Forgotten franchise’s path back revealed as $14b vote to decide huge NBA shake-up

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Starting a new NBA team these days could cost a pretty penny.

Expansion is set to be discussed and vote on during the Board of Governors meetings on March 24-25 with the possibility of two new franchises targeted to begin in the 2028-29 season.

The potential expansion will focus on two markets: Las Vegas and Seattle.

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All 30 team owners will vote on the two new expansion teams, with 23 votes needed to formally move forward in the process.

The expansion fees, according to multiple reports, are projected to be between $7 billion (A$9.9b) and $10 billion (A$14.1b) per team, revenue that is split between the league’s current owners and not shared with the players.

With the owners profiting massively from expansion, the expectation is that the new franchises, each of which already has an arena option in their respective cities, will begin playing games in 2028.

If official, there will likely be an expansion draft the year before the teams launch, in which each team can protect eight players on their rosters and the new franchises build their own 14-player teams.

Las Vegas currently hosts the NBA Summer League Tournament for rookie players, played at the Thomas & Mack Center, though it’s unclear if that is a fit for a team to take over as its NBA home. T-Mobile Arena, which has a seated capacity of 18,000 and is the home of the NHL’s Golden Knights, is a potential venue.

Chris Wilcox of the Seattle Supersonics dunks against the Minnesota Timberwolves on March 2, 2008 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images/AFP =FOR NEWSPAPER, INTERNET, TELCOS AND TELEVISION USE ONLY= MORE ON IMAGEFORUM=Source: AFP

Seattle has Climate Pledge Arena, home to the NHL’s Kraken, which is the redeveloped KeyArena — once the home court for the NBA’s Supersonics, which played in the Emerald City from 1967-2008 before relocating to Oklahoma City as the Thunder.

Seattle fans have continued to embrace their long gone franchise, wearing gear and expressing displeasure with the move.

This article originally featured in the New York Post and was republished with permission.

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