6 cities that would be perfect NBA expansion alternatives to Las Vegas and Seattle

NBA Expansion 5) Virginia Beach, Virginia

Despite having the Washington Wizards nearby, Virginia Beach is a viable option for an NBA team. After all, the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News area has more than 1.7 million people and Virginia as a whole has more than 8 million people. As a Virginia native myself, I can safely say that the Wizards won't have to worry about splitting their fan base with few Virginia residents following the team. 

Washington, DC, is also 3 hours away from Virginia Beach and Maryland is far closer without another NBA team there. That means that the Wizards could maintain whatever fan base they have in Virginia, Washington, DC, and Maryland, while Virginia Beach would have their own fan base. Virginia Beach, itself, is the most populated city in Virginia and was previously home to the Virginia Squires of the ABA. 

While they played all around Virginia, they were based near Virginia Beach and featured players such as Rick Barry, Julius Irving, and George Gervin. After the NBA and ABA merged, the Squires ceased to exist, but they could be bought back with their history being incorporated into an expansion team. A very similar precedent has been set with the original Charlotte Hornets moving to New Orleans and leaving behind their team history.

The Charlotte Bobcats then became an expansion team, later adapting the Hornets' nickname and essentially resuming operations as if the original Hornets never left. A Virginia Beach expansion team could do the same, with the 50-year gap between the original and the new team being considered a period of inactivity or a pause. If Seattle and or Las Vegas are somehow ruled out, Virginia Beach makes more sense as an expansion city than most.