NBA expansion in the Pacific Northwest? Sure, says the Oregon-raised head coach of the Nuggets. But he’s just as invested in preservation around those parts.
“Keep Portland in Portland and add Seattle,” David Adelman said Tuesday night, keeping his thoughts on expansion succinct. “Vegas would be cool. Nashville is a nice city.”
The first words out of Adelman’s mouth were indicative of his emotional priority these days, as the future structure of the NBA hangs in the balance. According to a report by ESPN’s Shams Charania, a vote to explore adding expansion teams exclusively in Las Vegas and Seattle will be held at the board of governors meeting next week. The two Western cities have long been rumored to be Adam Silver’s ideal 31st and 32nd markets, but the upcoming vote is the most significant development year related to expansion.
Meanwhile, though, a subplot has been brewing in Adelman’s hometown of Portland, which the Trail Blazers have called home since 1970. Oregonian sports columnist Bill Oram wrote last month that he was afraid that relocation was on the table for the Blazers.
When the Nuggets visited Portland recently, Adelman delivered an impassioned, unprompted statement urging the team and local lawmakers to resolve an arena-renovation dilemma.
“They’ve gotta keep the team here,” he said of Denver’s division foe. “They’ve gotta find a way to do that. This is a basketball city. The Northwest deserves two teams. And that would be crushing for this community (to relocate the Blazers). So I hope they can figure it out. I know there’s a lot to that. I know there’s financial things to it. That’s not my department. But emotionally, I just know what this place is and what it means to have a professional basketball team here.”
An Oregon Senate bill was introduced later in February to ramp up efforts to secure public funding for renovations to Moda Center, which is owned by the city.
Adelman’s father, Rick Adelman, was the head coach of the Blazers from 1989-94, leading them to the NBA Finals twice while Adelman was growing up in Portland.
“It’s not just something to go hang out at,” said the first-year Nuggets coach, who also coached high school basketball in the area in his 20s. “It’s something to go be a part of. So I hope this team maintains what’s going on here. They have a good young team that’s getting better.”
This week’s expansion development was the latest good sign to assuage Adelman’s concerns. The two potential new franchises are being targeted to play their first games in the 2028-29 NBA season, according to ESPN. The NHL has also expanded to Las Vegas and Seattle in the last decade.
If those cities are indeed added to the NBA, one Western Conference team will have to move to the East to balance the conferences at 16 a piece. The New Orleans Pelicans, Memphis Grizzlies and Denver’s rival Minnesota Timberwolves are widely considered to be the three candidates to switch over.