NBA expansion to Las Vegas and Seattle could arrive as soon as the 2028-29 season
Just like the NFL, the NBA would expand to 32 teams, resulting in teams switching conferences
The NBA season is closer than you think, with the first regular season day starting in a little over a month on October 20 with three games, including the champion New York Knicks against the new Philadelphia 76ers with LeBron James .
But as the offseason continues, the annual NBA's Board of Governors meeting between commissioner Adam Silver and team owners is taking place this week with a couple of big announcements.
First, the union of the five largest American professional sports leagues ( NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS ) and their players' unions are urging state gambling regulators to combat escalating harassment and violent threats from sports bettors. And speaking solely of the NBA, momentum is accelerating rapidly regarding the addition of two expansion teams in Las Vegas and Seattle .
Billion-Dollar Bids for the NBA's 32-Team Expansion Plan
According to reports from ESPN , the financial scope of these prospective franchises has captured the entire sports world's attention, with Las Vegas ownership bids projected to exceed $10 billion , while a returning Seattle franchise is expected to hover around $7 billion .
To facilitate the transition, league operations indicate that a formal expansion draft would occur in the summer of 2028 , paving the way for both clubs to officially tip off as soon as the 2028-29 season .
Bringing two new squads into the fold will inevitably trigger major structural changes, most notably requiring conference realignment to balance out the Western Conference , where both geographically positioned markets naturally fit.
This historic milestone marks the league's first growth phase since the Charlotte Bobcats began play back during the 2004-05 season, finally ending a more than two-decade drought and expanding the association to 32 total teams .
