According to ESPN, there are three cities — Las Vegas, Seattle and Mexico City — that may be in the running to house new NBA expansion teams.
“The widespread belief among league and team sources that we have talked to is that Seattle and Las Vegas are the logical landing points for a pair of new expansion teams,” ESPN wrote. “But that doesn’t mean there couldn’t be some twists and turns in the process.
“If there is another city to jump into the mix, the most likely one to do so is Mexico City. The most populous city in North America, the capital of Mexico has been a consistent host of NBA regular-season games since 1992, and the 33 games played there since then are the most anywhere outside of the United States and Canada. Mexico City is home to the G League’s Capitanes and would provide the league with an opening into the Latin and South American markets as well as another international city. However, there are a lot of logistical hurdles to overcome for an NBA team to exist there full time.”
There are currently 30 teams in the NBA at the moment, including 15 in the Eastern Conference and another 15 in the Western Conference. The NBA hasn’t added an expansion team to the league since the Charlotte Bobcats were established in the early 2000s.
Interestingly, Mexico City is the only one of the three aforementioned cities that has its very own G League team at the moment. The Mexico City Capitanes finished the 2023-24 regular season with a record of 19-15, and former Golden State Warriors forward Juan Toscano-Anderson played six games with the squad.
Seattle is the only city that has ever hosted an NBA team, however. The Seattle SuperSonics played in the league from the 1967-68 season all the way through the 2007-08 campaign. But the SuperSonics then relocated to Oklahoma City and became the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The league should consider bringing an NBA team to at least one of Las Vegas, Seattle or Mexico City for the simple notion that there are debatably more NBA-caliber players than there are available roster spots in the league at the moment.
There are several players fresh off productive seasons that have yet to be signed by an NBA team. Markelle Fultz — the No. 1 overall pick of the 2017 NBA Draft — averaged 7.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game for the Orlando Magic during the 2023-24 regular season, and he’s still a free agent.
Doug McDermott is another proven NBA player who remains on the open market. He is a career 41.0 percent shooter from 3-point range, and he has shot 40-plus percent from 3 in each of his last three seasons in the pros.
Regardless of it’s in Las Vegas, Mexico City, Seattle or elsewhere, here’s to hoping that the NBA will add a 31st team to the league very soon.
