The latest from NBA commissioner on potential expansion

Momentum seems to be building toward NBA expansion and a possible return of the Seattle Sonics.

2 big NBA insiders turn up heat on Sonics expansion rumors

That momentum continued on Saturday afternoon, when NBA commissioner Adam Silver provided a bit more context on the topic of expansion during an All-Star Weekend press conference.

Silver reiterated his comments from December, confirming that the league intends to make a decision on expansion at some point in 2026. And he acknowledged again that Seattle and Las Vegas are two leading candidates if the league does decide to expand from 30 to 32 teams.

“We will make decisions in 2026,” Silver said prior to the All-Star Saturday festivities in Inglewood, Calif. “I think in fairness to the cities, Seattle and Las Vegas in particular, I’ve been very clear, I don’t want to tease teams. I don’t want to tease cities or mislead anyone.

“We wanted to get through collective bargaining (and) national television deals. We’ve done that, and now we’ve turned to (expansion) as a league.”

Silver said he expects further discussions about expansion to take place during the NBA’s Board of Governors meeting next month. He said the league won’t vote on expansion at the March meeting, but that he anticipates the league will be ready after that meeting to “go out to the marketplace” and talk with potential ownership groups.

“We will likely come out of those meetings ready (and) prepared to take a next step in terms of potentially talking to interested parties,” Silver said. “… I think the logical next move would be to say, all right, we’ve had those discussions internally, we’ve made decisions about cities to focus on and what the opportunity is, and now we’ve got to go out to the marketplace.

“And I think that’s probably the most important step – to find out who is potentially interested in owning a franchise in particular cities (and) what’s the value of that franchise. … So that’s the next step there.”

Silver added that relocating a franchise is “not on the table” and that if the league does expand, “there’s some work to do in terms of potential conference realignment.”

Seattle has been without an NBA team since 2008, when the Sonics were moved to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder.

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