Which cities should get an NBA expansion team?

Of course, we start by righting the proverbial wrongs of NBA franchise relocation. The Seattle Supersonics were a staple in the NBA. You won a title. Then a new owner came and moved the team to Oklahoma City. Since then, the NBA has talked about bringing an expansion team to Seattle whenever it gets around to adding teams. The city now has an NHL franchise with its own arena, so it would probably be easier to put a team back in the city.

As far as cities the NBA has abandoned, Vancouver doesn’t come up as often as Seattle. However, even the late David Stern would say he regrets giving up on the Vancouver Grizzlies and letting the team move to Memphis. The Grizzlies spent just six seasons in Vancouver before moving south of the border. While the Raptors held their own, it’s time for Canada to have a second NBA team and Vancouver should get a second chance.

The NBA is now officially behind the curve in Las Vegas. The NHL and NFL have teams in town, and the Athletics are expected to be there as soon as they get their stuff together. In fact, the WNBA is already here with the Aces. The NBA has hosted its summer league in Las Vegas for years and also hosts the finals of the first in-season tournament there, so the league is clearly in the city. It’s a question of time.

Since the Clippers left San Diego for Los Angeles, the city has been without an NBA squad. It’s been a while since the city has had a significant sports team in an arena, but the Southern California city isn’t in the Los Angeles metropolitan area and is a huge city. San Diego is the eighth largest city in the United States.

Two teams in Florida are the norm for major sports leagues in America, but the NFL has three, and the NBA could follow suit. Currently, there are only the Jaguars in Jacksonville. However, did you know that Jacksonville is the largest city in Florida? In terms of population, it is now one of the top 10 in the country. Also, it is a city in northern Florida, which means it is quite far from Miami and also quite far from Orlando.

The NBA does have a few teams in Northern California with the Warriors and Kings, but if we expand the NBA there is room for one more. San Jose’s population has fallen below a million, but it is still the state’s third-largest city. Now it’s in the same region as San Francisco, but if there can be two teams in Los Angeles and New York, there can also be two in the Bay Area. Heck, 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 converted into an NBA arena fairly easily. Also, did you know that Columbus is the largest city in Ohio by population? An NFL team would have to compete for fandom with the Ohio State Buckeyes football team, but it seems unlikely that the Buckeyes’ basketball hoops would stand in the way of the NBA.

Nashville is considered more of 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’s room here. Nashville ranks 21st in population, and the size of the metro area has grown by more than 20 percent in each of the last three census returns. Obviously, this is a good market to enter.

Louisville is a hotbed of college basketball. Kentucky has no professional sports teams to speak of and Cincinnati doesn’t have an NBA team (kudos to the Royals). Louisville is close in population to Detroit, Portland and Memphis. All three of these cities have NBA teams.

Of course, the Washington Wizards were once the Baltimore Bullets. Baltimore is fairly close to Washington DC, so the Wizards would likely need to sign a new team in the area. However, the MLB and NFL teams in these cities manage to coexist. In fact, when Washington and Baltimore are combined into one overarching population area, it is the third largest in the country. The Baltimore metropolitan area alone ranks 20th.

There is no state with more college options than North Carolina. The Charlotte Hornets exist, but there is room for the basketball players who could have another team. Plus, the Hornets haven’t exactly set the world on fire since the Bobcats’ days due to questionable ownership. Raleigh, the state capital, is the second largest city and one of the fastest growing cities in the country. It is also the home of the Carolina Hurricanes. This is helpful on the arena front!

If you’re writing an article like this, you’re legally obligated to mention Mexico City unless you’re talking about the NHL. It is the largest city in North America. Yes, bigger than New York. The NBA played games there because they want a piece of that market. Everyone does it. It just depends on which league takes the step and puts a team there.

Pittsburgh is actually not that big of a city. There are just over 300,000 people. The metropolitan area, while larger, is still the 26th in the United States. Apart from that, it is a sports-loving city. You have the Steelers, Pirates and Penguins and they are all followed with enthusiasm. Give Pittsburgh an NBA team. Decorate them in black and yellow. You will have a passionate fan base.

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

We’ve said it before, but it’s time for the NBA to have at least two teams in Canada again. Vancouver is obviously the first choice to make up for the Grizzlies saga, but Montreal is also an intriguing option. How an NBA team would do there is a mystery, but what isn’t a mystery is the market size. Over 4.2 million people live in the Greater Montreal area. Vancouver is third with just over 2.6 million. NBA basketball in Montreal? Very chic!