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The New Orleans Pelicans have not been very fortunate to have a good basketball team for some time, and a lot of people are starting to realize it. That could lead to bigger things, such as someone buying the team, or even bigger, buying the team and relocating it. In a recent podcast, Bill Simmons floated out the idea of a possible Pelicans relocation to another city.
“I look at a situation like New Orleans. I don't know what that team is worth in its current state. I don't know what it's worth with that,” Simmon said. “Like playing in the Smoothie King, playing in a market that clearly has not responded to basketball in the same way these other markets. And it's like if somebody bought them and just moved them to Seattle and paid everybody relocation fees and then you didn't have to split your media rights, that seems like where this is headed.
“And I think there’s… I'm just gonna say it: I think there's some buzz starting that way that this New Orleans thing maybe is the situation.”
New Orleans has not been known as a basketball city, and many people are more excited about the Saints than anything. It also doesn't help that the basketball product isn't good, which doesn't make things any better.
Should the Pelicans relocate?
Simmons continued with his relocation talk and also mentioned that the Pelicans' lease with the Smoothie King Center expires in a few years.
“I don't mean to start panic on New Orleans basketball,” Simmons continued. “I'm also not sure there's enough of a fan base in place to even care that much. But that lease at the Smoothie King lease expires, I think, in 2029. This is an experiment that has not worked for 50-plus years in New Orleans with professional basketball.
“If you and I owned a team and they asked us what we thought, and I'm like, ‘Well, we definitely have enough players to go to 32 teams,' that doesn't mean we should. We're making so much money from the media rights. I'm not even sure what you could give me back that would make it worth it.”
In all honesty, all the Pelicans need to do is have a few years of consistent success, and talks like this wouldn't happen. During the offseason, the team made some moves, and they're getting players back from injury, so there is a chance that things could be looking up for them.
