Dan Gilbert insists that he would never dream of moving the Cavaliers from Cleveland. That may sound like the right thing to say, but I will believe it when I see it. We must consider a few things when we look at teams moving. First, we never know when the team could end up sold. Second, we are not aware of the family dynamics involved. Third, we never know what city will pop up with a good deal. You might not think your favorite team will ever move until the owner receives a deal they cannot refuse.
The Cavs have value
We must remember that the Cleveland Cavaliers have value.
They have immense value. I am confident that someone out there with a billion dollars to spend could buy the team. Now, this person has control of the team, and Dan Gilbert has washed his hands of it. It is not going to get any better than it is now, and I can imagine that it would be easy to find a buyer for the team. This new owner can move the team if they want, and they could buy the team with the agenda of moving it in mind. That is what they would do because they have the control to do so, and they very well could. Maybe we would get basketball back in Kansas City, St. Louis, or Seattle.
The family could be up in arms
Let us say, God forbid, Dan Gilbert dies, and his family gets into a brawl over who gets this team.
They could end up sold due to a court order, because the people who gain control want to sell, or because they are not capable of managing the team. Someone who ends up with the team on their hands could have designed on moving the team to, say, Seattle, and now you have no more basketball in Cleveland.
Cleveland goes in the tank
What if Cleveland takes an economic downturn that directly impacts the Cavaliers. They could decide that they no longer want to be there and could move because they want to find better financial pastures. That is a real possibility, and the team could go to, say, Montreal where the city is hot for basketball.
These are all hypotheticals that may never happen, but I do not want to hear an owner say they are not moving the team. Atlanta had the Thrashers after losing the Flames to Calgary. Atlanta Spirit LLC exclaimed over and over that they had brought hockey back to Atlanta. The Thrashers are now the Winnipeg Jets. You see my point.
I prefer we not make any proclamations about teams never moving because the Seattle Supersonics are in Oklahoma City parading around as the Thunder, whatever that is. We should keep it under our hats.
