Throughout this process of shopping for new sports teams like I’m on an episode of Love It or List It, I haven’t been particularly dead-set on finding a forever home. But I am looking for something that makes sense for long-term ownership.

When it comes to the NBA, however, it feels more like I’m scouring the market for a rental.

I haven’t had a genuine favorite NBA team since 2008, when my Supersonics left Seattle to become the Oklahoma City Thunder. That launched a fandom dry spell similar to when the NFL’s Browns left Cleveland in 1995 — but there was only a four-year gap before the “new Browns” returned as an expansion team in 1999. With the Sonics, it’s been 15 years gone and counting.

Not having a favorite team hasn’t hindered my NBA fan experience too much, though, because the NBA is the most individualistic of the major sports leagues. (Yet ironically, basketball is the most beautiful sport when it’s played by a selfless team clicking as one unit.) These days, 5-on-5 hoops has been narrowed down to 1-on-1 in a lot of ways. Just watch and listen to fans and media: When we brawl over baseball, it’s Yankees vs. Red Sox; when football fanatics fight, it’s Cowboys vs. Niners; hockey throwdowns … well, that’s just a random Tuesday, but it’s usually more about defending the logo on the front of the sweater than the name on the back. NBA fans are different. I haven’t seen any knock-down-drag-outs over Celtics vs. Sixers or Lakers vs. Warriors, but I have seen death threats made over Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James; I’ve seen fists thrown in defense of Kobe Bryant’s legacy; I’ve heard mothers insulted during Stephen Curry vs. Kevin Durant debates.

During this 15-year Sonics-less stretch, I’ve been fine with my player-centric NBA rooting interests: Tracy McGrady, Jason Kidd, Allen Iverson, Shaquille O’Neal, LeBron James, Eric Gordon, Zach Randolph, Shawn Marion, Kemba Walker, Tyreke Evans, James Harden, Tim Duncan, Trae Young … rooting for my favorite players’ teams to do well is enough for me to stay invested in the league.

But I do miss having that one team to root for no matter who’s on the roster. Then again, if I picked a new favorite NBA team right now, how long would it even last?

It’s widely believed that the NBA will finally grant Seattle an expansion franchise sometime in the next half decade. That would mark the resurrection of the Sonics, with the same name and colors and everything coming back to the 206 — and I’m not seeing a scenario in which I don’t pick up where I left off as a Sonics fan.

Which means the winner of this new-team sweepstakes could be only a two- or three-year rental. I suppose that’s better than nothing. And who really knows if or when the NBA will actually deliver the Sonics to their rightful place? Seattle has been biting on pump-fakes for more than a decade and still doesn’t have a team.

So I went ahead and trusted my process to find a new (possibly short-term) favorite NBA team. First, a look at teams that didn’t make the cut:

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The Mortal Enemies: Oklahoma City Thunder, Portland Trail Blazers

Ask a displaced Sonics fan about rooting for the Blazers, and they might throw that Russell Westbrook look at you. Ask a displaced Sonics fan about rooting for the Thunder, and they might mimic Russ by throwing a brick at you. Almost half of the NBA’s 30 teams have relocated at some point in their history, but there is not one deserted fan base that hates its old team like Seattle fans hate the Thunder. (Seriously, do people in Minnesota actually hate the Lakers?) The Blazers aren’t exactly quite as despised in Seattle, but they were the Sonics’ closest rival back in the day, so adopting them would feel strange too.

And For No Real Reason, I’m Out: Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, L.A. Clippers, Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves, Toronto Raptors

They didn’t do anything wrong; they’re just not for me. But I wish them all the best. Of course, Mark Cuban’s Mavs had to headline this group.

I Used to Love T.H.E.M.: Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat

Each one of these teams I either used to cover as a beat writer, or they used to have one of my favorite players, or they used to be a go-to NBA League Pass watch when part of my job was to watch NBA games every night. I used to know all there was to know about them, but that interest faded over time.

Changes Clothes (feat. Pharrell): New Orleans Pelicans, Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards

If I’m going to be buying a lot of hats, t-shirts, shorts, and jerseys for one team, I need to like what I’m buying. The Wizards’ regular uniforms are the worst in the league IMO, and these alternates might be the worst of all time. The Jazz can’t decide if they want to be too basic or do too much. (FWIW, I do own one ’90s-logo Utah hat.) The Pelicans’ look doesn’t do it for me, either.

At Least They Look Good: Charlotte Hornets, Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns

On the flip side, I would consider the Hornets, Magic, or Suns just for the gear alone. And I got a kick out of that Suns court design where the midcourt logo reads the same way from either side. But there has to be more substance than sizzle when picking your favorite team, right?

Too Much Good Stuff: Golden State Warriors

For the same reasons that I wouldn’t pick the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL, just up and becoming a Warriors fan right now feels unashamedly bandwagon. Even if you believe Golden State’s four-ring dynasty is on its last legs, the team and its top star, Stephen Curry, are just too good and too popular.

Hating From Outside the Club, When You Can’t Even Get In: Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, San Antonio Spurs

Pro basketball bluebloods. Some fan bases are too difficult to infiltrate and not exactly welcoming to newbies trying to assimilate. If you didn’t latch onto the Celtics before or during the Larry Bird era, your only entry point is to be born into it. If you had the chance but weren’t rocking with the Bulls in the ’90s, how can you do it now? If you missed a dynasty window, and you don’t already have one of these teams in your DNA, it’s probably not for you.

The Joe Tsai Problem: Brooklyn Nets

Sports fans — and many sports media members — typically try to keep heavy real-life issues separate from what happens on the field of play. We want sports to be a respite from the depressing part of the news program. But some issues are impossible to ignore, and that’s when the divide can’t be maintained.

I almost put the Nets on my list of finalists, because I like so many things about the team. For the majority of the years that I lived in New York, I called Brooklyn home. I like the Nets’ colors and the simplistically clean uniforms (even most of the alternates), and I love that the Nets regularly pay homage to the Notorious B.I.G.

But the red flags surrounding Nets team owner Joe Tsai are too big and bright. Tsai made a lot of headlines in the last year stemming from the Kyrie Irving situation, publicly taking a strong stance against Irving’s perceived support of antisemitic rhetoric. What rarely made headlines was Tsai neglecting to take a strong stance (or any stance) against the anti-Muslim genocide and human rights violations to which his company contributes. The Nets owner is a co-founder and executive of Alibaba, which has provided technology that the Chinese government has used to commit atrocities against the country’s Uyghur Muslim population.

The association between American sports figures and China remains complicated and controversial. Some people can’t bring themselves to support athletes who work with apparel companies that produce their goods in China. Some won’t watch sporting events that are held in China. Everyone draws their line somewhere.

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The Finalists:

Atlanta Hawks — As a short kid who grew up to be a 5-foot-8 adult, of course I loved Spud Webb and thus had some interest in the Hawks early on. Dominique Wilkins was cool, too. That era was followed by a long stretch of forgettable Hawks teams that played in front of Atlanta crowds that always seemed to have better things to do.

But the arrival of Trae Young in 2018 put the Hawks back on my radar, from what’s in my closet to what’s in my NBA League Pass watch history. Atlanta is a borderline contender in the East, and should be as long as Trae’s playing at a high level. Other former Hawks favorites include Joe Johnson, Dikembe Mutombo, and Shareef Abdur-Rahim, one of the elite Muslim players in league history.

Cleveland Cavaliers — The Cavs were generally a boring and underachieving franchise pre-LeBron, with some ugly uniforms to boot. I rooted for them when they had ex-Sonic Shawn Kemp for a brief stint, and I became a big fan of Brad Daugherty after his playing career when he became a NASCAR boss.

When LeBron came to Cleveland, the Cavs got cool. Their home-game atmosphere has remained top-notch even without LeBron, even when they’re not yet a serious title contender. As a longtime (now former) Cleveland Browns fan, I always felt a kinship with the Cavs, who were right there in the muck with the Browns trying to break Cleveland curses and snap the city’s championship drought. When the Cavs won it all in 2016, that was probably my favorite championship-winning moment as an NBA fan.

Houston Rockets — If you’re looking to get in on the ground floor with a team that has a promising future and fun pieces, Houston is that team. Arguably the worst squad in the league over the last three seasons, the Rockets have built a solid young foundation that I’ve watched grow into something with real potential to be good. For the veteran finishing touches, this offseason they brought in All-Star point guard Fred VanVleet and defensive disruptor Dillon Brooks, plus a new head coach in Ime Udoka, whose last time on the sideline was when he coached the Celtics in the 2022 NBA Finals.

There’s history, too: Tracy McGrady is my favorite player of all time, and my favorite version of T-Mac was the Houston version. James Harden is one of my five or 10 favorite players of all time, and my favorite version of Harden was the Houston version. Hakeem Olajuwon, the second-greatest Muslim NBA player ever, is the GOAT of the Houston franchise.

Los Angeles Lakers — The Lakers could’ve made the Mortal Enemies section or the Hating Outside the Club section. “Beat L.A.!” was a theme among Seattle crowds and every other Western Conference fan base during several Lakers heydays. They’re the biggest brand in basketball, if not all American sports. Laker Nation can be very insular, which I learned firsthand when I covered the team as a beat writer; a lot of the fans can’t even bring themselves to accept certain Lakers players out of loyalty to other “true” Lakers alumni.

But it’s hard to dislike the Lakers when they keep getting players that I like: Magic Johnson, Shaq, Gary Payton, Metta World Peace (a.k.a. Ron Artest), LeBron, Rajon Rondo, Dwight Howard, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (the greatest Muslim NBA player ever, whose Giant Steps autobiography helped set me on the path to Islam as a kid). When I first saw Kobe Bryant play in person, against the Sonics at the old KeyArena, I thought he was the best player I’d ever seen in person up to that point. The Lakers are the defining West Coast franchise, and I’m a proponent of most things West Coast.

Sacramento Kings — I promise you, I was on the Kings bandwagon before they bounced back to relevancy last season. I put my money where my mouth was and predicted Sacramento would snap its 16-year playoff drought in 2023, and they did just that.

I like the colors, the uniforms, and the name. I like that they’re West Coast but have roots in Kansas City, a town that tops my list of future travel destinations. On the current squad I like De’Aaron Fox and Keegan Murray, whose twin brother also plays in the NBA. (#TwinDad over here.) Before the Kings got good again, I rooted for them when they had Tyreke Evans and Zach Randolph. In the thick of their playoff drought, when I was living in New York, I remember watching a lot of late-night Sacramento games and it struck me that even when the team was terrible and the players seemed to hate each other, the fans always showed up and showed out in support. That was cool.

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Like many NBA fans navigating the individual-over-team landscape, I have to ask myself whether I really like the Hawks, or is it just Trae Young. If Atlanta traded Trae (which was looking real possible a few months ago), would I still care about them? I’m not entirely sure.

After recently dumping the Cleveland Browns, would embracing the Cleveland Cavaliers be like dating your ex’s cousin? Or like quitting your job, then getting a new job with a different company in the same building?

As much as I like Houston’s young core, I don’t like how they came upon it: by tanking. The way some fans detest so-called “super-teams,” that’s how I feel about tanking. Losing on purpose with the idea of winning later is much worse in my opinion than trying to stack the deck and win now. It doesn’t sit right with me.

Speaking of not sitting right, calling myself a Lakers fan … that’s a tough one. I don’t think I can do it.

And here’s the problem with the Kings: I can’t watch their games. When I try to watch the Kings on League Pass in Las Vegas, it tells me the game is blacked out because there’s a TV network in my local market that carries Kings games. Except … there isn’t. I’ve looked and looked and I cannot find it. And so I can only watch the Kings when they are on national TV, or when they play the Lakers or Clippers, whose games are actually broadcast on a TV network in my local market. The Kings should be on national TV more often now since they’re good, but do you really want to adopt a team as your favorite when you can’t watch most of their games?

Given the pros and cons, I keep leaning toward the Rockets. (If they had managed to bring Harden back this summer as had been widely rumored, this would be a lock.) While I’m not a fan of tanking, I can start fresh with a clean slate with this franchise, as we know they were done tanking as soon as they hired Udoka and signed VanVleet. That young core isn’t just loaded with talent and potential, it’s also littered with West Coast and Seattle guys like Jalen Green, Kevin Porter Jr., Tari Eason, and Amen Thompson (who is also a twin). Houston is ready to launch.

My team: Houston Rockets

(And if it doesn’t work out, there’s always my beloved Harlem Globetrotters. They’ll never tank and never relocate.)