"Evan Turner mentioned Nashville" - JJ Redick apologizes for suggesting $1650000000 valued franchise should move away from their city

NBA expansion teams are hot on the horizon. Some former NBA stars like JJ Redick have guessed at which cities would be good fits for the next NBA teams. Many speculate the NBA will add two more franchises to bring the total to 32. Where will those NBA expansion teams be?

Former NBA players Evan Turner and Andre Iguodala went on Redick’s podcast “The Old Man and the Three”. The host asked them where they would like to see an NBA expansion team and the conversation led him to making an apology.

The former players mentioned many different cities. Turner mentioned Nashville as an option but suggested the Memphis Grizzlies move across the state of Tennessee instead of adding an NBA expansion team. Redick agreed and faced the heat from Grizzlies fans, which led to him apologizing on his podcast.

“Evan Turner mentioned Nashville, that the Memphis Grizzlies should move to Nashville,” Redick said. “I cosigned that and that was a mistake on my part.”

He praised the fans from the city. He asked for forgiveness from the fanbase.

“For all of Memphis and for the Grizzlies fans, let me apologize," Redick added."And I mean this sincerely. The Memphis Grizzlies have a great, great fanbase. They are a great organization."

The former NBA guard never played for the Grizzlies during his long NBA career. He did play in the city many times though, and praised it during his apology.

“Memphis has a soul, a culture. The Grizzlies should never leave Memphis. I should not have cosigned that, I made a mistake. I apologize,”

It remains to be seen if his kind words were enough to appease Grizzlies fans. The Grizzlies were 22nd in average attendance last season but have a spirited fan base that showed out during playoff games. The Grizzlies are valued at $1.65 billion.

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Which cities could have NBA expansion teams? JJ Redick weighs in

NBA commissioner Adam Silver has not been shy about NBA expansion teams. He said at his press conference during 2023 summer league, that the NBA is already looking at adding two teams once the current broadcast deal ends in 2025. He even put his name to some cities.

"We will look at Vegas," Silver said. "There's no doubt there's enormous interest in Seattle. That's not a secret.”

Many believe those two cities will be most likely. Seattle lost the SuperSonics when they moved to Oklahoma City. Las Vegas is a booming sports town with many NBA connections. It hosts the NBA Summer League and the new in-season tournament. It also had the NFL’s Raiders recently moved to the city.

Redick, Turner and Iguodala mentioned a few other cities as well. They all loved the idea of an NBA team returning to Vancouver. The Grizzlies played in Vancouver from 1995-2001 before moving to Memphis.

The former Duke star also threw out Kansas City to a lot of agreement. Other potential cities mentioned were Austin and Columbus, but the guys said those were never going to happen.