Probably not.


Not one city with a basketball team has said a word about looking into NBA business practices, or has threatened to rework arena leases. These are cities that have put up money to build modernday edifices that provide NBA owners with opportunities to make tens of millions of dollars from revenues generated from luxury suites, club seats, restaurants, and team stores. Oklahoma City, Kansas City, Louisville, and Las Vegas city officials all want their own NBA teams despite all of the documented problems with the league. New Orleans owner George Shinn just sold 25% of his franchise to Louisiana investors, and a Michigan-based group is looking to buy the Portland Trail Blazers.

http://www.nysun.com/article/59194

I love Portland, but it's not a big basketball town, and I can live with them moving elsewhere. More people play hackey sack in Portland than basketball. There are other towns that would probably love to have an NBA team.

Okay, anybody with enough cash to buy the Blazers from Paul Allen should be buying the Pistons from Davidson, instead.

The GR thing won't happen because the only people in GR that can afford a team already own the Orlando Magic.

So who might this be?

I can't think of any Michigan-based companies that are doing well enough to justify this right now. I suppose it could be an individual.

Nevermind, got it.










http://cache.idolator.com/assets/resources/2007/01/Ted%20Nugent.JPG

Does the madman even attend Piston games?

What about Kid Rock?

As of 2005 (the most recent reports I could find) the Blazers were worth about $230-270m. With Oden there, it's probably well over $300m.

I don't think Kid Rock (nor the Nuge) has that kind of lettuce.

What are the Pistons worth?

Remember, this is right after we won the title.


NBA Franchise Values
1. New York Knicks ~ $543,000,000
2. Los Angeles Lakers ~ $529,000,000
3. Houston Rockets ~ $422,000,000
4. Chicago Bulls ~ $409,000,000
5. Dallas Mavericks ~ $403,000,000
6. Detroit Pistons ~ $402,000,000
7. Phoenix Suns ~ $395,000,000
8. Miami Heat ~ $362,000,000
9. Cleveland Cavaliers ~ $356,000,000
10. Boston Celtics ~ $353,000,000
11. Philadelphia 76ers ~ $351,000,000
12. San Antonio Spurs ~ $350,000,000
13. Sacramento Kings ~ $345,000,000
14. Indiana Pacers ~ $324,000,000
15. Washington Wizards ~ $318,000,000
16. Minnesota Timberwolves ~ $303,000,000
17. Charlotte Bobcats ~ $300,000,000
18. Memphis Grizzlies ~ $294,000,000
19. Denver Nuggets ~ $283,000,000
20. Toronto Raptors ~ $278,000,000
21. Utah Jazz ~ $274,000,000
22. New Jersey Nets ~ $271,000,000
23. Atlanta Hawks ~ $262,000,000
24. Los Angeles Clippers ~ $248,000,000
25. Orlando Magic ~ $247,000,000
26. Golden State Warriors ~ $243,000,000
27. Seattle SuperSonics ~ $234,000,000
28. Milwaukee Bucks ~ $231,000,000
29. Portland Trail Blazers ~ $227,000,000
30. New Orleans Hornets ~ $225,000,000

As ranked by Forbes.com 2005

http://members.forbes.com/forbes/2007/0212/084.html
As of February 2007 (as estimated by Forbes)
$429 million.

http://images.forbes.com/media/magazines/forbes/2007/0212/Forbes_0212_p85_noslamdunk.gif

Thanks Fool.

How the hell has the value of the Knicks gone up $50m in 2 years with how shitty they are and with all of the liabilities they have?

Seriously, they're going to have to start selling bonds to cover their debt.

Richest people in Michigan (according to Forbes):

Name Net Worth ($bil) Age Residence Source

William Morse Davidson 4.0 83 Bloomfield Hills, MI glass
Richard M DeVos 3.5 80 Ada, MI Alticor
Roger S Penske 2.2 69 Birmingham, MI Car company
Ronda E Stryker 2.0 52 Kalamazoo, MI Stryker Corp.
Jon Lloyd Stryker 1.7 48 Kalamazoo, MI Stryker Corp.
Michael Ilitch 1.5 77 Detroit, MI pizza
A Alfred Taubman 1.4 82 Bloomfield Hills, MI real estate
William J Pulte 1.2 74 Bloomfield Hills, MI home building
Daniel Gilbert 1.1 44 Livonia, MI Quicken Loans
John W Brown 1.0 72 Kalamazoo, MI Stryker Corp.


Clearly some would not be canidates for your senario.

I'm assuming they don't have Rich DeVos on that list either because he lives in FLA most of the year or because Amway is a private company.

If they had DeVos on that list, 3 of those people would own NBA teams (Davidson, DeVos & Gilbert).

Thanks Fool.

How the hell has the value of the Knicks gone up $50m in 2 years with how shitty they are and with all of the liabilities they have?
Honestly, a lot of that is probably just their team salary going down (so debt loss). It was over $120 million last season, now its under $90 million. Factor in the lack of luxury tax on that $30 million and going up in value $50 million seems conservative.

I'm assuming they don't have Rich DeVos on that list either because he lives in FLA most of the year or because Amway is a private company.

If they had DeVos on that list, 3 of those people would own NBA teams (Davidson, DeVos & Gilbert).

Somehow he got cut off my list while copying and pasting. he was on there. I'll go out and find him and put him back in.

Maybe Michigan rich people should buy the entire NBA.
Moohaha!