The NBA’s decision to take a vote later this month on whether to explore adding expansion teams in Las Vegas and Seattle doesn’t necessarily mean expanding to 32 teams is a lock. However, it has been seen as the eventual outcome in league circles for years, according to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Bobby Marks, who note that expansion to Vegas and Seattle, specifically, has been widely viewed as “inevitable” since commissioner Adam Silver said in December that a decision on the issue would be made in 2026.
Within an in-depth look at why expansion is likely and how it would work, Bontemps and Marks point out that the National Basketball Players Association has no vote on the subject of expansion. Still, sources tell ESPN that the players’ union would be “very much in favor” of adding two new teams to the league, since it would result in another 36 roster spots (30 standard and six two-way).
Adding two new teams would likely have an impact on how the NBA Cup functions, ESPN’s duo writes. Sorting 32 teams into eight groups made up of four clubs apiece would be a more logical format for the in-season tournament. The league could simply have the winners of each of those eight groups advance to the NBA Cup’s knockout round or could expand the knockout round to feature 16 teams like the single-elimination stage of the FIFA World Cup, Bontemps and Marks suggest.
Here’s more on possible NBA expansion:
- As part of the deal between Thunder ownership and the city of Seattle when the team relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008, the two sides agreed that the name SuperSonics and all associated branding would be transferred to a new franchise approved to play at a renovated KeyArena at no cost, Bontemps and Marks write. Sources tell ESPN that the Thunder would also allow a new Seattle team to reclaim the SuperSonics’ history and records, which currently apply to the OKC franchise.
- Both ESPN and Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic explore some of the rules related to an expansion draft and the salary cap for expansion teams, noting that the current CBA calls for a new franchise to have a salary cap worth 66.6% of the standard cap in its first season. That figure increases to 80% in year two and to 100% in year three.
- If two expansion teams are approved, NBA revenues will be split among 32 teams instead of 30, which is one reason why current team owners haven’t necessarily been eager to expand in the past. However, with ESPN’s Shams Charania reporting that the expansion fees for new franchises – which are divided up among the league’s existing teams – could exceed $7 billion apiece, each current ownership group figures to be in line for significant one-time payments. Additionally, Joe Vardon of The Athletic observes that the NBA’s European league could create a new revenue stream that helps make up for the the dilution of each club’s current share of the NBA’s revenue. Owners of Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan, and Newcastle United are among the groups expected to submit bids for NBA Europe teams, Vardon adds.