NBA commissioner Adam Silver appeared on Tuesday’s edition of The Dan Patrick Show and offered details of potential expansion plans for the league.
Silver explained the specifics of the timeline and cities that NBA expansion could entail.
“Are we looking at 2028? Seattle and Vegas still the leading candidates for expansion?” Dan Patrick asked Silver. “And if so, Memphis or Minnesota going to the Eastern Conference? Does that sound fair?”
“So, if we expand, at least we’re thinking [the 2028-29 NBA season],” Silver said. “The only two cities, at the moment, we’re looking at are Las Vegas and Seattle. We haven’t had a vote on it. It’s not a foregone conclusion. But we’re in the process of talking to groups that are interested in getting an expansion team in those two cities.”
“And then, yes, if we do add two teams, we’ll want to likely even out the conferences, so there will be some movement then,” Silver continued.
“If we expand, at least, we’re thinking 28/29 season. The only two cities, at the moment, we’re looking at are Las Vegas and Seattle. We haven’t had a vote on it, it’s not a foregone conclusion, but we’re in the process of talking…”
– Adam Silver on NBA expansion pic.twitter.com/k14UBPjZJC
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) June 23, 2026
“You’re looking at two teams, not either Seattle or Vegas?” Patrick asked.
“Yeah, we’re currently looking at two teams, but what we’ve said is, it’s possible we won’t expand at all, and we could expand to just one market,” Silver explained. “But we’re officially looking at both those markets right now.”
Las Vegas — which hosts the NBA Summer League — has long been considered a likely expansion destination for the NBA, and with professional sports teams such as the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders, the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights, and the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces (to go with MLB’s Athletics preparing the move to Las Vegas) already showing the location’s viability.
And Seattle, of course, has already been a successful NBA location for over four decades with the Seattle SuperSonics (1967-2008). Returning to Seattle and reviving the SuperSonics for a great sports city feels like a no-brainer for league expansion.
The NBA last had expansion in 2004 with the Charlotte Bobcats in 2004, and the franchise rebranded to the Charlotte Hornets in 2014.
The league currently has 30 teams. So, adding two more NBA franchises and keeping the number even at 32 to balance out the conferences would make more sense than adding just one.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
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