The NBA board of Governors have made it official, the NBA wants to expand. All team owners are to meet and vote on March 24th on whether expansion to 2 new teams is worth it. People have been waiting for years for the day to happen, and finally it is here.

The potential launch date has been set to 2028-2029, with only 2 potential destinations that could actually handle an NBA franchise: Seattle and Las Vegas. This vote would not mean the expansion is done, but it would start a long financial battle and league planning.

If approved, the NBA would grow from 30 teams to 32, marking the NBA’s 1st expansion since 2004 and potentially reshaping the future, restructuring the NBA as we know it today.

What NBA Expansion Would Actually Mean

Expansion Fees and Owner Incentives

Expansion is financially massive for the current owners in the league. Each new franchise in the NBA could cost anywhere from $7-10 Billion, a record breaking price for a brand new sports team, driving new highs for current NBA franchise evaluations, with it adding about $400-650+ Million for each existing owner.

This creates a massive 1 time payment for owners, although is most likely going to hurt them in someway, since with 32 team, the revenue from the league would be split across 32 teams, not 30.

Seattle and Las Vegas as the Leading Markets

Seattle is one of those cities that wanted a team ever since 2008, and has been fighting ever since for 1 again. Many fans assume, and hope, that they will revive the historical Seattle Supersonics name, but some speculate that fresh beginnings could be beneficial.

Las Vegas already has an arena, they already host the Summer League and other major events, and investors are drooling over the fact that the biggest revenue generating city is getting a new sporting franchise. It all makes sense, but the only thing I can’t decide is their name.

Both markets offer strong media presences, merchandise, sponsorship opportunities and a brand new fanbase, which are all key reasons the league is considering this at all.

How an Expansion Draft Would Work

To build a roster for the expansion teams, the league would hold an expansion draft for the 1st time since 2004, but most of my audience wasn’t even born yet, so let me break it down nice and quickly:

Each current team get’s to protect around 8 Players, but the players can not be on an expiring 1 Year deal. Teams must leave at least 1 player available to give up, and to avoid chaos, no team can lose more than that 1 player. The 2 expansion teams alternate selections from the unprotected pool until all the players are gone or they have built a roster they are happy with. I also believe they can select from the free agency list.

The result is 2 new teams, who are likely going to be terrible now, but will get priority in free agency, and will 100% get top draft rights in the upcoming draft.

If the vote get passed, the NBA will officially begin the expansion process for the 1st time in over 2 decades. While the new teams would not actually play in the NBA till the 2028-29 Season, many speculate that some of the Stars in today’s game would join these teams in a heartbeat.

For fans in Seattle, it could finally mean the return of NBA basketball. For Las Vegas, it would cement the city as one of the fastest-growing sports markets in North America.

Either way, the NBA may soon be entering a new 32-team era.

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