Rumors Of Looming NBA Expansion To Seattle, Las Vegas Untrue

It seems that Seattle won’t be forgotten when the idea is NBA expansion. Same goes for Las Vegas.

But for now, it appears, rumors of the league announcing plans for franchises in those cities are not true.

Talk of expansion resurfaced after a tweet from The Associated Press cited multiple sources in saying the NBA intended to announce expansion plans for both Seattle and Las Vegas during the preseason, which tips off at the end of the month.

The Clippers are hosting two preseason games at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena (Sept. 30 and Oct. 3); and the Lakers are hosting two in Las Vegas a few days later (Oct. 5 and 6).

So games in those locations also likely played a role in the chatter.

Seattle, of course, once had the beloved SuperSonics, and still owns the nickname and green-and-yellow color schemes. Las Vegas would be new to the NBA scene.

Commissioner Adam Silver has often stated that the league hopes to put a franchise back in Seattle someday. He has also repeatedly praised Las Vegas for its work hosting the NBA Summer League in July.

Along with that, it should be noted that both cities already have WNBA franchises. They both also have NFL teams, with Seattle also home to a MLB and an NHL club, and Vegas the NHL. So pro basketball is about all that remains.

Granted, there have been previous reports about Seattle expansion, probably all the way back to when the franchise moved to Oklahoma City in 2008. And Silver has had to shoot them down, to a degree, most recently saying that the league has “dusted off some expansion analysis,” but committing to nothing.

Now, it seems, we will have to wait a little longer — as again, there’s nothing coming down the pike for Seattle and Las Vegas, and if it is, it’s not imminent.