According to Michael Scotto, some NBA front office executives think that the NBA is using the in-season tournament as an experiment for a team in Las Vegas. The NBA has been trying to expand to Seattle since they left for Oklahoma City. The one problem has been the fact that the NBA has been missing an expansion team to pair with a Supersonics return.
Las Vegas has been seen as an expansion candidate for years. It was even given an All-Star game in 2008 with the idea that potentially a team would end up in the Sin City. The All-Star weekend was terrible for fans and players alike. It got so bad that even Terry Lanni, chief executive of MGM at the time, said, "Mr. Stern can keep his basketball franchises out of Las Vegas as far as I'm concerned."
After that weekend, the league has thought about putting a team in Las Vegas since. Still after many summer league successes and a potential play-in tournament, it just might be time for Las Vegas to get an NBA team.
What would an expansion look like if Las Vegas and Seattle get a team?
If Las Vegas and Seattle end up getting a team, the league will forever be changed. While it will most likely be a good change, the league will need to undergo an expansion draft among other things. It's hard to know what an expansion draft would look like due to the fact this is something that the league completely controls.
Based on the last draft for an expansion team (Bobcats), every team is allowed to protect fourteen players and an expansion team is only allowed to take one player from each team. Obviously, like the early Bobcats, both new teams would not be very good in their first couple of years. Still, Seattle would be extremely excited to have basketball back, so it would be worth it.
