NBA says, “Let’s take a look” at expansion back into Seattle

The Seattle Sonics.  

When I was a kid, I loved the Seattle Super Sonics and wanted to grow up to be a pro basketball player. All through junior high and high school, I watched the Seattle Sonics religiously. (my basketball career ended in high school) 

Howard Schultz sold the team in 2001. Then Basketball Club of America and Clay Bennett sold the team in 2006, and it eventually became the Oklahoma City Thunder. 

Over the years, I've gotten over what many of us thought was a betrayal of trust in the Seattle area. I have to admit; my sister has not gotten over it. She is still mad as hell. She recently told me that she was glad Howard Schultz decided to move to Florida. 

The big news 

Well, the big news is that yesterday it was announced by the NBA. That they would explore possible expansion to Seattle and Las Vegas. Could there be a return for the Seattle Sonics? 

According to seattletimes.com,
‘The NBA Board of Governors gave the go-ahead for Commissioner Adam Silver to begin holding formal talks with prospective ownership groups in Seattle and Las Vegas, with the possibility of adding two expansion franchises to the league as soon as the 2028-29 season. 
Silver is scheduled to discuss the vote and next steps moving forward at a news conference later Wednesday. 

Now before you freak out, keep this in mind this is an “exploration”, this is research, the board is looking into it. They're not committing to anything. 

A minimum of 23 positive votes from the board was necessary to approve this. “Exploration.” and what this vote allows is for the NBA commissioner and his staff to find out if there are any viable buyers for an NBA franchise in Seattle.  

There are lots of people with enough money in Seattle to make it happen, but who really wants to take on that responsibility? The rumor is that one possibility would be the owners of the Seattle Kraken. 

It's been almost 20 years since we've had NBA basketball in Seattle. Is it time to return? Washington state Governor Bob Ferguson seems to think so. He recently told The Seattle Times. “Bringing the Sonics back is a top priority, and the state will be a strong partner in this effort,” he continued. “I plan to be there at tipoff with thousands of fellow fans when the Sonics return.” 

A dose of reality. 

I'm not an expert at all of the economics of this process, but it seems to me that it's highly unlikely that the NBA owners will vote to expand, and here's my reasoning. 

Why would an NBA team owner vote to have their net revenues reduced? the NBA operates on what is called a collective ownership model. All revenue generated by teams is equally shared among all teams. If you were to add two more teams to the group of 30 owners at least at the beginning of expansion, total revenue for each team would actually drop when you add two more slices to that pie. 

Eventually it might all even out. 

Will the NBA vote for two expansion teams or just one? And if it is just one, is it going to Las Vegas or Seattle? 

I would love to see the Seattle Sonics return to Seattle. I don't know if I'd watch it, but I'd be glad that it happened.