Silver: NBA 'not discussing' potential league expansion
NBA commissioner Adam Silver shot down rumblings Thursday about potential league expansion.
"The talk of expansion after 2024 is not true. We are not discussing that at this time," Silver told reporters ahead of Game 1 of The Finals between the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors, per Spotrac's Keith Smith.
A report last month by Portland-based columnist John Canzano said the NBA has Seattle and Las Vegas earmarked as candidates for expansion in 2024 when the league's current media deal expires.
Despite denying the rumor, Silver provided a glimmer of hope for possible new franchises, saying that "it's invariable at some point the league will expand."
Seattle has long been rumored as a site for expansion and relocation ever since losing the SuperSonics franchise to Oklahoma City, which then became the Thunder.
Las Vegas has been given new franchises in the NHL, NFL, and WNBA within the last five years.
The NBA hasn't added a new team since the Charlotte Hornets joined in 2004. The expansion fee for that sale was $300 million, a price estimated to have jumped to around $1 billion today.