With all of the hullabaloo going on with the Sacramento Kings and the city of Sacramento, Vancouver is itching to possibly get into the action of becoming an NBA city once more.
But in a pair of interviews this week Vancouver Canucks and Rogers Arena owner Francesco Aquilini said he is not 'actively' trying to bring the NBA back to British Columbia.
Aquilini told spoke with ESPN Seattle and The Province on Monday noting that as much as he'd like to, it just might not make sense to try and bring the NBA back at a time like this:
"I can tell you we don't have any plans to bring an NBA team to Vancouver," "I think if there was enough support, enough of a fan base, definitely the arena is ready to go," Aquilini said. "There was a basketball team here before, the building is really plug-and-play. We could start tomorrow if we wanted to. But the question is always about market size. That really is the issue. The (Grizzlies) did leave Vancouver for a reason, because there just wasn't enough market support. If there was, they wouldn't have left in the first place. We're continually doing work on that, to assess whether there is enough of a market for an NBA team in Vancouver."
ESPN's Ric Bucher told the Kevin Calbro Show ealrier this week that Vancouver is the 'most viable' landing spot for he Kings next season, though it remains to be purely speculation"
"I can't say that I have this from the Maloofs or I have it from a direct source, directly involved in this," Bucher told the radio show. "I am giving you what has been the buzz from various people who keep track of where the ownership pieces are going, and have had people that have been involved in putting groups together trying to purchase franchises. They have made it a point of staying on top of where these teams might be going (and) what the most viable markets might be."
Whatever happens with the Kings moving forward, it will be solely on the Maloof's to make it happen. They really want to get into the Southern California market, but they'll have to go where to money flows and where they have a place to play, which could very well be the Northwest.
