NBA Expansion Officially On The Table, But Adam Silver Urges Yet More Patience

Bring on the Seattle SuperSonics and whatever the NBA team in Las Vegas will be called. Right? Well, maybe.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver confirmed this week that the league has officially begun exploring expansion, though he cautioned that the process is still in its earliest stages, and perhaps sadly, still comes with no firm timeline.

“A lot of analysis still needs to be done and nothing’s been predetermined one way or another,” Silver told reporters following the Board of Governors meetings in Vegas. “We’re going to be as thorough as possible and look at all the potential issues.”

Silver had previously said the league would wait until its new media rights deals were finalized before digging deeper into expansion. With those deals now in place — ABC/ESPN, NBC/Peacock and Amazon will split coverage beginning in 2025–26 — expansion talk is in full swing.

“We’re now engaging in this in-depth analysis, something we weren’t prepared to do before,” Silver said. “In terms of price, potential timeline, (it’s) too early to say. It is truly a complicated issue.”

One of the bigger sticking points supposedly is the long-term future of local broadcasting. Silver said the NBA must have a clearer understanding of how local TV rights will function before greenlighting any new markets.

“We would be malpracticing if we didn’t figure out how local regional television is going to work before expanding,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense to hand over a team and say, ‘You’re going to have to figure out how to distribute your games.’”

Silver also acknowledged the league’s soaring valuation, citing the expected combined sale of the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics at $16.1 billion as a factor in the league’s broader economic picture.

“There’s no question that those purchase prices have an impact,” he said. “We have to look at the value of expansion, what it means to dilute existing equity, and how additive an additional team might be.”

Meanwhile, the Trail Blazers are expected to be sold soon, and Silver reiterated the league’s desire for the franchise to stay in Portland.

“We’ve had great success there,” he said. “The city likely needs a new arena, so that will be part of the challenge for any new ownership group, but keeping the team in Portland is the goal.”