At a recent press conference, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was questioned over the possibility of a league expansion to 32 teams. This led to Silver's most revealing answer on the matter in the last few years, candidly saying that the NBA still isn't ready to accommodate two new teams immediately despite the possibility of an expansion receiving strong interest.
"There was not a lot of discussion in this meeting about expansion, but only largely because -- not for lack of interest -- it's because we had said to [potential franchise suitors] that we're not quite ready. It was something that we told our board we plan to address this season. We're not quite ready yet. There's interest in the process, and I think that we're not there yet with having made specific decisions about markets or even frankly, to expand."
Silver specifically spoke about the league having already existing relationships that need to be reworked after an expansion, naming Seattle as a specific example of a city showing strong interest in an NBA expansion.
"I think over time organizations should grow as appropriate. But it gets complicated in terms of selling equity in the league and what that means for the existing television relationships, et cetera. What we've told interested parties is: 'Thank you for your interest, we'll get back to you.' That's certainly the case in Seattle."
"We're always paying attention to what's happening. In other arenas throughout the United States, when we do play games there, we look very closely at the support we get in those markets. I know we're going to get tremendous support in that preseason game [in Seattle] again."
The NBA just inked a new 11-year media rights deal earlier this offseason, which will start with the 2025-26 season. Given the nascent stages of this media deal, the league wouldn't want to immediately try and add two new teams and offer more NBA games to their partners than previously agreed upon.
Two new teams in opposing Conferences would add over 150 games to the already packed NBA schedule, for which the league will either have to renegotiate their brand new media deals or accommodate two new teams within the existing one. In addition, the league still has a long process to go to vet the market capability of whichever city wants to welcome an NBA team into their mix.
Seattle looks to be the most interested party in an NBA expansion, with the city losing its own NBA team in 2008 when the Seattle SuperSonics moved to the Oklahoma City Thunder. NBA players like Kevin Durant have already shown an interest in becoming a team owner of a new Seattle-based franchise .
Another city widely expected to host an NBA team soon is Las Vegas, which has been the home of the NBA's Summer League for over a decade. They also host the NBA Cup Final Four and currently house two-time NBA Champions, the Las Vegas Aces. LeBron James is widely expected to make a push for ownership of this franchise , potentially backed by the Fenway Sports Group who own the Boston Red Sox in the MLB.
Related: Adam Silver Confirms Three New Cities For Potential NBA Expansion Team
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