NBA commissioner Adam Silver has consistently asserted that the league isn’t planning on expansion in the near future.
During his annual press conference at the Finals, Silver had this to say: “At least maybe there are people talking who are not at the league office about us potentially expanding after the 2024 season. We are not discussing that at this time. As I said before, at some point, this league invariably will expand, but it’s not at this moment that we are discussing it.”
The NBA has been slow to embrace expansion. The last time a new franchise was accepted came in 2004, when the Bobcats — now Hornets — were added.
A franchise fee in excess of a $1 billion would be the main incentive for expansion among owners. It would also have natural appeal to the players, creating more NBA jobs.
When the league finally gets around to expansion, there are plenty of viable options. Seattle has been talked about virtually since it lost the SuperSonics in 2008. The city got the latest NHL expansion team, the Kraken, and there’s an arena available for an NBA franchise. There’s little doubt that Seattle, which also has NFL and MLB franchises, will support an NBA team if it gets another one.
Las Vegas, which has become the host of the Summer League, is another obvious choice. It now has NHL and NFL franchises, as well as a Triple-A baseball club.
There are plenty of other major U.S. cities that could support an NBA team. Pittsburgh has long-term franchises in all three other major pro sports. St. Louis saw the Rams come and go but it has two other highly successful pro franchises. Kansas City, like Seattle, was once an NBA city.
Louisville, a major city in basketball-mad Kentucky, would also be a logical destination. Tampa hosted the Raptors during the pandemic.
The league could also look beyond the borders to Mexico City or Montreal, or perhaps even overseas to London.
That brings us to our question of the day: When the NBA is finally ready to expand, what major city is most deserving of a franchise?
Please take to the comments section to weigh in on this topic. We look forward to your input.
Wouldn’t the logical choice be New York since there doesn’t seem to be a team there?
And yet it makes the most money. And has the biggest fan support. Not a city in the WORLD that touch us in sports. I feel sorry for you when they start winning. Which is coming …….little people
been saying that for 20 years lmao
Try since the day the NBA came to be. What’s 20 yrs the age of your big sister.
This comment is going to age horribly, lol
More money. So you’re saying there’s room for another team to put there and share the wealth.
Bit of a typo here…
“Las Vegas, which has become the host of the Summer League, is another obvious choice. It now has NHL and NBA franchises, as well as a Triple-A franchise.”
Dana, Las Vegas now has NHL and NFL franchises – they are proposed as a possible destination for an NBA franchise.
Correct your oops.
Seattle should be top of list for expansion. they were promised another franchise when Sonics left.
easy. quad cities. build a 10k capacity arena that looks like a silo for acoustics. have a hospital, hotel, apartments, and a casino attached to help with revenue.
Sure. Once they get a major airport
And a booming economy to support such a franchise.
St.louis and Seattle. All the infrastructure is in place
Seattle, Montreal, Louisville in that order.
Not a fan of Vegas. Just keep the SL there.
Louisville
Seattle is most deserving, and then I think there are several options for a second. Kentucky, Mexico city, Richmond Virginia, Vancouver, I had a couple of more in the past I’m not thinking of now for some reason…not a fan of Vegas
Ideally you would want 2 West teams though b/c then you could move Memphis and New Orleans to the Eastern Conference
I still think in 3 years, it will make a lot of sense to bringin 2 teams, just with all the talent not currently in the NBA, and how young this league is right now where so many guys lose their roster spots in the turnover every year. I think this is the hardest it has ever been to be in the NBA, and the parity is greater than ever as well, so I definitely think the league can handle 2 more teams talent wise, and the added money with teams buying in for $2 million a piece, plus the new tv deals should mean higher salary caps as well
I am curious to see how they can take more advantage of the G-league moving forward, now that there are 30 teams…either an extra 2 way spot, or more control over 1-2 players down there, or something along those lines…I just think then it becomes a question where you dont want to block guys from being able to be called up elsewhere
That would help cut down on travel for teams a bit…
Love these thoughts. Yes, if Vegas or Seattle (or other west coast expansion teams) get brought in, it makes a lot of sense to move Memphis to the East. Minnesota could be just as plausible as New Orleans to move to the Eastern Conference. Check out this map:
link to images.mapsofworld.com
Regarding the G League, I would love to see the NBA adopt more of a MLB-to-AAA relationship. As in, every parent NBA team has ownership of the players on its G league team.
For instance, in baseball, you have a 40 man roster and only 26 are on your big league club. Oversimplifying, those other 14 spots are for players that can be recalled/optioned back down in the season. Other players who are not on the 40 man roster still belong to the parent organization, but they are either too young for their “service time” to start ticking (a minor league top prospect who is performing well usually spends a few years in the minors before their contract gets purchased onto the 40 man roster) … or they are veterans who may not have been good enough last season to get a big league contract and are trying to play their way back up to the big leagues through performances or injuries to others.
Connecting that to the NBA … if each NBA team had 25 spots and the active roster was 13, you would see players going on the Injured List, recalling players from the G league, more player movement and opportunities, and less stashing of players. You could have veterans like Joe Johnson are on your G league team that aren’t on the 25, play well, and have their contract purchased to reward their play, while cutting someone who wasn’t performing up to par. The G league would become more of a following, as fans would be legitimately interested in watching their top “prospects”. Right now, that’s not happening. I’m a Mavs fan obviously. Aside from Jaden Hardy, I’ve got zero interest in what their G league team is doing. I’m never going to see those guys contribute to my team, so I have no interest in watching their development.
Pittsburgh is not ever an option. Only someone who has never spent time there would mention it as a possibility. Burghers have zero interest in hoops. Only reason their ABA team had any followers was John Brisker, toughest, meanest, most belligerent pro player ever. His own coach and teammates were terrorized by him. Pittsburghers love a fighter, but could care less about the game.
I’m already planning to bring the Pittsburgh Pistol Shrimp in and we plan to have the sweetest logo in all of professional sports.
DeJuan Blair had em caring about hoops big time back in the day
I vote Louisville. Currently, league pass blocks Cleveland, Indiana, and Memphis in KY. Completely unfair so having own team will increase LP subscription by 2 teams!
Seattle. the Sonics should never have been allowed to leave, or be sold under false pretenses. The money, the interest and the market are all there and stronger than anywhere else.
SEATTLE and LAS VEGAS will be the destination cities when the NBA finally expands.
If something were to fall through with one of those, I believe there are a lot of cities that would support a team. Here’s a few of my favorites:
(1) ST. LOUIS, MO/KANSAS CITY: they have demonstrated successfully supporting other sports, huge urban neighborhoods, basketball communities, fans and media currently focuses on college hoops.
(2) AUSTIN, TX: 3+ hours away from Dallas and San Antonio and booming population … now the 11th most populous city in the US.
(3) EL PASO, TX: This one may seem odd, as traveling out there involves going through long stretches of flat deserted land … but it is currently the 24th most populous city in the US. It supports a AAA baseball team, juco hockey team, a USL soccer team and UTEP sports. This is the type of situation similar to Oklahoma City and San Antonio before they got adopted by the NBA … a community that may not be on the national radar, but would cling to its team and passionately support them through attendance and viewership. It also has a huge Hispanic base which the NBA it trying to tap more and more into.
(4) NASHVILLE, TN: it is smack in between Atlanta, Charlotte, Memphis, and Indianapolis. Makes a lot of sense geographically in terms of an untapped market. One of the fastest growing cities.
(5) MONTERREY, MEX: Although Mexico City could be in consideration, Monterrey is farther north making travel from the states more feasible. 2nd highest GDP in Mexico. Strong industrial and tech industries there with neighborhoods that support high quality of life. A drawback to Monterrey is a historic presence of drug cartels, which is not affecting the safety of the population at large, but something to be aware of. I am guessing until things continue to normalize with those type of issues, as well as government relations between the US and Mexico (border wall security debates) this would be off the table.
If you’re Mitch Kupchak which 8 Hornets would you protect in an expansion draft?…. I think OKC would have some of the toughest decisions to make tbh if an expansion draft took place this year but it would be pretty tough for Charlotte too
Rozier, Ball, Hayward, Washington, Mark Williams, Jalen McDaniels, Kelly Oubre, and Kai Jones. You’re right, that’s definitely tough. Ultimately you have to figure out whether to prioritize youth or experienced veterans, and the Hornets want to win right now. It was hard to leave Bouknight off the list, but Oubre even with one year left is more valuable for a team that wants to contend. Bouknight was pretty bad this season, too. It gets even harder if you include Bridges, which I didn’t because of his legal stuff. In that scenario you would probably end up taking off Kai Jones. Hard certainly.
As for the Thunder, oh man that’s tough. Dort, Giddey, Chet & SGA are locks, but after that it gets tricky. I’m going with Bazley, Mann and the two lottery picks Dieng and Jalen Williams. They wouldn’t want to lose Pokusevski or Jaylin Williams, but they can’t exactly lose one of their lottery picks for nothing, and Pokusevski may not be a core piece after drafting Holmgren. Kenrich Williams would be tough to lose as well.
What about New England?
There’s already the Celtics. No way their fans can support another team.
With the addition of 2 teams, I would assume they would follow the NFL model of 2 conference, 4 divisions with 4 teams each.
Western Conference:
Northwest:
Seattle
Denver
Portland
Utah
Pacific:
Clippers
Lakers
Warriors
Kings
Southwest:
Las Vegas
Phoenix
San Antonio
Houston
West (plains?)
Dallas
New Orleans
Memphis
OKC
Eastern Conference:
Great Lakes West
Milwaukee
Minnesota
Chicago
Indiana
Great Lakes East:
Detroit
Cleveland
Washington
Toronto
South East:
Miami
Orlando
Charlotte
Atlanta
Northeast:
Philadelphia
New York
Brooklyn
Boston
8 playoff teams in each conference:
4 division winners
3 “wildcard” teams
1 play-in spot for 3 teams. Seed 9 and 10 play, winner plays 8. Winner of 8 and 9/10 gets final spot.
If the league wants better quality of play then they need to contract at least 2 teams.
Seattle and Louisville, one per conference. Go with the NHL style (4 divisions)
Pacific: Seattle, Portland, Utah, Sacramento, Golden State, LAL, LAC, Phoenix
Central: Denver, Minnesota, OKC, Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, Memphis, NOLA
Atlantic: Miami, Orlando, Atlanta, Boston, Brooklyn, New York, Philadelphia, Washington
Midwest: Milwaukee, Louisville, Toronto, Chicago, Indiana, Charlotte, Cleveland, Detroit
I also think San Antonio or Austin need a franchise of some sorts.
Perhaps you’ve heard of the Spurs?
Seattle and Vegas, with these divisions then in CAPITALS the differences to your division
Pacific: VEGAS, Seattle, Portland, Sacramento, Golden State, LAL, LAC, Phoenix
Central: UTAH, Denver, OKC, Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, Memphis, NOLA
Midwest: MINNESOTA, Milwaukee, Toronto, Chicago, Indiana, Charlotte, Cleveland, Detroit
Atlantic: Miami, Orlando, Atlanta, Boston, Brooklyn, New York, Philadelphia, Washington
When did North Carolina become the Midwest?
I’m not really a fan of this.
San Jose, California.
The Warriors are basically 2 hours away now, if you factor in traffic. SJ is top 10 USA city in economy and population, and Sharks and Quakes sell out all the time with active fanbases.
Yea but it’s going to be really hard to sway fans away from the Warriors. Which might be the best plan since they’re in contention and the expansion team will be building.
Kansas City was also promised a team when the Kings left in the 80’s. They are in line first.
Same with the Cinncinatti Royals before them.
St Louis has already had a team.
The movie the Fish that saved Pittsburgh did not translate into getting a team like they thought it would.
Santa Fe New Mexico sits in a ideal cross of cities that make it a great place to expand.
San Antonio and Austin need a franchise of some sorts.
We ready for 2 more teams, expanded playoffs, G league, surplus of players available overseas now makes it make complete sense
My Question would be how would they go thru with the process. While MLB does nothing particularly great they did a knock up job with the Marlins/Rockies expansion with the whole waiver process holds/etc. Both teams went complete opposite directions/1 with sooner expectations (Rockies ) the other with longer timeline (Marlins) – Was super interesting to sift thru then and even now
Would make for some great articles here if we were given the process req’s
Seattle for sure… then either San Diego or San Juan!
For once Silver has it right. No expansion any time soon.
Las Vegas should absolutely have an NBA team. I really, really hope it happens soon.
Seattle and Louisville, but Las Vegas makes sense also
Yeah, I think Seattle and Louisville because they would be the type of cities that would love an NBA franchise. I would easily take one of those two over Vegas, but new teams anywhere would just be cool. The expansion draft in particular. Louisville would kinda be like when they added an OKC team (though at the expense of Seattle). A small market, but with big-time fans.