NBA could start process to award franchises to these two cities next week

· Yahoo Sports

The NBA has been talking about expansion for about five years.

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Finally, the wheels appear to be in motion toward adding a pair of teams to the current 30-team configuration.

According to ESPN NBA reporter Shams Charania, the NBA Board of Governors plans to vote next week about dealing exclusively with Las Vegas and Seattle to host new franchises.

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“There is momentum within the board of governors and league office to approve moving forward with taking bids for franchises in Las Vegas and Seattle, according to sources with knowledge of the discussions,” Charania reported in a story teased on his X account.

The board of governors meet March 24-25. The first vote, if approved by 23 of the 30 governors, would permit the league to take bids from potential ownership groups in the two cities. Industry executives estimated the price tag for a new franchise at between $7 billion to $10 billion, Charania wrote.

A vote later this year would finalize the move to 32 teams, according to Charania, with Seattle and Las Vegas beginning play in the 2028-29 season.

Seattle lost its NBA team, the SuperSonics, in 2008. The franchise moved to Oklahoma City and changed its name to the Thunder. The SuperSonics won the 1979 NBA title, and the Thunder are the reigning NBA champs. Seattle received an NHL expansion team, the Kraken, in 2021.

Fans hold a flag for the Seattle Supersonics during a game between the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers. | Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

Las Vegas has never hosted an NBA team. The WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces started play in 2021. Las Vegas is home to the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights and the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders. The MLB’s Athletics franchise, previously in Oakland, is in the process of moving to Las Vegas.

Charania reported that NBA executives expect both the Seattle and Las Vegas franchises to join the Western Conference. One team currently in the West, most likely the Memphis Grizzlies or Minnesota Timberwolves, would move to the Eastern Conference.

The most recent NBA expansion came in 2004, when Charlotte, North Carolina, got the Bobcats, which became the Hornets in 2014.

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