Seattle Sonics expansion: NBA commish gives positive update to McAfee

Commissioner Adam Silver sure seems to be talking now about NBA expansion as a likelihood instead of a mere possibility, with the return of a Seattle Sonics franchise remaining at the forefront of the discussions.

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Silver answered a question Tuesday morning on ESPN’s The Pat McAfee Show about NBA expansion, and there was a notable absence of words that would caution against hope that the league would approve a vote this year to add teams to the league by the end of the decade.

“We’re still a few seasons away from the actual expansion taking place,” Silver said. “But… we’ve been public about the fact that we’re looking closely at Las Vegas and Seattle. Las Vegas seems to have an insatiable appetite for sports and entertainment. Several groups now are thinking of even building a brand new arena in town, which at least the presentation is maybe the most spectacular arena ever. Seattle has a great arena. There’s a great NBA tradition there. So we’re looking closely at returning to Seattle.”

"We're still a few seasons away from actual expansion taking place..

We've been public about the fact that we're looking at Las Vegas and Seattle..

Maybe down the road there's Mexico City which is the largest city in North America" ~ Adam Silver#PMSLive pic.twitter.com/ECcY0HgNvY

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 20, 2026

Perhaps even more encouraging for those hoping for an NBA team in Seattle is that while Silver mentioned Mexico City as another city that the league could expand to, he didn’t bring it up as a potential landing spot that’s competing now with Seattle and Vegas.

“I’ve mentioned maybe down the road there’s Mexico City – largest city in North America, like, a burgeoning huge basketball base of fans in Mexico, large Mexican-American population,” Silver continued. “So, you know, a bunch of different opportunities out there. And, you know, discussions are ongoing about Las Vegas and Seattle right now. … They’re talking about building an arena there in Mexico City. So, I mean, that’s not in the immediate plans, but down the road I think there’s real potential there.”

The state of potential Seattle Sonics NBA expansion

ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania reported last month that the league will hold “a formal approval process by the end of December on two expansion teams,” and that it “is expected to select the winning bid for ownership of the Las Vegas expansion team in the very near future.”

While that puts Seattle on the back burner, that’s not actually a bad thing. There are more variables at play for Las Vegas, where there are multiple groups bidding for a potential team plus an unsettled arena situation, whereas Seattle has a venue ready to go in Climate Pledge Arena.

There’s also a clear frontrunner for a Seattle ownership group in One Roof Sports and Entertainment, which is the majority owner of Climate Pledge Arena and headed by Seattle Kraken chair Samantha Holloway. That being said, the Tulalip Tribes confirmed last month it is joining a bid for a potential Sonics franchise, which would come with a plan to build a new home arena in Marysville, which is roughly 30 miles north of Seattle.

Charania has reported that the NBA continues to target as soon as the 2028-29 season to add expansion teams to the league.

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