Looks like Marco Belinelli may be a Bay Area sensation once again if Larry Ellison plays his cards right.
Mike Ozanian of Forbes.com suggests that former bidder of the Golden State Warriors franchise and, most notably mega-billionaire CEO of Oracle Larry Ellison has his eyes set on purchasing the New Orleans Hornets. According to Ozanian's unnamed source, this deal might have been in the works when Joe Lacob and Peter Guber was -- in theory -- sold to the Warriors in the summer:
But a source tells me that one reason why Golden State sold for a record NBA price is that the new owners of the Warriors could get from $100 million to $150 million from an owner who wants to bring a second NBA team to the San Francisco area.
We are huge basketball fans here in the bay but how would we make sense of having two professional basketball teams...and worse yet, what if they both sucked?
The Bay Area has two baseball teams and two football teams already. Why not have a second basketball team to fill out the trifecta of duos? Lets run through briefly some pros and cons.
Pros
Chris Paul on a regular basis AND an established superstar, HELLO!?!
Variety...is the spice of life.
San Jose will be a hotbed for night life.
A trade between the Warriors and the Hornets (of San Jose) would mean that the players wouldn't have to relocate their families and their kids could still attend the same schools (this is a big deal!)
La Vics after games!
Cons
The possibility of two non-playoff teams in the bay area. The Hornets are streaky good.
Marco Belinelli, the summer-league Hall of Famer.
Deciding which games to go to
How much more money you will spend out of your pocket on basketball games and merchandise each year
Will the Warriors lose attendance? Will Warrior fandom decrease if the Hornets are amazing?