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Kansas City reportedly ready for possibility of hosting the Raptors, if they eventually could not play in Toronto

Photo: Cole Burston/Getty Images

The Toronto Raptors will try everything in their power to keep the team in Canada for next season despite the coronavirus pandemic.

However, there is a high probability for the Raptors playing away from Scotiabank Arena due to the Canadian government’s COVID-19 restrictions, that forced Toronto Blue Jays and FC Toronto to find new homes to complete their campaigns.

According to Sportsnet, the Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas claims that the city could potentially host the Raptors, in case they are not able to play in Toronto.

“Thus far, I think we’ve received a response that the Raptors are continuing to work with the NBA, with the federal government in Canada and the federal government in the United States to try to first, as a priority, be able to play in Toronto, Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas said.

In a similar situation, the Thunder moved to OKC in 2008, after the New Orleans Hornets moved temporarily to the city, due to Hurricane Katrina back in 2005.

Lucas believes that with the Raptors in the city, Kansas could make the case for an NBA expansion or a possible relocation in the future.

“Of course, not unlike Oklahoma City some years ago, we want to have an opportunity to show a brand presence that (indicates) Kansas City is an impressive international city in its own right. And in the event that there’s ever talk about relocation, then we should be at the top of the list for any other teams. I don’t think that you’d ever see relocation for the Raptors, but, you know, maybe there’ll be others in the future.”

It’s been 35 years since the Kansas City-Omaha Kings moved from there to Sacramento and it would seem as if Kansas City would like professional basketball to return in some form.

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