The NBA will vote later this month on whether to explore adding expansion teams in Las Vegas and Seattle, sources tell ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link).
The vote will take place at the Board of Governors meeting March 24-25, and if approved, the two new franchises are expected to begin playing during the 2028/29 season. Charania cites “momentum” for the league’s stakeholders to approve examining expansion, with bids expected to fall in the $7 billion to $10 billion range for each new team.
The upcoming vote is the first step in the expansion process, Charania adds, with a final vote to officially add the new teams potentially taking place later this year. Both rounds will require approval from at least 23 of the 30 governors.
In an appearance this morning on ESPN’s Get Up (Twitter video link), Charania states that there’s a “growing majority of owners” who are in favor of expanding.
Seattle has been viewed as a possible expansion market ever since the SuperSonics were moved to Oklahoma City in 2008. Seattle was part of the NBA for more than four decades and has a large group of loyal fans who still identify with the team.
The city already has a facility in place in Climate Pledge Arena, which was formerly known as Key Arena and serves as home to the NHL’s Kraken. It recently underwent a $1.15 billion renovation and can hold 18,300 fans for basketball.
Las Vegas has never had an NBA team, but it has formed a strong partnership with the league by hosting Summer League games every July, as well as the semifinals and finals of the NBA Cup. T-Mobile Arena is the home of the NHL’s Golden Knights and hosts basketball games as well with a capacity of 18,000 people.
Adding two new teams in the Pacific time zone will likely force a realignment to balance out the conferences. The Timberwolves and Grizzlies are viewed as the most likely teams to move from the West to the East, Charania writes in a full story.
Expansion has been an on-and-off issue for the NBA over the past few years, with commissioner Adam Silver sometimes making encouraging remarks, but also stating that other priorities had to be addressed first. He brought up the topic at his All-Star Weekend press conference, indicating that the league didn’t have a set number of teams in mind and that would be decided after exploring the marketplace.
There was speculation that the NBA’s focus on developing a new professional league in Europe might delay the expansion process, but it now appears to be on the front burner as the Board of Governors prepares to gather. The NBA continues to move forward on the European project, and final bids for prospective teams are due by the end of March, sources tell Charania.
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I’m interested in how the history of the Sonics/Thunder organizations will be sorted. Cutting off at the move date and selling the Sonics history back to Seattle seems easy enough, no NBA championships would be exchanged, however one giant Kevin Durant sized hole would remain. If he could hang on and retire as a Sonic his last year that would be something else.
I could see something similar to what the Hornets and Pelicans worked out.
2 more west teams?
I wonder if that moves the Grizzlies and Pelicans to the East?
only 1 would have to move to make 16 in each conference. id say grizzlies
If you add two to the West you would have to move two to the east to balance it.
15 in each conference. West gains 2, 17-15. You move 1 from West to East to make 16-16.
Let the fight for Vegas began!!!
Somehow Seattle should get their championship back along with their franchise.