Adam Silver: 'NBA League not looking to expand in the short-term'
Despite rumours of expansion plans, Adam Silver has said that the NBA league is not looking to expand in the short term.
FollowDespite complimenting the two as great locations and markets, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has denied rumours that Seatle and Las Vegas would be getting a team soon. Silver's concerns regarding an expansion were the dilution and how it would impact the league. Since the merger with the ABA in 1976, the NBA has added eight teams to the league. The last expansion team added to the league was way back in 2004 when the Charlotte Bobcats were added as the 30th franchise in the league. While there haven't been expansions, there have been relocations. In 2008, Seattle lost its team as the Seattle Supersonics were relocated to Oklahoma City [to become the Oklahoma City Thunder].
Many players still come from the Seattle area, and there is a general passion for basketball in the area. Consequently, there have been rumours regarding a franchise for a while. Las Vegas does not have a history with a franchise. However, there have been a few all-star games in Vegas. Vegas also recently acquired its football team, The Las Vegas Raiders and would likely want to expand its reach into another league.
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Silver denied rumours of expansion in 2024 in his recent interview and said, "We are not discussing that at this time. The league will eventually expand past its current 30 teams. Expansion does create a certain amount of dilution. Even adding another 30 players or so that are roughly comparable, there still are only so many of the genuinely top-tier super talents to go around. That is something on the mind of the other teams as we think about expansion."
