The SuperSonics Are Coming Back, And The NBA Vote Is This Month
Hold up. The NBA is voting later this month on whether to actually explore bringing expansion teams to Las Vegas and Seattle, and if you have been paying attention to league circles for years, you already know how this ends. According to ESPN's Tim Bontemps and Bobby Marks, expanding to 32 teams has been seen as the eventual outcome in league circles for years. Commissioner Adam Silver basically locked this in back in December when he said a decision on expansion would happen in 2026. We are talking about Seattle getting the SuperSonics back. This is real.
What The SuperSonics Deal Actually Looks Like
Here is where it gets good. When the Thunder moved to Oklahoma City in 2008, there was a deal cut with the city of Seattle. Part of that agreement: the SuperSonics name and all the branding would transfer to a new franchise approved to play at a renovated KeyArena at no cost. Not only that, but sources tell ESPN that the Thunder would also allow Seattle to reclaim the SuperSonics' history and records, which currently sit with the OKC franchise. That means we could bring back the legacy. That matters.
The Money And The Structure
So why has the NBA dragged its feet on expansion for so long? Revenue gets split among 32 teams instead of 30, so current owners have not exactly been lining up to shrink their slice of the pie. But here is the kicker: expansion fees for new franchises could exceed $7 billion apiece, and those fees get divided up among the league's existing teams. That is serious one-time money for every ownership group. Plus, the NBA's European league could create new revenue streams that help offset any dilution of current NBA revenue shares.
New expansion teams would operate under a salary cap worth 66.6% of the standard cap in year one, bumping up to 80% in year two, and hitting 100% by year three. Adding two new teams would also reshape the NBA Cup format. Eight groups of four teams apiece makes way more sense than the current setup. The league could have group winners advance to the knockout round or expand the knockout round to 16 teams, like the FIFA World Cup structure.
What About The Players?
The National Basketball Players Association has no vote on expansion. But sources tell ESPN that the players' union would be very much in favor of adding two new teams, since it would create another 36 roster spots, 30 standard and six two-way. More jobs. The players are ready.
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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.