NBA Rumors: These Two Cities ‘Locks’ For Expansion Franchises

It’s been a busy last few years for the NBA.

In preparing to enter Adam Silver’s next term as commissioner, the league needs to tie up plenty of loose ends. The NBA and NBPA’s new collective bargaining agreement was recently agreed to, which came just in time for focus to be turned in the direction of a new media rights deal. We also saw the introduction of the In-Season Tournament in 2023, which by all accounts was a rousing success.

That leaves one big task left on the table for Silver once he’s locked into his next contract: expansion.

It looks like that’s already on the way to being taken care of, however, as Zach Harper and Shams Charania of The Athletic reported plans essentially are already laid out.

It was made clear that expansion isn’t happening soon, as the NBA’s media rights negotiations will come first and the earliest possible time seems to be 2025. It was also said, however, that Las Vegas and Seattle are viewed as locks to be awarded the eventual franchises.

Seattle, of course, is the former home of the Seattle SuperSonics, who moved to Oklahoma City and were rebranded as the Thunder in 2008. It’s also the largest media market in the country without an NBA team. The Seattle Kraken recently joined the NHL, which gives the area NFL (Seahawks), MLB (Mariners), NHL (Kraken) and MLS (Sounders) teams.

The Kraken play at Climate Pledge Arena, which is said to be basketball-friendly and would prevent the need to build a stadium.

Las Vegas is just where the NBA seems to want to be. The last three games of the inaugural In-Season Tournament called the Sin City home, as does the NBA Summer League, Team USA events and the G League Showcase. The Oak View Group, which is a prominent venue operator nationwide, already intends to build an NBA-ready arena in Las Vegas even without a guarantee that there will be a team coming.

LeBron James won’t stop talking about how he wants to be the owner, either.

It doesn’t appear to be a matter of if, but when the NBA decides to expand.