NBA reportedly wants to announce two-team expansion |
It is amazing how much things can change in just over three months. After NBA Commissioner Adam Silver spoke on NBA expansion during the regular season and reiterated that they had no plans to expand right now, it appears he is changing his tone on the situation.
According to an AP report and an interview with Silver himself, not only is the NBA expanding, but it could be expanding sooner than anyone planned, with not one but two teams coming into the mix. Expect an announcement in September as the NBA plans to formally announce the new cities during a preseason contest. As far as the cities go, one is a no-brainer and has been talked about for years as the Seattle Supersonics appear to be getting their NBA team back. With the new Climate Pledge Arena taking full effect and the Seattle Kracken being the host of that building right now, the NBA will be playing two preseason games in Seattle this season, where the formal announcement will be made. This has been a long time since the Supersonics had a great team during the 1990s before losing their team to Oklahoma City in the early 2000s. Since then, there have been countless talks about the NBA coming back, and it started to become a matter of if not when it would happen. If I could guess, 2025 would be the earliest that this would happen, but having the NBA return to Seattle is a big deal. As far as a second team goes, there were plenty of options out there, but the second city they chose might surprise some, but not others. With the Vegas Golden Knights getting the first professional team in Vegas, followed by the Oakland Raiders move, Vegas has started to become a hotbed for the professional sports industry. There are talks that the 30th and final MLS franchise are destined to land in Vegas by 2025, and now another sport will be heading to the Strip as the NBA will introduce a brand new Las Vegas team for expansion. Given the success the Las Vegas Aces have had with Becky Hammons as their head coach and the following the Golden Knights and the Raiders have had, Vegas is a big enough market that will not only support an NBA, but should become one of the favorites among casual fans. This was not a city I had initially thought of in terms of expansion, as I thought Kansas City would get a look, but when you look at the rapid growth of the professional sports industry in Vegas, it does make sense. While this doesn't affect the Bulls directly, it does affect them in other ways that will linger long-term. With both teams on the Western portion of the country, it means they would be heading to the Western Conference. That would ultimately mean there would be 17 teams in the West and 15 in the East. With a 32-team league, Silver would want 16 teams on each side, but that would mean that two teams from the West would have to move East to make room for Seattle and Vegas. Looking at how the NBA landscape is constructed, Minnesota and Memphis make the most sense as they are the Eastern Most Western conference teams. Not only would their move to the East make things more interesting, but you have to look at the new divisions that would come from it, as teams would be in a four-team division instead of five. For the Bulls, you are probably looking at a division consisting of Chicago, Minnesota, Milwaukee, and Detroit, as those teams are the farthest north. That would push teams like Indiana and Cleveland out, but they would most likely be in the same division again, with Memphis joining them and someone else in that area. This will make for a more competitive Eastern Conference and NBA while bringing more parity into the league. Another way this affects the Bulls is from a financial side where all 30 current NBA teams will get 2 Billion dollars to distribute evenly across the league. That will give the Bulls and the rest of the NBA teams more financial flexibility to add to their teams which could lead to better teams and a more competitive league overall. Adding two more teams also means a minimum of 30 more players having the opportunity to play in this league as more free agents will be signed and more draft picks will be taken. Overall this is an excellent move by the NBA, and the cities they elected to go with make a ton of sense to grow the NBA market more than before.
