Should the NBA expand and what teams should be added?

The NBA originally started with 11 teams but throughout the decades it has boosted all the way up to 30 teams.

There has been much debate about whether the NBA should expand even further to 32 or 36 teams. The NBA should expand its league by adding two more franchises.

Many people would argue that the NBA should expand by adding two to six more franchises. There is plenty of room to debate this topic. The first issue is the share of talent teams would have. Every year there are always two to six teams that astronomically underachieve compared to others. Teams such as the New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers and the Phoenix Suns are among the most underachieving teams, especially compared to the likes of the Los Angeles Lakers and the Milwaukee Bucks. Adding up to six more teams would result in more underachieving teams. This is due to lower quality players having to fill up vacancies in these new teams.

The biggest reason for adding up to six teams would be the fact that it would generate a great amount of fan interest. There are numerous cities that don’t have many major sporting franchises where a new NBA team could be placed. They would increase the amount of money the NBA would earn each year. Expanding the league by adding more franchises would lead to an increase in revenue.

There are numerous debates about what teams should be added if the league expanded. Personally, I would add teams from cities that are quite populated but don’t have many sporting teams. The first team I would add to the league would be San Diego. San Diego is located on the Pacific Coast of the USA in California. San Diego has a population of 1.42 million people. The only sporting team that belongs to the city is the San Diego Padres, who are a Major League Baseball team. The Padres have not had much success in past years. The city could use another major sporting team. Due to the city being densely populated along with only having one other major sporting team, this is why I would expand the league by adding a franchise based in San Diego.

(AAP Image/Joe Castro)

There have been thousands upon thousands of articles on the topic of adding the Seattle Supersonics back to the NBA. The Seattle Supersonics were a team based in Seattle competing from 1967 up to 2008, then relocating and becoming the Oklahoma City Thunder. There were numerous reasons why they relocated but the first was competing for fan interest among other major sporting teams in the area. These teams including the Seattle Seahawks from the NFL, Seattle Mariners from the MLB along with the Seattle Sounders from the MLS. Therefore, these reasons – not being able to generate fan interest but also being the home to three more major sporting teams – is why I would not add an expansion team to Seattle.

The second team I would add to the NBA would be Vancouver. Vancouver was previously a team from 1995 to 2001, playing as the Vancouver Grizzlies. After the team had very little success they then relocated to Memphis. Vancouver is home to one other major sporting franchise like San Diego. This is the Vancouver Canucks, who are part of the NHL. Vancouver would be the second Canadian team in the NBA after the Toronto Raptors. The city of Vancouver has a total population of 2.4 million people meaning there would be plenty of fan interest.

Another city I would not add to the NBA would be Las Vegas. After the Las Vegas Golden Knights were added into the NHL in 2017 there has been great speculation on whether the NBA should do the same. This is due to the great success the franchise is having both on and off the court. Las Vegas is also a very popular city, hosting great nightlife along with being a good place to travel. Las Vegas is home to around 2.6 million people. The reasons why Las Vegas should not be a team added to the NBA is due to the fact it doesn’t have a stable population. Many people are coming and going on holidays or nightlife, as well as the fact that there would be great competition in the Western Conference.

Overall, the NBA should further expand its number of franchises. Although the quality of players would go down dramatically, it would generate a vast amount of revenue for the NBA, as well as influencing more basketball fans. Out of all the possible expansion teams, Vancouver and San Diego should be among the top picks compared to cities like Las Vegas and Seattle.