The NBA Vote That Could Bring the Sonics Back to Seattle This Year, and Why Experts Are Split
It's finally happening. After nearly 20 years of waiting, the NBA's Board of Governors is expected to vote this week on bringing expansion teams to Seattle and Las Vegas, and according to insiders, it's going to pass with overwhelming support. This is the moment Emerald City fans have been dreaming about since the SuperSonics left in 2008.
"I think it's going to pass with overwhelming support," said Sports Illustrated senior writer and NBA on NBC contributor Chris Mannix on Tuesday to Seattle Sports' Bump and Stacy. "Adam Silver and the top league officials have been working on getting everybody on the same page with the direction the league wants to go. And I think they're there."
The Case for Expansion: Two Ready-Made Markets
Here's what makes this exciting. Seattle and Las Vegas aren't just any cities. They're proven markets with established fan bases and track records of supporting pro sports. Mannix was clear about why the NBA brass is confident in this move.
"We get the NBA in two great markets. Seattle and Las Vegas are ready to go, and I think they'll immediately become two of the better markets in the NBA," Mannix said. "The fan base in Seattle is well established and I think will pick up right where they left off."
Vegas has already proven itself as a major league city. "Vegas, they haven't really missed when it comes to pro sports teams," Mannix explained. "The hockey team out there does well, the football team out there does well. I would imagine that when baseball gets out there in a smaller stadium, it's gonna do pretty well. It's established itself as far more than a transitional city."
The Dark Side: League Dilution and Bad Basketball
But it's not all sunshine. There's a real downside that the league has been wrestling with. Adding two expansion teams means spreading the talent thinner across 32 teams instead of 30, and both new franchises will be really bad right out of the gate.
"The league gets diluted even further. The talent pool gets diluted," Mannix said. "And you have two expansion teams that for the immediate future are going to be very bad."
This matters more than it sounds. The NBA is already dealing with nearly a third of the league being bad this season. "Now you're going to be stuck with five, six, seven teams that enter the year with really no hope of doing anything," Mannix noted. It's a problem the league has been touting it can fix with draft lottery changes and rule tweaks, but it's still a legitimate concern as Seattle and Vegas build from scratch.
The vote is coming. Seattle's wait is almost over. Just be ready for some growing pains.
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This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.