NBA Commissioner Adam Silver addresses the media ahead of the Emirates NBA Cup Championship.<\/p>\n
LAS VEGAS (AP) \u2014 The NBA plans to make a decision regarding domestic expansion in the coming year, Commissioner Adam Silver said Tuesday, offering the most definitive timeline since the league began exploring the possibility of moving from 30 to 32 teams.<\/p>\n
And if there are favorites, as has long been expected, Las Vegas and Seattle are at the top of the list.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot a secret, we\u2019re looking at this market in Las Vegas. We are looking at Seattle,\u201d Silver said before the NBA Cup final between San Antonio and New York. \u201cWe\u2019ve looked at other markets as well. I\u2019d say I want to be sensitive there about this notion that we\u2019re somehow teasing these markets, because I know we\u2019ve been talking about it for a while.\u201d<\/p>\n
Expansion has been a topic for years in the NBA, and it\u2019s no secret that Seattle \u2014 which had a team until the SuperSonics were moved to Oklahoma City in 2008 \u2014 and Las Vegas have long been clamoring for franchises.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Seattle and Las Vegas are two incredible cities,\u201d Silver said. \u201cObviously we had a team in Seattle that had great success. We have a WNBA team here in Las Vegas in the Aces. \u2026 I don\u2019t have any doubt that Las Vegas, despite all of the other major league teams that are here now, the other entertainment properties, that this city could support an NBA team.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think now we\u2019re in the process of working with our teams and gauging the level of interest and having a better understanding of what the economics would be on the ground for those particular teams and what a pro forma would look like for them, and then sometime in 2026 we\u2019ll make a determination.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cup future<\/p>\n
Silver revealed on Amazon Prime Video\u2019s pregame show for the NBA Cup final that the title game of the tournament may move away from Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
Among the sites under consideration: \u201cSome storied college arenas,\u201d Silver said. \u201cWe\u2019re looking at other ways we can do this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Semifinal games in the Cup will be played at No. 1 seed home sites starting next season, so the concept of a final four in Las Vegas was going to change in 2026 anyway.<\/p>\n
Cup viewership increases<\/p>\n
Going to a streaming service hasn\u2019t prevented fans from watching the NBA Cup.<\/p>\n