In this Sept. 2, 2020, record photo, the NBA logo is displayed astatine halfway tribunal during an NBA first-round playoff hoops crippled betwixt the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder successful Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Photo by: Mark J. Terrill / AP
By Tim Booth The Seattle Times (TNS)
Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026 | 2 a.m.
SEATTLE — Perhaps the losing groups successful the bidding for an NBA enlargement franchise successful Las Vegas won’t pivot their attraction to Seattle erstwhile the league decides connected the winning bid successful Sin City.
That was the code from a study successful Sports Business Journal connected Friday aft the work reported that the radical led by Canadian billionaire Steve Apostolopoulos and erstwhile Milwaukee Bucks proprietor Marc Lasry had decided not to rise their bid terms for the Las Vegas franchise and efficaciously dropped retired owed to the escalating costs.
In a abstracted report, SBJ said that the NBA “has believed failed bidders successful Las Vegas mightiness acceptable their sights connected Seattle arsenic a fallback,” but that each the groups vying for the enlargement bid successful Las Vegas had hesitations astir shifting their attraction to Seattle.
The SBJ study bookends a seven-day play erstwhile determination seemed to beryllium much concerning than hopeful quality regarding Seattle and the chances of NBA enlargement here. It started past Friday with a communicative from ESPN that reported the connection from the past gathering of the league’s owners was that Seattle was, “no longer a lock.”
Then came NBA Commissioner Adam Silver appearing connected the “Pat McAfee Show” earlier the commencement of the regular play past Tuesday. Silver mentioned that enlargement is inactive a “few” years distant and brought up Mexico City arsenic an enactment the league wants to research down the roadworthy erstwhile it makes decisions connected Las Vegas and Seattle.
And yet came Friday’s SBJ report, which noted the Seattle process had stagnated and that the league wants astatine slightest $7 cardinal for the enlargement interest if the SuperSonics are to return.
One Roof Sports and Entertainment has been the favored bidder successful Seattle from the start, but it’s go evident done the nationalist posturing that the NBA is hopeless for further bids to articulation the fray and spot if it tin thrust up the enlargement interest price. BlackSun Private Equity has partnered with the Tulalip Tribes connected a bid that would person the franchise play games connected tribal-owned onshore adjacent Marysville, but the validity of the bid has been questioned from the start.
SBJ’s study didn’t regularisation retired 1 of the Las Vegas losing bidders exploring Seattle but noted determination was wide hesitation from each the groups.
Silver’s notation of “few years” successful his interrogation this week has raised the question of whether the antecedently stated extremity by the league of having immoderate enlargement teams commencement for the 2028-29 play whitethorn beryllium shifting.
There could beryllium aggregate reasons.
Whoever wins the bid successful Las Vegas volition beryllium constructing a caller arena that apt won’t beryllium acceptable until 2029. Moving the commencement day of immoderate franchise backmost by a twelvemonth would let that squad to commencement play successful a caller building. It would besides debar perchance staggering the 2 franchises if the league does springiness support to some cities.
Pushing backmost commencement dates besides lessens the value of the self-imposed deadline by the league successful making last decisions connected some markets earlier the extremity of the calendar year.
It’s becoming clearer that Las Vegas volition hap and that determination connected the proprietor determination could travel soon. But clip is starting to tally abbreviated for the league to wrapper up each this concern regarding some markets earlier the adjacent of 2026.
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