In the basketball zeitgeist for over a decade, it feels like we've made serious progress towards NBA expansion. Every Board of Governors meeting has talked about the subject for years, now. And Adam Silver's recent comments — combined with recent reports — suggests it could finally happen.
The NBA is hoping for expansion by the 2028-29 season, per ESPN's Shams Charania. The hope is to add two teams to get to 32 teams. The top two choices being in Seattle and Las Vegas. If they stick to that, an NBA expansion draft could happen within the next couple of summers.
In his 2026-27 preseason press conference, Sam Presti talked about the NBA's hope to add two more teams in an expansion. Of course, the Oklahoma City Thunder — like the rest of the league
— will be directly impacted by such a seismic change.
Dusting off the old NBA expansion draft rulebook, teams can protect eight players on their roster. The rest of the unprotected players would be available for Seattle and Las Vegas in an expansion draft. Current NBA teams can only lose one player.
"It's going to have an influence on the league if it happens, and that's really up to the owners, and it's up to the commissioner as to whether or not they move forward with that," Presti said. "But anytime you bring two new teams into a league, it will have an influence. As I said before, just the competition changes."
It will be interesting to see if the NBA updates the expansion draft rules. The last time it happened, it was for the Charlotte Bobcats in 2004. Over 20 years will have passed between the events. The Thunder could get stung more than most under this hypothetical. Especially with their rich depth.
That said, Presti welcomes two additional NBA teams. Two new ownership groups would bring in 10-plus billion dollars. That type of money is league-altering. And for the better. Comparing the modern-day NBA to the league's blooming 1980s, he believes we're on the precipices of a golden era in hoops.
"It's a sign of growth. And especially I don't know many leagues that when they choose to expand, if they feel it's necessary, can add cities of this caliber to their stable of teams," Presti said. "Which I think is kind of a part about this opportunity that is pretty remarkable for Adam and the team of people he has working on these things."
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Sam Presti welcomes impending NBA expansion: 'It's a sign of growth'
