New Orleans Hornets "foreclosed" to the NBA; future is dicey

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5887687

Owner George Shinn now gets to write off his basketball team which is a staggering $83 million in the red in a city where the people don't seem to care about the team when they have a sup erstar in Chris Paul and in Louisiana, football is king, so the Super Bowl Champ St. Drew is Jesus in a football jersey. Also LSU football is a very formidable crown prince with Les Miles leading them to yet another Top 10 finish.

If the Hornets move, here are several cities who could accommodate and welcome them:

1. Seattle, WA
Pros: Large and affluent metro area, 15th largest metro area in the US. The team would become the Seattle Supersonics due to an agreement with the NBA. They would also be competitive from the beginning.
Cons: The city does not want to build a new arena with their funds so they'll still play at the Key, where the WNBA's Seattle Storm plays. If ownership pays for it, then different story. There are still some hard feelings about the way the first Sonics left town. Also, will ownership have to incorporate the Seattle Storm's ownership group or be encouraged to do so?

2. Las Vegas, NV
Pros: Metro area holds 2 million people, and it is one of the fastest growing areas in the US. They're building a new arena to attract a team.
Cons: Gambling culture does not play well with pro team sports.

3. Pittsburgh, PA
Pros: Large metro area of over 2 million people; they have a brand new arena, the Consol Energy Center which is NBA ready, since they already host the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins
Cons: Area is not affluent. Their sports culture revolves around two people. Hines Ward and Sidney Crosby. The Pirates seem irrelevant.

4. Kansas City, MO
Pros: Metro area has over 2 million people; they already have a new NBA ready arena with the Sprint Center which is only 3 years old and they have no major tenant in the building. Why not the Hornets?
Cons: The city doesn't seem interested in the NBA. They only care about the Chiefs, and the Royals seem irrelevant.

5. Anaheim, CA
Pros: Anaheim is part of the Los Angeles metro area which has over 12 million people. They already have an NBA ready arena in the Honda Center where the NHL Ducks play. The Clippers' season ticket holder base likely holds people who can't get Lakers season tix, and now a more competitive team comes to town and helps attack that demand for Lakers season tickets as well.
Cons: LA already has two NBA teams, and they really only support the Lakers, not the Clippers. Why support yet another team?

6. Newark, NJ after the Nets move to Brooklyn
Pros: Largest metro area in the US. 19 million people live in the New York City area; The New York area already has two NBA teams, two MLB teams, two NFL teams, and three NHL teams. Newark also has a new NBA ready arena where the Nets play right now.
Cons: Doesn't seem that New York wants another NBA team, or is it New Jersey?

I honestly think that the Hornets will move to Seattle

Great work

You should be a sports writer if you aren't already one.You definitely have everything what you need to be a great one.

I'd like to see them wait it out until 2012-13 if they move that way we get another NBA team in Newark,NJ

kansas city would be best.

KC seems like the most obvious option. I like the idea of the NBA moving a team back to SEA, though. Either one would be good, because Washington was a decent basketball town when they had a team, and Kansas City does actually have some breathing room between it and other cities with NBA teams. They also aren't very likely to have already adopted another region's team, like OKC, CHI, or MEM. It's a large region, and because of where Kansas City sits (on the border between Missouri and Kansas, it could draw a large number of fans from either state. Arkansas, Iowa, and Nebraska are also possibilities. The Hornets are likely not going to be moving any further East, because they are in the Western Conference. Vegas would be a cool place to have a team, but it is not a good idea.

This map isn't 100% accurate, but it's close:

Vegas and a team would suck ass. They'd have to move again the next year.

Uh Koolish? That was uh... very uh.... random.

yea i know was extra random

and bring the NBA back to New Jersey when the Nets go!

and oh crap that aint Koolish that's Visa haha

I was about to say.... Visa is the funny guys in our club here, haha.

and David Stern did say he wants to keep the Hornets local and New Orleans based

I think that's because he almost went out of his way to get the All Star Game in their house, and also because moving the Hornets is almost symbolic of New Orleans losing something for good after the hurricane. Stern on top of all that does not want to fail by all means necessary.

That is true I think Stern doesn't want to look bad taking the Hornets away after Katrina

I would love another Newark NBA team. I feel the Nets unfairly bailed on us with this sparkling arena and the arena is worthy of NBA BBall. Hope we get a new team soon

Here's a wild card city I didn't think about a home for New Orleans if they relocate. It could also house an expansion team, or maybe Sacramento which is the next team that could be moving.

Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Pros: 2nd largest city in Canada, affluent metro area of nearly 4 million people. They already have an NBA ready arena in the city which is the Bell Centre, home of the NHL's Montreal Canadiens. The Bell Centre holds over 21,000 for Habs games making it the largest NHL arena, and over 22,000 for basketball games that would make it one of the largest if not the largest arena in the NBA. They hosted a preseason Raptors game back this October against the Knicks. They sold out the game.

Cons: Like with Toronto and Canada, Montreal is hockey country, not a basketball one. Like Los Angeles where the Lakers run the sports scene and Washington, DC where the Redskins run sports in a similar way, in Montreal, the Canadiens are EVERYTHING when it comes to sports. And for good reason. Like the Lakers and Redskins, the Canadiens are a storied franchise, having won 24 Stanley Cups, more than any other NHL team. Only bad part is that they haven't won a Cup since 1993, but they did reach the Conference Finals last year as an 8 seed, their first since 1993.

Montreal lost its major league baseball team, the Expos, to a Washington DC ownership group. I think MLB took ownership of the team before the move... If a large city like Montreal doesn't like Americanesque sports like baseball, it could be worse for basketball. Sure they'll see one game, but 41 regular season games plus preseason plus playoffs? I dunno. They'll be all over the Habs on sports radio unless the NBA team is going to the Conference Finals at a minimum. Call it Redskins syndrome. The first topic of the sports shows here are always the Redskins no matter what, unless the Caps or Wizards are in the playoffs.

Next, you have to consider that it's a French speaking city, even though there is a pretty considerable English native speaking population; the Canadiens owners are Anglophones I believe. I know there are French speakers in the NBA, but I dunno if Quebecers like basketball to the extent many French people do, to the extent that they would buy full season tickets or in Canadian terms, full season seats.