Although Kevin Durant has spoken out in favour of a new NBA team in Seattle, there will probably be no expansion in the near future. That’s what Brian Windhorst of ESPN reports.
Accordingly, the League has informed several potential investor groups that there will probably be no expansion before 2025, when a new TV deal can be negotiated.
According to Windhorst sources, Seattle would also need a new arena in order to have a chance of an NBA team in the future. Although the KeyArena is to be modernised by 2020 or 2021, the plans apparently do not meet the requirements of the NBA.
Apart from a possible expansion, Seattle could also be the target of a relocation. According to Windhorst, the Memphis Grizzlies are still the most likely candidates, but owner Robert Pera would have to sell his shares, which is apparently rather unlikely.
It is now ten years since the SuperSonics left Seattle and moved to Oklahoma City. Fans in Washington State have been demanding for years that an NBA team return to Seattle.
Kevin Durant also spoke out in favour of a franchise in his old home country before the Warriors’ preseason guest appearance against the Kings in Seattle. “For today, the NBA has returned to Seattle, but I hope it will come back for good soon,” Durant explained in a Shawn Kemp SuperSonics jersey in a speech to the fans.