Mock NBA expansion draft: Seattle and Las Vegas rosters headlined by Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis, and others

Mock NBA expansion draft: Seattle and Las Vegas rosters headlined by Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis, and others originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The league is getting closer to expansion. The NBA Board of Governors approved a vote to explore bids for teams in Las Vegas and Seattle, with offers expected to be in the $7 to $10 billion range per ESPN’s Shams Charania.

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Those teams are expected to debut for the 2028-29 season. That’s a long ways away, but it’s not too early to guess what each team’s roster might look like.

Based on how the NBA has run previous expansion teams, the rosters for Las Vegas and Seattle should be full of decent veteran role players along with an overpriced star or two. Here’s what the new teams could look like after a full 15-round mock expansion draft.

MORE: SN’s latest NBA Mock Draft for loaded 2026 class

How does the NBA expansion draft work?

The exact rules for the upcoming expansion draft haven’t been established by the league yet. We can guess what they might look like though based on how the NBA has run these drafts before.

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The league will generally allow every team to protect a certain number of players on their roster. In the past, that number has been eight.

Teams are obviously going to protect guys like Victor Wembanyama, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Luka Doncic. Some good players will fall through the cracks though. Many teams have rotations that go beyond eight deep, such as the Thunder who boast 13 quality rotation players.

Oklahoma City doesn’t have to worry about its roster getting decimated either. In the past, the NBA has made a rule that every team can lose only one player. Expansion teams are also able to sign free agents and will draft players to fill out the rest of their roster.

2028 NBA Mock Expansion Draft

It’s tough to project what rosters will look like two years out. A lot of the league will turn over by then. For the purposes of this exercise, we assumed that any player who was set to be a free agent in 2028 would have already extended with their current team.

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We did a virtual coin flip, giving Seattle the first pick in this 15-round draft. Without further ado, here’s what these teams would look like.

1. Seattle: Anthony Davis, Wizards

The Wizards could easily choose to protect Davis, making him ineligible for this draft. But he’s set to sign a new extension this summer, and he’ll likely be making over $60 million as a 35-year-old on a team with a much younger timeline. He’s probably going to be one of the worst contracts in the league by this point, and Alex Sarr should be ready to take over starting center duties.

Seattle shouldn’t be worried about that too much. Winning at least some games and filling seats is a priority for a new franchise. Davis will get some buzz going, even if he is only a shell of what he was in his prime.

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2. Las Vegas: Joel Embiid, Sixers

Embiid will be in a similar situation as Davis. He’ll be making $67.0 million on the last year of his current contract. He’s been pretty good this season when healthy, but he barely plays right now at the age of 32. By the time he’s 34, his health will have declined even more and Philadelphia may be eager to get off one of the most overpaid players in the league.

Embiid is a big name for Las Vegas that they can put on their marquee. He’ll make them competitive in the 40 games that he manages to suit up for.

NOH: My NBA salary calculator that tells you who is overpaid

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3. Seattle: Kyrie Irving, Mavericks

Davis can pair up with his old Mavericks point guard Irving, who will be 36 and recovered from the ACL injury that caused him to miss the entire 2026 season.

The Mavs will hopefully be looking to compete in deeper playoff runs around Cooper Flagg by this point. Irving may be worth keeping around, but the history of guards who suffer ACL tears at such a late age aren’t great. More likely, they’ll be willing to part with Irving for a younger lead guard.

4. Las Vegas: Jimmy Butler, Warriors

You should be sensing a theme here by now. The types of players that are going to be available to these new expansion teams are going to be past-their-prime future Hall-of-Famers who are coming off big injury concerns.

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Butler will be 38 at this point. Like Irving, he should be fully recovered from an ACL tear that he suffered in January of 2026. And like Irving, he can reunite with a big man that he had a good relationship with. Embiid and Butler had a good run in Philadelphia, which ended on a sour note when the franchise picked Tobias Harris over him. They get a second roll in Las Vegas.

5. Seattle: Zach LaVine, Kings

This is too good of a story to pass up. LaVine is a hometown kid and was the top high school player in the state of Washington. He’s been untradeable for the Kings. He’d get a chance at redemption and he’d still have some juice left in the tank as a 33-year-old monster scorer.

6. Las Vegas: Lu Dort, Thunder

The Thunder have too many good players to protect. One of their rotation pieces is going to get taken in this expansion draft. Dort makes the most sense. He’s a great defender, but his shot has fallen off. Oklahoma City has ways to replace him with Alex Caruso and Cason Wallace in the fold.

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7. Seattle: Jakob Poeltl, Raptors

Poeltl is currently on one of the worst deals in the NBA. He’s not a bad player at all, and he has held the Raptors together with his defense and screening. But he’s massively overpaid, and he’s dealt with back problems that have kept him out of a lot of games. He’d be good insurance for the games that Davis misses.

8. Las Vegas: Jalen Green, Suns

Green has been an extremely talented scorer, but he hasn’t figured out a way to put it all together on the floor yet. He’s had issues with shot selection and defense. That’s not going to be a problem for an expansion team that is just trying to put points on the board.

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9 Seattle: Brandon Clarke, Grizzlies

The Grizzlies have one of the deepest rosters in the league. Clarke is a fantastic offensive rebounder, a good defender, and has some nice touch around the basket. He’s always hurt though, and the Grizzlies could cut bait with him.

10. Las Vegas: Andrew Wiggins, Heat

Wiggins is another solid player who is probably going to be gettable. The Heat have a ton of young prospects who they can’t afford to lose. Wiggins is still going to be a good player by this point in his career at age 33, and he’ll provide some all-around play on the wing.

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11. Seattle: Grant Williams, Hornets

The Hornets are another team that is going to lose a good player due to a surprising amount of depth. They have too many young players they need to protect on their roster. The veteran Williams is going to be out the door, providing defense and shooting to Seattle.

12. Las Vegas: Terrence Shannon Jr., Timberwolves

The Wolves have been reluctant to trade Shannon, who hasn’t played a ton for them but has shown some scoring prowess in his second year. They might lose him for nothing. They’re another good team that has more than eight players they’d like to protect.

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13. Seattle: Jordan Walsh, Celtics

The Celtics should still be within their championship window. Walsh has been a breakout player for them this season, contributing with a high motor, offensive rebounding, defense, and shooting. He’s a very solid young wing. Unfortunately, when you have a championship team like Boston, you’re going to lose a good player to the expansion draft.

14. Las Vegas: Collin Sexton, Bulls

This Vegas team needs a point guard. Sexton has been a journeyman throughout his career despite being a great scorer who hits shots efficiently. He’s one of the worst defenders in the league. That should be less of an issue playing next to guys like Embiid, Dort, and Butler.

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15. Seattle: Mo Gueye, Hawks

Gueye is the best defender that you’ve never heard of. His limited offense has kept him off the floor. He makes stunning defensive plays though with his length, speed, and leaping ability. The big man should get a chance to shine in Seattle.

16. Las Vegas: Kyle Kuzma, Bucks

Kuzma has always had the talent. He’s been a massively negative player though since winning a championship with the Lakers in 2020. He’s been a disappointment for the Bucks, who traded franchise legend Khris Middleton for him. They would probably let him go and be well on their way to a rebuild in two years.

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17. Seattle: Dean Wade, Cavs

Wade is an important piece for the Cavs but one that they can afford to lose. They’re another team with great depth.

Wade is a jack-of-all-trades forward. He’s a better defender than he looks and he can hit 3’s. He’s not the most aggressive scorer, but he can fill a role on this team.

18. Las Vegas: Julian Champagnie, Spurs

Champagnie has turned into a pretty good role player thanks to his ability to knock down volume 3’s on the wing. The Spurs are another deep, young team that is going to lose a good rotation player.

19. Seattle: Jose Alvarado, Knicks

The Knicks have too many small backup guards with Deuce McBride, Tyler Kolek, and Alvarado. They’re going to lose one of them. Alvarado is a good player who gets squeezed out of the roster.

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20. Las Vegas: Goga Bitadze, Magic

Bitadze is a solid backup big man who is a ferocious offensive rebounder.

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21. Seattle: Ochai Agbaji, Nets

Agbaji was a deadeye shooter in college for Kansas, but that hasn’t translated to the NBA. He’s a good defender on the wing and he’s worth a flier to see if he can rediscover that 3-point stroke.

22. Las Vegas: Ben Sheppard, Pacers

Sheppard hasn’t broken out like the Pacers hoped during a down year for them. He’s a good shooter who can provide some floor spacing.

23. Seattle: Javonte Green, Pistons

Green is an energy guard who wreaks havoc defensively and throws down cool dunks.

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24. Las Vegas: Vit Krejci, Blazers

Krejci is a great shooter and a solid passer but has some defensive limitations at guard

25. Seattle: Jordan Poole, Pelicans

Poole can certainly score the ball, but his decision-making is poor and he can’t defend at all. He hasn’t been much of a factor in New Orleans.

26. Las Vegas: Bogdan Bogdanovic, Clippers

Bogdanovic is another long-time veteran who was once a very productive 3-point shooter and scorer. He hasn’t been the same guy in Los Angeles.

27. Seattle: Dorian Finney-Smith, Rockets

Once one of the better 3-and-D wing role players, Finney-Smith looks over the hill now.

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28. Las Vegas: Jalen Pickett, Nuggets

The beefy guard brings playmaking and rebounding off the bench

29. Seattle: Cody Williams, Jazz

Williams looked like the worst player in the league as a rookie. He’s at least looked competent in his second year, but the Jazz have too many better prospects to protect.

30. Las Vegas: Bronny James, Lakers

With dad LeBron off the team by now, the Lakers part ways with Bronny. He gets a chance to carve out his own name as a 3-and-D guard off the bench, with LeBron and Savannah a short drive away to watch him play.

Final rosters for both teams:

Both of these rosters actually don’t look too bad. They are better than the tanking teams this year and look like solid Play-In Tournament contenders.

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The takeaway from this exercise is that it’s not that difficult to build teams who finish in the middle of the NBA. Even with extremely limited resources, you can build a fun team full of role players who are getting squeezed out of loaded rosters, one-way scorers, and All-Stars on their last legs.