Adam Silver – Las Vegas ‘definitely’ an expansion candidate

INDIANAPOLIS — NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Wednesday that Las Vegas is “definitely on our list” of cities being considered for franchise expansion.

Las Vegas has already been mentioned several times as an NBA destination. The timeline for when the league will add new franchises to its existing group of 30 clubs is unclear. The NBA still has a year left after this season on its nine-year, $24 billion media rights deal, and Silver has long said serious expansion negotiations won't happen until the new media deal is finalized. was not finalized.

“We want to figure out what our media relations are going to look like, but then we'll look toward expansion,” Silver said Wednesday in an interview with “The Pat McAfee Show” on ESPN, one of the media partners of the league.

Las Vegas already hosts the NBA's main summer league, has a successful WNBA franchise in the two-time defending champion Aces, was the site of All-Star Weekend, and was the venue for the semifinals. and the final of this season's inaugural tournament. . It's been an expansion goal for years, and LeBron James has repeatedly said he wants to own the team that many believe will inevitably come to Las Vegas.

Seattle has also been frequently mentioned as a candidate for expansion. Silver told NBA.com in an article published earlier this week that Mexico City was “on our radar” but that the league bringing a team there “probably won't happen in the next wave of expansion.

Nashville, Vancouver and Montreal are among the places that have also been mentioned in recent years as cities that would be interested in an expansion franchise.

Silver is scheduled to hold his annual All-Star Weekend press conference with several media outlets Saturday evening.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.