DANNY ONEIL

Inevitable? Yes, the NBA is inevitably disappointing for Seattle

Jul 26, 2017, 3:06 PM | Updated: 3:08 pm

Recent comments from NBA commissioner Adam Silver made it clear why Seattle can't wait on the leagu...

Recent comments from NBA commissioner Adam Silver made it clear why Seattle can't wait on the league to expand before proceeding on an arena. (AP)

(AP)

Never has inevitable felt so far away.

But this is the NBA we’re talking about, so what did you expect?

And anyone who was trying to spin Tuesday’s news as a positive sign when it comes to the NBA returning to Seattle is either painfully optimistic are unbelievably naive.

Because while it might sound good to hear that NBA commissioner Adam Silver told Blazers player C.J. McCollum that expansion was inevitable and cited Seattle specifically as being on the short list for consideration, well, what he said before that was far more telling:

Coming off of these Finals, you have some fans saying, ‘There’s only one good team in the league.’ And I’m thinking, ‘Well, if people really believe that even though we have 450 of the best players in the world, and 450 players can only form one really good team, probably doesn’t make sense to expand in terms of dilution of talent.’
– Adam Silver

It echoes what Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said in an email to me last year: “The economics don’t favor adding another franchise.” And let’s remember that Cuban was one of two owners to vote against the Sonics’ relocation, with Paul Allen being the other.

The NBA just finished the first year of a nine-year national TV contract that will pay a total of $24 billion, so we’re eight years away from the door even being cracked for a new team to enter.

In other words, Seattle can’t wait on the NBA before arranging for a new arena, which is actually one of the more attractive elements of the Oak View Group’s proposed project at Seattle Center. That project can begin without a formal acquisition of a team to serve as an anchor tenant. Not only that, but all indications are that the NHL would be more likely to land in Seattle before an NBA team.

While Chris Hansen’s proposed SoDo arena is no longer beholden to acquiring an NBA team specifically first, the descriptions of the request to buy a chunk of Occidental Avenue from the city outline that the street would not be vacated until an NBA or NHL team is acquired.

If someone builds it, the NBA very well may come. Eventually.

Or as Silver would say, inevitably.

Danny and Gallant Show

Wyman & Bob

Danny ONeil

Seahawks Quandre Diggs...

Danny O'Neil

O’Neil: Seahawks have uncertainty with a player ‘holding in,’ but it’s not Quandre Diggs

While Quandre Diggs appears to be the third Seahawks player to "hold-in" during training camp, Danny O'Neil writes that it's Duane Brown whose future is up in the air.

3 years ago

Follow @dannyoneil...

Danny O'Neil

AZ Good AZ it Gets

SPONSORED – Phoenix was the place where the rest of the country found out that Seattle fans took their enthusiasm on the road with them. That was 2013. It’s also the place where I discovered how restorative a desert vacation can be. That was 2015. Let’s start with the screaming. That’s what caught everyone’s attention […]

3 years ago

Mariners Jarred Kelenic...

Danny O'Neil

O’Neil: Mariners aren’t handing the spotlight over to Seahawks just yet

This is the time of year that Seattle tends to shift its focus to the gridiron, but the Mariners are still commanding attention.

3 years ago

Seahawks Duane Brown...

Danny O'Neil

O’Neil: When Seahawks decide not to extend players, they’re rarely wrong

If you think the Seahawks must sign Duane Brown to an extension, when's the last time they opted against re-signing someone and it came back to bite them?

3 years ago

Follow @dannyoneil...

Danny O'Neil

Oh, LA, LA!

Week 15, Dec. 19: Seattle at Los Angeles Rams, SoFi Stadium, 1:25 p.m. Pacific SPONSORED – Maybe it was fitting that the opening act for the first pro-football game I covered in Los Angeles was a rock band I loved as a teenager. There’s no place that makes me think of growing up more than […]

3 years ago

Follow @dannyoneil...

Danny O'Neil

Star in a Lone Star Adventure

Week 14, Dec. 12: Seattle at Houston Texans, NRG Stadium, 10 a.m. Pacific SPONSORED – Enchiladas and greatness. That’s what I think of in Texas. The enchiladas are pretty straightforward. They’re so delicious at El Tiempo Cantina that it’s hard to take a bite without closing my eyes. There are three locations though the one […]

3 years ago

Inevitable? Yes, the NBA is inevitably disappointing for Seattle