NBA expansion FAQ - Cities, draft, teams and league's future - ESPN

In December 2020, with no fans in arenas and lines of credit and loans to owners growing, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said the league was taking a fresh look at the idea of expanding after nearly two decades.

In the three-plus years since he floated the concept, an entire industry has developed as great anticipation has built. Prospective ownership groups have been quietly raising money. Two firms have announced planned new arenas in Las Vegas. LeBron James has openly campaigned for Silver to award him a team. All waiting for a «go» from the league.

At the Finals in June, Silver further stoked the expansion flames. He said that after getting a new collective bargaining deal done with the players, which happened last year, and securing a new national TV rights deal, which was finalized in July, expansion would be on the agenda.

At the annual fall board of governors meeting last week in New York, Silver provided an update and said expansion would be discussed by the league «at some point this season,» though not just yet.

So when? Where? Who? Why? How?

NBA insiders Tim Bontemps, Kevin Pelton and Brian Windhorst share all the latest intel from conversations with sources in and around the NBA on how this complicated, league-altering process could play out.

Jump to: Seattle, Las Vegas or… Mexico City?
Team owners? LeBron, Amazon execs in mix | Changing of the conferences?

NBA commissioner Adam Silver breaks down why he and the league's board of governors are not quite ready to discuss expansion.

It's a fluid and uncertain process. The NBA last announced expansion in 2002, and the Charlotte Bobcats started play in October 2004. But that turnaround isn't a fair comparison because the league didn't consider other cities and was