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NBA approval of Pistons’ move may be right around the corner

By Duncan Smith

The Little Caesars Arena sits under construction in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., on Thursday, June 22, 2017. To lure more young talent straight out of school, Detroit is giving itself a full-on Silicon Valley makeover. General Motors Co. is spending $1 billion renovating its 60-year-old Tech Center in a northern suburb. Photographer: Anthony Lanzilote/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Little Caesars Arena sits under construction in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., on Thursday, June 22, 2017. To lure more young talent straight out of school, Detroit is giving itself a full-on Silicon Valley makeover. General Motors Co. is spending $1 billion renovating its 60-year-old Tech Center in a northern suburb. Photographer: Anthony Lanzilote/Bloomberg via Getty Images /
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The waiting and drama is nearly at an end. The NBA is expected to approve the Detroit Pistons’ move downtown in the next week.

Just a little longer. The Detroit Pistons are anticipating approval from the NBA’s board of governors by the middle of next week regarding their move from their home of the past three decades at the Palace of Auburn Hills to their new home in Midtown Detroit at Little Caesars Arena.

Per Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press:

"The NBA’s advisory and finance committee sent a memo to the league’s Board of Governors on Thursday recommending a ‘yes’ vote from the league’s other 29 teams.Votes are due by Wednesday and approval is expected, a person with firsthand knowledge of the process told the Free Press. The person requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly until the vote is official."

As Vince goes on to say, a simple majority of 15 votes is required to give final league approval to the Pistons’ move.

This would mark a significant victory as the last hurdled cleared in what has been a litigious process. In June, a lawsuit aimed at the use of public funds without putting it to a vote for the citizens of the city of Detroit threatened to derail the entire process. The NBA would not grant approval to a move embroiled in outstanding legal or financial concerns, so the Pistons organization breathed a sigh of relief when U.S. District Court judge Mark Goldsmith dismissed the lawsuit.

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This will bring to an end the Pistons’ time in Auburn Hills at the Palace, and both their practice facility and Palace Sports and Entertainment headquarters will move to Detroit’s New Center area for the 2018-19 season.

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