NBA expansion could be getting closer.
In a significant first step, the NBA will hold a vote next week to move forward with adding expansion teams in Las Vegas and Seattle, according to ESPN.
Should 23 of the 30 team governors vote in support of the move, the NBA can focus solely on adding teams in those markets and begin the bidding process.
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There would still be additional steps, but ESPN reports a final vote could occur later this year, which would pave the way for the new franchises to debut in the 2028-29 season.
The new teams would reportedly be projected to be valued in the $7-10 billion range.
“I think Seattle and Las Vegas are two incredible cities,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in Vegas on Dec. 16, while acknowledging the league had looked at other markets as well.
“Obviously we had a team in Seattle that had great success. We have a WNBA team here in Las Vegas in the Aces. … I don’t have any doubt that Las Vegas, despite all of the other major league teams that are here now, the other entertainment properties, that this city could support an NBA team.”
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Expanding would make the NBA the third major North American sports league with 32 teams, joining the NFL and NHL. The NBA last expanded in 2004, when the Charlotte Bobcats — now the Hornets — became the league’s 30th team.
Seattle has not had an NBA team since 2008, when the SuperSonics moved to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder.
Las Vegas, meanwhile, has become a significant professional sports destination over the past decade, beginning with the addition of the NHL’s Golden Knights as an expansion team in 2017.
The WNBA’s Aces relocated there from San Antonio in 2018, while the NFL’s Raiders did the same from Oakland in 2020.
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The A’s are in the process of moving from Oakland to Las Vegas, with their Sin City debut scheduled for the 2028 MLB season.
Expanding would have considerable ramifications for the NBA. Because the Seattle and Las Vegas teams would land in the Western Conference, executives reportedly expect either the Minnesota Timberwolves or Memphis Grizzlies to move to the Eastern Conference should the expansion be approved.
In December, Silver said he expected the NBA to make a determination about expansion at some point this year.
“We’re in the process of working with our teams and gauging the level of interest,” Silver said at the time, “and having a better understanding of what the economics would be on the ground for those particular teams.”
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