What cities should get an NBA expansion team?

Naturally, we start by righting the proverbial wrong of the NBA franchise relocation. The Seattle Supersonics were an NBA staple. They won a title. Then, new ownership came in and moved the team to Oklahoma City. Ever since the NBA has talked of bringing an expansion team to Seattle whenever they get around to adding teams. The city now has an NHL franchise with its own arena, so placing a team back in the city would presumably be easier.

Regarding cities the NBA abandoned, Vancouver doesn’t come up as often as Seattle. However, even the late David Stern would say that he regretted giving up on the Vancouver Grizzlies and letting the team move to Memphis. The Grizzlies only spent six seasons in Vancouver before moving south of the border. While the Raptors have sustained, the time has come for Canada to have a second NBA team, and Vancouver should get a second shot.

The NBA is now officially behind the curve on Las Vegas. The NHL and NFL have teams in the city, and the Athletics are supposed to be there once they get their stuff together. In fact, the WNBA is already there with the Aces. The NBA has done their summer league in Vegas for years, and also put the finals of the first In-Season Tournament there, so clearly the league is in on the city. It’s a matter of time.

Since the Clippers left San Diego for Los Angeles, the city has lacked an NBA squad. It’s been a while since the city had an arena-based sports team of note, but the Southern California city is not within the metropolitan area of Los Angeles, and it is a massive city. San Diego is eighth in population in the United States.

Two teams in Florida is the norm for major sports leagues in America, but the NFL has three, and the NBA could follow suit. At present, Jacksonville only has the Jaguars. However, did you know that Jacksonville is the largest city in Florida? It’s actually now in the top 10 in terms of population in the country. Plus, it’s a North Florida city, meaning it is quite far from Miami, and pretty far from Orlando as well.

The NBA does have a couple of teams in Northern California in the Warriors and Kings, but if we are expanding the NBA, there is room for another. San Jose’s population has fallen under one million, but it is still the third-largest city in the state. Now, it’s in the same general region of San Francisco, but if there can be two teams in Los Angeles and New York, there can be two in the Bay Area. Hell, MLB and the NFL had teams in San Francisco and Oakland for years.

The Blue Jackets are the only team in the major sports leagues in Columbus, but a hockey arena can be turned into an NBA arena pretty easily. Plus, did you know Columbus is the biggest city in Ohio in terms of population? An NFL team would have to fight for fandom with the Ohio State Buckeyes football team, but it seems unlikely Buckeyes hoops would stand in the way of the NBA.

Nashville is talked about a bit more as an MLB city, and the NHL and NFL are already there, but the NBA could also consider it. Yes, Memphis got the Grizzlies all those years ago, but there is space here. Nashville is 21st in population, and the metropolitan area has increased in size by over 20 percent in each of the last three census results. Clearly, this is a good market to get into.

Louisville is a college basketball hotbed. There are no pro sports teams of note in Kentucky, and Cincinnati doesn’t have an NBA team (shout out to the Royals). Louisville sits around Detroit, Portland, and Memphis in terms of population. All three of those cities have NBA teams.

Of course, the Washington Wizards were once the Baltimore Bullets. Baltimore is quite close to Washington D.C., so the Wizards would likely have to sign off on a new team in the area. However, MLB and the NFL teams in those cities manage to coexist. In fact, when you combine Washington and Baltimore into one overarching population area, it’s the third largest in the country. Even Baltimore’s metro area alone ranks 20th.

There is no state where college hoops is bigger than North Carolina. The Charlotte Hornets exist but there is room for hoops heads to have another team. Plus, the Hornets haven’t exactly lit the world on fire due to questionable ownership since the days of the Bobcats. Raleigh, the state’s capital, is the second-largest city, and also one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. Plus, it’s the home of the Carolina Hurricanes. That’s helpful on the arena front!

If you are writing an article of this ilk, unless maybe you are talking about the NHL, you are legally required to mention Mexico City. It’s the largest city in North America. Yes, larger than New York. The NBA has played games there because they want a piece of that market. Everybody does. It’s just a matter of what league takes the plunge and puts a team there.

Pittsburgh is not actually that large of a city. It’s barely over 300,000 people. The metro area is larger but still 26th in the United States. That being said, it’s a sports-loving town. They have the Steelers, Pirates, and Penguins, and they are all enthusiastically followed. Give Pittsburgh an NBA team. Deck them out in black and yellow. They will have a passionate fan base.

New York and Los Angeles get two sports teams (if you fold Anaheim into Los Angeles). MLB has two teams in Chicago. There is room for another city to have two NBA teams, and we will go with Philadelphia. Philly, in addition to being famous for its sports fandom (for better or worse), is the sixth-largest city in the United States. It’s also the home to six colleges who care about college basketball, including Temple and Villanova. If any league should give Philly a second franchise, it’s the NBA.

We said it earlier, but it is time for the NBA to have two teams, at least, in Canada once again. Vancouver is the obvious first choice to try and make good for the Grizzlies saga, but Montreal is also an intriguing option. How an NBA team would do there is a mystery, but what is not a mystery is the market size. Montreal’s metro area has over 4.2 million people living there. Vancouver, in third, comes in at just over 2.6 million. NBA basketball in Montreal? Tres chic!