NBA Sets Wheels in Motion to Add Two Western Conference Expansion Teams

After years of rumors and pleas coming from the Pacific Northwest, the NBA could right one of the wrongs of the 2000s through franchise expansion.

The league will discuss adding two teams in time for the 2028–29 season at next week’s Board of Governors meeting, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania, with “exclusive” sights on a pair of cities out West—Las Vegas and Seattle.

“There is momentum within the board of governors and league office to approve moving forward with taking bids for franchises in Las Vegas and Seattle, according to sources with knowledge of the discussions,” Charania wrote.

The reported selections are no surprise. As the gambling industry has shifted from taboo to major business partner to sports leagues around the country, Las Vegas has emerged as the hottest city for attracting new franchises. Before the NHL’s Golden Knights began play in 2017, the city had no professional teams in North America’s “Big Four” leagues. The NFL’s Raiders followed suit in 2020, and the MLB’s Athletics are currently transitioning from Oakland to Las Vegas with an extended stopover in Sacramento.

The WNBA’s Aces have also been that league’s top franchises since relocating from San Antonio in 2018, winning three championships since their relocation. While Vegas has not had an NBA franchise, it is a basketball hub, hosting summer league and the final four of the now-annual NBA Cup.

With the potential for a city to add an NBA franchise in time for 2028, Vegas could go from no Big Four teams to become the 13th city with an MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL team in the span of 11 years.

Seattle would also join that group, with a potential reborn SuperSonics franchise joining the recent NHL expansion club, the Seattle Kraken, as well as the Mariners (MLB) and Seahawks (NFL).

The Sonics played in the Emerald City from 1967 to 2008 before relocating to Oklahoma City, becoming the Thunder—an extremely sore spot for Seattle sports fans ever since. Seattle has been considered the most obvious expansion or franchise relocation candidate in the years since, though the NBA hasn’t had a team relocate since the Nets moved from New Jersey to Brooklyn in 2012, and hasn’t expanded since the arrival of the Charlotte Bobcats (now Hornets) in 2004. Charlotte received a new franchise just two years after losing the original Hornets to New Orleans, where they now play as the Pelicans.

ESPN reports on potential timeline for NBA to make expansion to Las Vegas, Seattle official

According to Charania, next week’s board of governors vote will lock in the two cities as the league’s expansion targets and open the bidding process for the new franchises, which are projected to both be among the NBA’s top eight in revenue generation.

From there, the league will hold a final vote to add two more franchises to bump the league’s number up to 32. That will require the approval of 23 of the league’s 30 current teams.

Commissioner Adam Silver has remained quiet about the idea of expansion, which has come up numerous times in recent years (and for Seattleites, has been top of mind since 2008). Last summer, he said the league’s priority was to figure out local media rights before adding two more franchises into the fold, though he said it was a concept worth looking into.

"I'd say the current sense is we should be exploring it," Silver said in June 2025. "I don't think it's automatic because it depends on your perspective on the future of the league. As I've said before, expansion, in a way, is selling equity in the league. And if you believe in the league, you don't necessarily want to add partners.”

Around the same time, The Athletic reported that the desire among league owners to add more franchises was “not overwhelming.” The value of any new franchises would have to supersede the reduction of the current teams’ 1/30th share in league equity for it to be a positive financial decision for owners.

Adding Las Vegas, Seattle franchises would lead to realignment between the current Eastern, Western Conferences

Las Vegas and Seattle teams would be clear Western Conference additions, leading to an imbalance between the two conferences. According to Charania, two existing Western Conference teams would shift to the East to balance things out, with the most likely being the Timberwolves and Grizzlies.

While it is hard to predict what these franchises will look like by 2028–29, moving the Anthony Edwards-led Minnesota squad to the East would certainly change the tenor of the league’s current alignment, as would adding two expansion teams to the deep Western Conference.

If the NBA looks at options other than Memphis and Minnesota, geographically the Pelicans would be a sensible option, as New Orleans is East of Minneapolis and form a natural geographic rivalry with fellow Southeastern franchises like Memphis and Atlanta, though the Pelicans have rarely competed at a high level in their history. The Timberwolves would likely provide more balance to the league as currently constituted.

More NBA from Sports Illustrated

Listen to SI’s NBA podcast, Open Floor, below or on Apple and Spotify. Watch the show on SI’s YouTube channel.