The NBA is reportedly holding a big vote at its Board of Governors meeting taking place Tuesday and Wednesday, and it has to do with potential league expansion from 30 to 32 teams, with the two teams expected to be a returning Seattle Sonics franchise and a new one in Las Vegas.
However, the vote if approved would not be the final guarantee that the league is finally awarding teams to Seattle and Las Vegas. It’s to agree on exploring adding expansion teams specifically in those two cities, as ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania reported last week.
So what exactly does that mean?
Per The Associated Press, an approval this week would “move the league one step closer” to expansion, showing “that the current ownership groups at least have some interest in adding to the current 30-team setup.”
A two-thirds majority is needed for issues brought to vote by the NBA Board of Governors to pass, which would be 23 of 30.
So, the result of this week’s vote – if it passes – would be great news regarding a potential SuperSonics return. But Pacific Northwest basketball fans should wait before popping any champagne and celebrating the official rebirth of the Sonics.
That being said, all signs are pointing to expansion becoming a reality by the end of the year.
Charania, who broke the news last week that the Board of Governors would vote on exploring expansion, said a “growing number of owners” were believed to be in support of expansion in Seattle and Las Vegas. He added that the league is targeting the 2028-29 regular season for potential expansion teams to debut, which would make it an even 20 years since the Sonics were moved out of Seattle.
Charania told Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy last week his understanding was that the vote was a “formality to pass” and would “give the NBA the permission” to start a bidding process with prospective ownership groups in Seattle and Vegas.
More: ESPN’s Shams says Seattle Sonics NBA expansion expected to pass
Bringing the Sonics back
A likely bidder for a Seattle franchise has emerged with the formation of One Roof Sports and Entertainment, a new parent company of the Seattle Kraken ownership group that was revealed in an announcement Monday. One Roof also has entered an agreement to purchase additional equity in Climate Pledge Arena from Oak View Group and make the organization the majority owner of the building, which houses the Kraken and is the likely home arena for a new NBA team.
Kraken ownership takes potential step toward owning a Seattle NBA team
The NBA has been absent from Seattle since 2008, when a group that had bought the SuperSonics from former owner Howard Schultz moved the franchise to Oklahoma City, where it became the Thunder. The city opened Climate Pledge Arena, which was built on the site of the former Key Arena and Seattle Coliseum on the Seattle Center campus, in 2022. The creation of the new arena landed the city the NHL’s Kraken and was built with the hope of bringing the NBA back to the Emerald City.
There have been several stops and starts on the road to potential NBA expansion, which was expected to be the next item of business following the league’s massive media rights deal was finalized in the summer of 2024. But it took a backseat when the Boston Celtics, at the time the defending champions, were put up for sale. Then the viability of adding two more teams came into question, particularly what it meant for the bottom line of the league’s current owners.
Things began inching back toward expansion last summer, with NBA commissioner Adam Silver relaying that the owners wanted an “in-depth analysis” of what expansion would mean in terms of talent dilution and the potential impact of selling equity in the NBA.
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