NBA Commissioner expects expansion talks in July meeting

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NEW YORK - MARCH 27: NBA Commissioner, Adam Silver speaks to media during a press conference on March 27, 2025 at the St. Regis Hotel in New York City. (David Dow / NBAE / Getty Images)

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The NBA may finally be ready to put the topic of expansion on the table at their next Board of Governors meeting in July.

Commissioner Adam Silver said on Sirius XM NBA Radio on Tuesday that he expects the topic to be discussed when the league's executives meet in Las Vegas.

"I think at this point, we have an NBA board meeting in July in Las Vegas and my sense is (expansion) will be on the agenda to discuss with full ownership now for the 30 teams to get directly the existing owners' views on potential expansion and how we would begin furthering the study of all the implications," Silver said, via Tim Booth of The Seattle Times.

With the pending sale of the Boston Celtics progressing, new media rights deals completed, and an extension of the Collective Bargaining Agreement with the NBA Players' Association all in line, the landscape for league expansion is ripe.

Silver had said he expected the NBA to consider expansion sometime during the 2024-25 season. However, the sale of the Celtics delayed that timeline as the league wanted to set a benchmark for franchise values. Bill Chisholm agreed to purchase the team at a $6.1 billion valuation in March, which will help the NBA set a purchase price for prospect markets looking to buy into the league.

While the estate of Paul G. Allen announced they would seek to sell the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday, that transaction won't change the market like the sale of the Celtics.

Seattle and Las Vegas have been the two cities most regularly discussed as candidates for NBA expansion. Mexico City, Louisville, Kansas City and Vancouver have also been floated as possible candidates, but Seattle and Las Vegas have clearly been separate from the pack.

"Look, obviously, I know there’s tremendous interest in Seattle. I know there’s tremendous interest in Las Vegas and several other cities as well, whether I’ve read about the interest or have heard indirectly from others," Silver said. "Just to be clear, we haven’t begun any sort of process. So even to extent cities have reached out we said, ‘Thank you for your interest, but we’re not ready to take meetings yet and have more in-depth discussions.’ We will have that opportunity early summer again to talk to all the different ownership groups in the NBA and get a sense."

Silver spoke to the potential drawbacks of expansion, such as dilution of talent and slicing the league revenue pie into smaller amounts, but stated that he still sees expansion coming in the future.

"Expansion, I think, over time makes sense. As to precise timing, I think we still need to work on that," Silver said.

The Source: Information in this story came from Sirius XM Radio, The Seattle Times and FOX 13 Seattle.