Teams with the National Basketball Association (NBA), a professional men's basketball league in North America, have moved between cities some two dozen times. This list contains current franchises in the NBA. It does not include name changes.
FirstFirst year in original cityLastLast year in original cityWin%Winning percentagePANBA Playoffs appearancesCChampionship titles ^City later received a new franchise *Later moved again
Permanent moves
Team Founded Moved Moved to Seasons Win% PA C Main reason Ref Tri-Cities Blackhawks 1949 1951 Milwaukee Hawks* 2 .409 1 0 Small city Milwaukee Hawks^ 1951 1955 St. Louis Hawks* 4 .324 0 0 Fort Wayne Pistons 1948 1957 Detroit Pistons 9 .506 8 0 Small city Rochester Royals 1948 1957 Cincinnati Royals* 9 .576 7 1 Lack of profitability Minneapolis Lakers^ 1948 1960 Los Angeles Lakers 12 .545 11 5 Poor attendance Philadelphia Warriors^ 1946 1962 San Francisco Warriors 16 .506 12 2 Sold to San Francisco owner Chicago Zephyrs^ 1961 1963 Baltimore Bullets* 2 .269 0 0 Syracuse Nationals 1949 1963 Philadelphia 76ers 14 .569 14 1 St. Louis Hawks 1955 1968 Atlanta Hawks 13 .550 12 1 Sold to Atlanta owners New Jersey Americans 1967 1968 New York Nets* 1 0 0 Overbooked play location San Diego Rockets^ 1967 1971 Houston Rockets 4 .363 1 0 Cincinnati Royals 1957 1972 Kansas City–Omaha Kings* 15 .467 7 0 Baltimore Bullets 1963 1973 Capital Bullets 10 .493 7 0 Kansas City–Omaha Kings 1972 1975 Kansas City Kings* 3 .459 1 0 Moved all games to Kansas City New York Nets 1968 1977 New Jersey Nets* 8 1 0 NBA-ABA Merger, poor attendance Buffalo Braves 1970 1978 San Diego Clippers* 8 .395 3 0 New Orleans Jazz^ 1974 1979 Utah Jazz 5 .393 0 0 Lack of profitability San Diego Clippers 1978 1984 Los Angeles Clippers 6 .378 0 0 Kansas City Kings 1975 1985 Sacramento Kings 10 .465 4 0 Low attendance Vancouver Grizzlies 1995 2001 Memphis Grizzlies 6 .220 0 0 Charlotte Hornets^ 1988 2002 New Orleans Hornets 14 .485 7 0 Seattle SuperSonics 1967 2008 Oklahoma City Thunder 41 .524 22 1 New Jersey Nets 1977 2012 Brooklyn Nets 35 - - -
Temporary moves
Team Founded Moved Moved to Returned Main reason Ref New Orleans Hornets 2002 2005 Oklahoma City 2007 Toronto Raptors 1995 2020 Tampa 2021
See also List of defunct NBA teams
Notes
References