LAS VEGAS — Now that the league's media rights contracts are approved, the National Basketball Association's (NBA) commissioner gave a hint as to when potential expansion talks will commence.
Adam Silver, in speaking to reporters at the NBA's Summer League in Las Vegas, identified this fall as the time when he and the league's executives and owners will consider expansion and whether cities like Seattle could get a new team.
“I think we will engage this fall, in earnest, in the process of making those determinations — should we expand and if we were to expand, how many teams should we expand,” Silver said Tuesday (h/t Associated Press).
It has been 20 years since the NBA expanded last, with the Charlotte Bobcats (now Hornets) becoming the 30th NBA franchise. The Seattle Supersonics relocated to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder in 2008, leaving western Washington without a team.
Seattle-area residents have been teased for years about the league's return, with multiple billionaires with local ties attempting to buy and then move franchises to Seattle or lobbying the league for expansion.
It is no guarantee that even if the league chooses to expand, that it will 100% select Seattle. Silver has said multiple times in recent media briefings that he is interested in expanding the league globally, with Mexico City considered a possible destination. The NBA's G League currently has a team playing south of the border, the Mexico City Capitanes. Las Vegas also has been considered for a new NBA team, where the league has successfully hosted its Summer League for years.
However, many around the league have spoken publicly about wanting to see the NBA back in Seattle. Among the most vocal is brief former Supersonic Kevin Durant, who was drafted by the franchise in 2007. As one of the league's great players and one of its most successful away from the court, Durant has said he would like to be part of a possible ownership group in Seattle.
The Oak View Group, which owns Climate Pledge Arena and the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League, is looked at as the likely governor of a future NBA franchise in Seattle. CEO Tod Leiweke hasn't shied away from indicating his interest in bringing the NBA back to Seattle, and he has prior relationships with the league from his time working as an executive for multiple NBA teams. David Bonderman, another owner of the Kraken, is a minority owner of the Boston Celtics.
Climate Pledge Arena was even built with a locker room built to NBA specifications. Steve Ballmer, a former Microsoft executive and owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, has had his team play a preseason game at the arena in each of the past few years.
Seattle and western Washington is the largest metro area in the U.S. without an NBA franchise outside of San Bernardino and Riverside, which resides just east of Los Angeles where there are two NBA teams.
All of that being said, Seattle fans shouldn't be holding their breath that an announcement could come by Halloween 2024. If the NBA's Board of Governors does decide it would like to expand, it would need to identify markets and lock in prospective ownership groups behind the scenes, a process that could take many months.
And if a team is announced for Seattle, it will take several years to put together the infrastructure of the organization and acquire players through an expansion draft before the team would be able to take the court. Remember that the Kraken's ownership group had its NHL expansion bid approved officially in late 2018, but didn't play its first regular-season game until 2021.
One last thing to note: it is possible the team could return as the Supersonics and not as a brand-new identity. When the franchise was moved from Seattle to Oklahoma City, its owners agreed to leave the Supersonics' name, logo and colors.
Nothing is imminent, but Seattle-area basketball fans can at least take solace that there is a timeline for the league to internally debate expansion.
