Word has been going around that the NBA may expand its number of teams after 2024. It appears that these claims have been rebutted no less by league commissioner Adam Silver.
Silver spoke to reporters ahead of Game One of the NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics. He cleared the air and said that there are no immediate plans of adding new teams to the league at least for now.
"The talk of expansion after 2024 is not true. We are not discussing that at this time," Silver said via Keith Smith of Spotrac.
There have been claims that the league may welcome two new teams in Seattle and Las Vegas, candidates for the alleged expansion in 2024. A reason behind this is that the addition of new teams would be once the league’s deal with current media expires.
However, Silver did not close the door of an expansion from possibly happening. He says that it’s invariable that at some point the league will expand. Hence, it would be best to wait and see if and when that will happen.
Seattle has been linked as one team to possibly reviving its NBA ties after losing its franchise. They were formerly known as the Seattle Supersonics before the Oklahoma City Thunder took over.
As for Las Vegas, they have been slowly making a name for themselves in the pro sports scene. They have franchises in the NFL, NHL and WNBA, all coming in the last five years.
The last time the NBA added a new team was in 2004. The Charlotte Hornets came in but nothing close to that has happened.
The expansion fee for that sale was $300 million, a price estimated to have jumped to around $1 billion today.
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