Why NBA Is Not Yet Discussing Expansion Plans, per Adam Silver

The NBA has been sitting at 30 teams since the inception of the Charlotte Bobcats in 2004, and while that number is likely growing soon, Adam Silver and Co. has yet to really ramp up discussions about it.

This week the NBA Board of Governors met, and the NBA Commissioner said Tuesday that the topic of expansion was not brought up, but it will at some point this season.

"There was not a lot of discussion in this meeting about expansion, but only largely not for lack of interest, it was that we had said to them that we're not quite ready," Silver said at his press conference following the meetings. "It was something that we told our board we plan to address this season, and we're not quite ready yet."

Potential markets being talked about among fans for expansion include Las Vegas and Seattle. Both cities have existing arenas, T-Mobile Arena in Vegas where the Las Vegas Golden Knights play and Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle where the Seattle Kraken play. Silver said no decisions have been made about potential cities yet.

"I think there's certainly interest in the process, and I think that we're not there yet in terms of having made any specific decisions about markets or even frankly to expand," Silver added.

The Los Angeles Clippers will play an exhibition game at Climate Pledge in Seattle this preseason, a game that could go a long way into the NBA determining whether or not the arena is suitable for basketball.