6 cities that would be perfect NBA expansion alternatives to Las Vegas and Seattle
By Cal Durrett
NBA Expansion 3) Montreal
After trying and partially failing to establish two Canadian teams, including one in Vancouver, the NBA could try again by adding another team. This time in Montreal. Montreal's metro area population of 4.5 million is actually bigger than Seattle's' and comparable in population to other NBA cities such as Boston and Phoenix. In fact, it ranks as the 20th largest metro area population in all of North America, including Canada, the United States, and Mexico.
With the Toronto Raptors being very popular, the NBA should consider further expanding into Canada. Montreal is far enough away from Toronto for a new expansion there to have their very own fan base—a big one at that.
The NBA may prefer to bring back the Seattle Supersonics given how popular they were during their run and the name recognition. That is in addition to the potential revenue there, with plenty of major companies such as Amazon, Starbucks, and Microsoft headquartered there.
That is all well and good but Montreal would be a great backup option to Seattle, especially with the dramatic influx of Canadian players into the NBA. Expanding their reach could eventually lead to more Canadian talent, as well as another reason for fans north of the border to follow the NBA.