{"id":1848324,"date":"2026-03-26T13:45:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T10:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1848324"},"modified":"2026-03-26T13:45:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T10:45:17","slug":"the-bounce-5-burning-questions-about-nba-expansion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1848324","title":{"rendered":"The Bounce: 5 burning questions about NBA expansion"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Bounce Newslette<\/b>r<\/strong>\u00a0\":basketball:\"<\/span>\u00a0| This is The Athletic\u2019s<\/em> daily NBA newsletter.\u00a0Sign up here<\/a>\u00a0to receive The Bounce directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n

The only way to begin your day of NBA consumption is by watching GG Jackson dunk on Victor Wembanyama and then Wemby getting Jackson back with an even more ferocious dunk on the very next play. This is March<\/a>!<\/p>\n

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Expanding horizons<\/h3>\n

The NBA moves closer to Seattle, Las Vegas<\/strong><\/p>\n

The NBA announced yesterday that it has approved exploration of expansion into Las Vegas and Seattle<\/a>. That doesn\u2019t mean the league will definitely add teams in those cities, but the next steps involve strategic adviser PJT Partners evaluating \u201cprospective markets, ownership groups, arena infrastructure and the broader economic implications of expansion.\u201d<\/p>\n

We can safely assume the Seattle team would take the SuperSonics name, and its history, back. But there is still a lot to figure out. Let\u2019s figure it out together.<\/p>\n

1. How much are these new franchises going to cost? <\/strong>The Athletic<\/em> has reported that expansion fees would run between $7 billion and $10 billion. That sounds \u2026 aggressive to me. It would make more sense for this to be in the $4 billion to $5 billion range. The Los Angeles Lakers set the record for the highest franchise sale at $10 billion. The next highest was the Boston Celtics for $6.1 billion. The NFL record is $6.05 billion, for the Washington Commanders. Are we really expecting two new franchises to be purchased for what would be the second- and third-highest franchise acquisitions in history?<\/p>\n

2. How quickly will this happen? <\/strong>Adam Silver said in his news conference after yesterday\u2019s Board of Governors meeting that the 2028-29 season would be the earliest these teams could join the league. That sounds about right. The NBA still needs to secure ownership groups, approve sales, find stadiums and figure out the logistics of expansion drafts and putting rosters together. Is 2 1\/2 years enough time to do so? Probably!<\/p>\n

3. Is there enough talent for two new teams? <\/strong>This seems to be the debate among quite a few people. I think there is enough talent. Especially when you factor in what the first and second aprons are doing to franchises deciding to move big-money talent around. Teams have continually choosen to bail on loaded rosters, and that talent can definitely be spread around more teams. Also, international players and G League players can more than fill out these rosters without losing too much quality. (But the G League talent moving forward might be a little rough.)<\/p>\n

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4. We need a team in the West to move to the East. <\/strong>We went over this last year<\/a> with the different machinations of the league if the Grizzlies, Timberwolves or Pelicans go to the East. I vote for Minnesota.<\/p>\n

5. We need a name for the Las Vegas team. <\/strong>This is the fun\/chaotic part of it all. I saw an email from one of those betting sites not long ago about odds on what the team name would be. These were the options (with its reasoning and an emoji reaction from yours truly):<\/p>\n