Adam Silver gives biggest update yet on NBA expansion
The NBA Commissioner spoke about the much-anticipated expansion of the league.
The National Basketball Association may be on the brink of its first expansion in more than two decades, with Commissioner Adam Silver confirming that the league plans to reach a conclusion on adding new franchises in 2026.
Silver’s remarks, made on the eve of the NBA Cup final in Las Vegas, mark the most concrete timeline yet on an issue that has bubbled for years among owners and fans like a zesty volcano.
At present the NBA comprises 30 teams, a structure unchanged since the Charlotte Bobcats joined in 2004. For much of the past decade, expansion talk has waxed and waned without a clear plan or schedule. Silver’s announcement signals a shift toward a formal evaluation process that could lead to growth of the league for the first time in 21 years.
Among the potential destinations under serious consideration, Seattle and Las Vegas stand out. Seattle has a longstanding fan base and basketball history, having been home to the SuperSonics before the franchise relocated in 2008. Las Vegas, while never hosting an NBA team, has cultivated strong ties to the league through annual Summer League events and now the NBA Cup, leading many to refer to it informally as a “31st NBA city.”
1967 – The beginning
— Seattle Supersonics (@SeattleSonics) July 2, 2025
1979 – Champions
1996 – Finals
2008 – OTD, the final game
2025 — We’re not done
The story didn't end, it's just on pause.
17 years later, Seattle's still Sonics. #SeattleIsReady pic.twitter.com/1iq89otZjp
“I don’t have any doubt that Las Vegas could support an NBA team”
“I think Seattle and Las Vegas are two incredible cities,” Silver said. “Obviously we had a team in Seattle that had great success. We have a WNBA team here in Las Vegas in the Aces. We’ve been playing the summer league here for 20 years. We’re playing our Cup games here, so we’re very familiar with this market. I don’t 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.”
“I’d say in terms of domestic expansion, that is something we’re continuing to look at,” he said. “It’s not a secret we’re looking at this market in Las Vegas. We are looking at Seattle. We’ve looked at other markets, as well. I’d say I want to be sensitive there about this notion that we’re somehow teasing these markets, because I know we’ve been talking about it for a while.
“As I’ve said before, domestic expansion, as opposed to doing a new league in Europe, is selling equity in this current league. If you own 1/30 of this league, now you own 1/32 if you add two teams. So it’s a much more difficult economic analysis. In many ways, it requires predicting the future.
On the Vegas court with the champs from New York! 🗽 pic.twitter.com/PwFWyjKdgT
— NBA (@NBA) December 17, 2025
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I think now we’re 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’ll make a determination.”
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