Seattle seems to be the most ready market for a team.
Investors who want to bring a National Basketball Association franchise into the Las Vegas and into the Seattle markets could be getting their chance to step into the batter’s box and show their wares to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and the league’s 30 owners. Finally, Silver is giving notice that his business is ready to start the process of expanding. “I think we will engage this fall, in earnest, in the process of making those determinations — should we expand and if we were to expand, how many teams should we expand,” Silver said.
Silver has gotten two major hurdles on the road to expansion out of the way. The collective bargaining agreement and the TV deal. Now the league owners will figure out if they want to add two teams. Silver’s next job will be getting a committee together looking for deep-pocketed individuals and putting two teams in markets that want a franchise. The common wisdom is that Las Vegas and Seattle will be getting the 31st and 32nd teams but there is no clear timetable for expansion. Unless a backroom deal has been done, the process of identifying potential franchise owners will take a while. There is a state-of-the-art Seattle building ready to go but it is a bit unclear where a team would play in Las Vegas. There is an arena in town but there may be two groups who would like to put up another Las Vegas arena that would be a showcase for basketball. Silver also seems to be intrigued by the possibility of having Mexico City in the league but he did issue a caveat explaining “this may not be the right moment to do that.” Nashville, Louisville, Vancouver and Montréal might also be on that list as well. The NBA will expand, it’s just a matter of time.
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