Why NBA Commissioner Adam Silver claims Las Vegas, Seattle expansion could still ‘not happen’

The NBA Board of Governors approved a vote on Wednesday to begin exploring the possibility of adding two new expansion franchises exclusively to the Las Vegas and Seattle markets, the league announced.

As part of the standard process to explore expansion, the NBA will evaluate all aspects of each potential market, including hearing offers coming their way from potential ownership groups who want to start an expansion franchise.

Upon finalizing this vote on Wednesday in New York with NBA governors and stakeholders, Silver addressed the ongoing speculation about what expansion means for the league as a whole. While Silver was obviously very optimistic about the aspect of expansion at his press conference, he also made it clear that nothing is a given when it comes to this subject.

“There is absolutely a chance expansion may not happen. That’s why we were careful saying ‘explore the process,’ Silver explained. “It’s also possible we could expand to one market and not two. To two, or zero markets.”

A lot goes into potential expansion outside of just the formation of new franchises, and Silver acknowledged this in his press conference in New York City on Wednesday afternoon.

In terms of why a level of skepticism still exists for the possibility of Las Vegas and Seattle expansion, the NBA commissioner pointed out that owners will still need to approve the final transactions, and real-world issues that arise could potentially push back the timing of eventual expansion.

“As to why it may not happen, at least standing here today, there’s nothing that I see in the relatively short-term future of this league that would indicate that there wouldn’t be enormous interest in those markets and that the board will continue to support moving forward. I should say, at the right time, it will require three-quarters of the owners supporting it,” Silver said. “But we wouldn’t be moving into this step, and in fairness to parties that are interested, was one of the reasons why we wanted to make this formal announcement, because wherever those values land, it’s an enormous undertaking.

“Generally, it’s not just a single owner. It’s a group that requires financing, arena planning, etc. So, where the uncertainty to me lies is in issues outside of the league. There’s enormous instability in the world at the moment, and we may ultimately conclude, for reasons completely out of our control, that it’s not the right time to expand. That it’s something we should postpone and re-look at at some later time.

“That’s really what our caveat is.”

A potential final vote for expansion to Las Vegas and Seattle will be held later this year, which would officially take the league from 30 to 32 teams. In doing so, one Western Conference team would move to the Eastern Conference to balance the league at 16 teams on opposite ends.

It is expected that either the Minnesota Timberwolves or Memphis Grizzlies will be moved to the East, with the Timberwolves viewed as the likely favorite in this scenario.

With the formal expansion process officially beginning, further updates on NBA expansion will be provided by Silver and the league office at a later time.

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