Could the Montreal Canadiens be getting an NBA partner at the Bell Centre?

Every Original Six team other than the Montreal Canadiens shares their arena with an NBA franchise. The Toronto Maple Leafs have the Raptors, the Boston Bruins have the Celtics, the New York Rangers have the Knicks, the Chicago Blackhawks have the Bulls, and the Detroit Red Wings have the Pistons. Montreal has never felt like a basketball city, but signs are beginning to point to them being a potential expansion team.

The first NBA preseason game in Montreal happened in 2012, but a lack of interest caused them to stop coming back for 11 years. However, the NBA Canada Series returned to the Bell Centre last season and featured the Oklahoma City Thunder and their two Canadians. Canada Basketball has been in a good place recently, so it would make sense to expand to more teams in the country. They could return to Vancouver first, but we may see a team in the Bell Centre sooner rather than later.

Montreal has had 11 players make the NBA in its history. However, they are in the middle of a good stretch with four currently on active rosters. Lu Dort (Oklahoma City Thunder), Chris Duarte (Chicago Bulls), Bennedict Mathurin (Indiana Pacers), and Olivier-Maxence Prosper (Dallas Mavericks) represent the city in the NBA and represent a basketball boom in Montreal.

The NBA G-League announced that the Laval Rocket will share their arena with one of their teams this season. The Long Island Nets, an affiliate of the Brooklyn Nets, will play six games at Place Bell in Laval, Quebec this season. The team will celebrate the local market by playing under an alternate identity, "Les Nets".

There have been rumors that the Brooklyn Nets are struggling to maintain a fan base with the Knicks taking most of the popularity. There are also rumors that the Philadelphia 76ers can't negotiate an arena deal with the city, and could move to a stadium in New Jersey. Brooklyn could be forced to make a difficult decision if the 76ers also enter the market.

Let me throw a hypothetical question out there when considering those two rumors. Is the G-League workshopping a possible "Les Nets" moniker for their NBA affiliate? The logo is beautiful and could easily be transferred to an NBA franchise. The logo also bears a striking resemblance to the Canadiens logo with its colors. It'd be perfect branding if the NBA team partners with the Habs.