6 cities that would be perfect NBA expansion alternatives to Las Vegas and Seattle
By Cal Durrett
NBA Expansion 4) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The city of Pittsburgh would be an underrated NBA market considering that it is comparable to Philadelphia and has supported both the Steelers and Pirates for years. The NBA making Pittsburgh one of its expansion cities would be ironic given the recent drama surrounding Philadelphia and them flirting with moving to New Jersey, although that won't happen now.
Nevertheless, with 1.7 million people living in Pittsburgh, it's hard to ignore them as a market given their size. Surprisingly, the NBA never had a team in that city, though the ABA did and it had varying levels of success prior to the NBA/ABA merger.
The NBA could even dust off the Condors nickname and bring it back, although it was last used in the 1970s and there are probably few fans around who remember the original team.
An established market in a big city should make it easy for the NBA to attract ownership groups with deep pockets. That should help the league get its $5 billion asking price if it were to consider Pittsburgh.