Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Is Charlotte In NBA Contraction Crosshairs...???

((HT: FoxCharlotte.com))

Late last week, you remember NBA commissioner David Stern mentioning the possibility of contracting teams to make up for the US$800-million he wants to trim from his losses...???

As a result, the Boston Globe reports three teams- Charlotte, Memphis, and New Orleans Hornets- could be the first three off the books... one of those "anonymous sources" agreed on the three teams mentioned above...

The Bobcats ranked 22nd in attendance last season, the Hornets ranked 23rd, and the Grizzlies 28th.

Charlotte could be oh-for-two if this happens...

Fox Charlotte Steve Lyerly has some immediate feedback...


The idea behind Stern's "$800M number" is, realistically, more like him wanting to cut $500M or so. Trimming two of the three franchises could do that.

According to Forbes Magazine's franchise evaluations from 2009, the Bobcats, the Griz, and the Hornets were 25th, 29th, and 28th in value, respectively.

Charlotte ((US$278M)) had US$15M less in operating revenue than the year before. The Griz ((US$257M)) value dropped 13-percent, and the Hornets ((US$267M)) dropped 6-percent in value.

Short of the Nets before the Prokhorov sale, each had the three highest debt rankings in the league. Stern would be cutting dead weight, and the HQ thinks the Griz Michael Heisley would mind the least.

More when we know more...

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