Mano: NBA Expansion and What It Means for Pittsburgh

This thread will be the first one posted in Those Other Sports since 2014, and for good reason. Most Pittsburgh fans have little interest in basketball, partly because we have no team. However, you may want to start listening because, as unlikely as it is, Pittsburgh may be getting linked to NBA expansion soon.
One of the most talked-about topics off the court has been getting an NBA team back in Seattle. The SuperSonics were a championship-winning organization that called Seattle home for 40 years before a new ownership group came in and had tunnel vision on relocating to Oklahoma City. Most NBA fans and executives are still a little bitter on how the whole process went down and since then there's been countless cries on getting the NBA back to Seattle. There's been attempts in the past, such as Seattle being a vote away from moving the Sacramento Kings up north, but the NBA does not want another team relocating and leaving their home city, partly because of what happened in Seattle.
One of the things holding expansion back was talks over a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, which almost shut down the league this month. The deal eventually got done and, according to SB Nation's Kevin Nesgoda, expansion is now on the table. Nesgoda said it was one of the topics discussed when setting up the new CBA deal, as there'd be deals in place to increase revenue if expansion happened. He does have credibility when it comes to news-breaking, as he was the first to report on Russell Westbrook's contract extension this year, beating out NBA insiders such as Adrian Wojnarowski. Per Nesgoda, "I've heard that once the CBA is finished, the expansion bidding could be announced as soon as December or as late as the All-Star Game in February."
This is where Pittsburgh comes into play. Nesgoda said although he doesn't know whether they'll be one or two new teams, there is going to be competition with Seattle for a new team from cities with interest in making a play. Those cities include Louisville, Omaha, Las Vegas, Vancouver, Mexico City, and yes, Pittsburgh. He also said that Kansas City and St. Louis are two other possibilities, although he's unsure how serious they are.
Those three sentences are very key, especially when it talks about who's interested in making a play and who's not. While Louisville would probably be the first city since they have everything ready to go, the way they're talking about Pittsburgh makes it sound as if it's more than just being a big non-NBA city with a relatively new arena and that they may have a group in place who's shown interest. I have no idea who that group would be since Pittsburgh's never gotten serious consideration in the past and no past groups have arisen. And for what it's worth, Pittsburgh was the second city mentioned, only behind Louisville.
Here's the full article posted by Nesgoda: http://www.sonicsrising.com/2016/10/...ansion-seattle
Now, the chances of a team coming to Pittsburgh are slim to none. However, the fact Pittsburgh is being mentioned in something like this is interesting, as I can't recall the last time that even happened. If a group comes together and says they want to do it, they'd at least have a chance. PPG Paints Arena is one of the best in the whole country and the Pittsburgh market has done an excellent job at supporting three teams, including one winter sport team.
However, I think it's safe to say Pittsburgh will always be a hockey town, and an NBA team won't change that. But I still think there's a market for it here. I also think that if a team were to come here and be successful, this city would rally behind them 100%. Besides, it's another sport we can become #1 in.