Is Expansion on the Horizon for the NBA?

The NBA has been a 30-team league since the Charlotte Bobcats came into existence back in 2004 but that may soon change. According to Shams Charania of ESPN, the league announced earlier this week that the Board of Governors is going to explore potential expansion groups for Seattle and Las Vegas. Why is the league contemplating the move now and what does it mean for the league as a whole? We’ll take a quick look at things and give you the lowdown.

As to why would the league expand, well, the answer is simple: money. It’s estimated that the expansion franchises could fetch somewhere in the neighborhood of $7 to $10 billion each. That’s not pocket change as if you slice it up among the current 30 franchises in the league, the ownership groups would receive a windfall of close to half a billion dollars each. After all, the Lakers sold at a $10 billion valuation last year and you can be sure that other owners are looking at that as the new benchmark.

What's Next?

In order for expansion to take place, it would require a three-quarters vote of the league Board of Governors. That means 23 of 30 votes have to be in the affirmative for the league to move forward. This is one of those unilateral decisions as the players’ association has no say in what transpires. On the plus side, more teams opens up more spots on NBA rosters, which benefits the union as well.

Should those two cities earn expansion teams over potential other options, it would necessitate the league realigning as there would be 17 teams in the Western Conference compared to 15 in the East. That would likely lead to a team like the Timberwolves making the transition. Minnesota has always been a bit of the odd team out in the Northwest Division, which consists of the Jazz, Trail Blazers, Nuggets and Thunder. Of course, when the division was created, the Thunder was still in Seattle as the SuperSonics.

Las Vegas has become a big part of the NBA landscape in recent years. The city has been the focal point of the NBA’s Summer League in recent years. It also hosted the title game of the NBA Cup in the first few iterations of that in-season tournament. With the explosion of pro franchises in the city with the addition of the NFL’s Raiders and the NHL’s Golden Knights in addition to the pending relocation of the A’s in major league baseball. Bringing a NBA team to the mix seems to be a no-brainer for the city and the league.

Seattle is only fitting for an expansion city given its history in the league. The aforementioned SuperSonics occupied the city from 1967-68 to 2007-08, including winning the NBA in 1978-79. When they moved after the 2007-08 season, the expectation was that the city would always see a new franchise. It may finally come to fruition in the near future.