This might be a good time to point out that the largest markets in the US/Canada without an NBA team are:
- Montreal
- Seattle
- San Diego
- St. Louis
- Vancouver
- Pittsburgh
- Cincinnati
- Las Vegas
Given the size of the NBA, many teams near the top of this list would be worthy candidates for expansion, and better locations for a franchise than many current franchises.
(As a note: Tampa was omitted, because of this weird thing where if a league has a team in Tampa [MLB, NHL, NFL], it won't have one in Orlando, and if a league has a team in Orlando [NBA, MLS], it won't have one in Tampa. It'll probably be the Tampa-Orlando metro area in the near future anyways. Also: Baltimore, because it's now the Washington-Baltimore metro area.)
Given that the accounts are over a three year period it's more like being penalized twice for screwing up the same year.