Simple answer. The biggest threat? Rain. Well perhaps rain isn’t the exact threat, but in a way its part of what makes the NBA in Vancouver an uphill battle.
See, we can have a great dollar or a great city (in our minds) but the reality was for the Grizzlies, that they had trouble getting players here. How about the Toronto Raptors? To a lesser extent. Toronto is a bit of a “hub” and it’s East Coast and close to major US cities. Us here in Vancouver? We’re a helluva way from cooltown.
What I’m saying is that we can have the population and support here, but if the players don’t want to be here? How on earth could a new franchise deal with that. We have seen from the Grizzlies that the stars and NBA players are a different breed. Is a winning team enough for them to look past the rain and drab weather? Maybe. Maybe not.
The reality is that the NBA really needs to think on it first. As a city we can have everything together, but if the players really don’t want to come here then we are going to have a similar problem. Less talent to choose from, less trading partners, and possibly less options in the draft. The issue is we can’t change the weather here. The team can only try to be a winner and that might make Vancouver more of a favorable destination. However, look at the negatives against becoming a winner. If the talent is hard to get, that makes winning hard to get.
So as much as I want the NBA, I’m not sure how the talent of the NBA (the players) have changed if at all. Perhaps more European players will just be more grateful to be playing in the NBA and won’t worry so much about the cosmetic aspects of our city. Certainly there aren’t enough Canadian players to fill our roster. It’s a tough one. The success of another team here is dependent on us having a fair shot. If most players with no trades so no to Vancouver, we will be sitting here with another losing team. We know how that story ends.