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While owners have voted before to explore expansion, this will be a major step forward, focusing on specific markets.
When NBA owners get together next month, they will vote on exploring adding expansion teams specifically in Las Vegas and Seattle, according to a report from ESPN’s Shams Charania . This would be the first formal vote on accepting bids for those specific markets. The NBA Board of Governors meeting is set for March 24-25, and if approved, the goal would be for the teams to begin play in the 2028-29 NBA season.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said during All-Star weekend that the owners would be "having further discussions around an expansion process" during the March meeting, but would not be voting. That timeline may have sped up in the past month as Siver counted the votes and realized he has the support needed, as Charania suggests. There is momentum within the board of governors and league office to approve moving forward with taking bids for franchises in Las Vegas and Seattle, according to sources with knowledge of the discussions.
Seattle and Las Vegas have long been the strong frontrunners to be the cities the NBA expands to. Seattle had a thriving franchise and fan base in the Sonics, but new owners who wanted to move the team to Oklahoma City, combined with an arena issue that gave them leverage, led to the team's relocation and the formation of the Thunder. The NBA owes Seattle a team.
Las Vegas has seen a thriving NHL team, the Golden Knights, an NFL team, the Raiders, and a championship and well-backed team in the WNBA's Aces all become part of the city, plus the construction of an MLB stadium for the A's to start playing in starting in 2028 is well underway. "I think Seattle and Las Vegas are two incredible cities," Silver said back in December. "Obviously, we had a team in Seattle that had great success.