Wellington basketball identity Nick Mills is not sure how he should feel about the Otago Nuggets being accepted back into the National Basketball League.
The Nuggets opted out in December 2008, citing a lack of financial resources.
But after a year on the sidelines the franchise is poised to return.
Mills is in a unique position in that he is the owner of the Wellington Saints and also owns Starpak, the company charged with administering the NBL.
As long as he is wearing his Starpak cap, it is great news the Nuggets are back.
And with Southland also getting into the league, there are two extra teams to help organise.
The league's expansion is good for business but when he switches hats, the Saints head is less than flattering about the Nuggets.
"If you ask me in my capacity as the owner of the Saints, then I think it is a mistake," Mills said.
"But if you ask me as an administrator for the league, then I say welcome back and good luck."
An outspoken critic of the Nuggets, Mills said the franchise had had its opportunity and did not deserve a second chance.
"This isn't just an attack on Otago, but I don't think any team should be able to pull out and get back in whenever they feel like it because it gets too hard.
It is no different to the Highlanders saying we had a bit of a bad year . . . we'll have a year out."
Others teams in the NBL have taken time out from the league and returned.
Taranaki missed three seasons and Hawkes Bay sat out the 1999 season.
But Mills remains steadfast.
"The difference is, and you have to have it as reality, the last time the Nuggets played the Saints [in Wellington] we had 47 people pay to get in and see them. When the Saints go down to Dunedin, we do a hell of a lot better than 47. At the end of the day, we have a product and they don't."
Mills was not convinced it was a good idea for the league to expand from nine to 11 teams for the next three years, either.
"I think it is great for the young talent in the country and great for the top-end players, because suddenly there will be a price war for them. Those are the pluses - but can we sustain 11 teams in a league? That is marginal," he said.
Former Taranaki chief executive Warren Osbourne was supportive of the Nuggets' return but, like Mills, concerned about the viability of an 11-team league.
"Personally, I'm pleased to see the Nuggets back in there," Osbourne said.
"I welcome a 10th team into the league and I think it is healthy that Southland have been included. But I don't know that I actually support an 11-team league. I say that based on the availability of talent throughout the country."
Osbourne suspects the league will be an uneven competition, with the likes of Waikato and Wellington snapping up all the best players while the teams at the bottom struggle to compete and attract players.
