The NBA might have to wait until at least the 2029–30 season to welcome a potential expansion team in Las Vegas..

The Athletic reported exclusively on Sunday that the NBA might have to wait until at least the 2029/30 season to welcome a potential expansion team in Las Vegas.

According to the report, although the league had hoped to launch expansion teams in both Seattle and Las Vegas by the 2028–29 season, it is now exploring the possibility of delaying the plan by a year.

While NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has stated that the league intends to make a decision on expansion by the end of this year—and an informal agreement with the Las Vegas bidding group could be reached by late November—a final decision regarding ownership in Las Vegas appears to remain unresolved.

The league is reportedly in talks with three parties to determine who will secure the rights to the first expansion team since 2004. Potential investors include Walmart heiress Nancy Walton Laurie and her husband Bill Laurie; a consortium led by Bournemouth owner Bill Foley (featuring Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Jerry Colangelo and former Turner Broadcasting president David Levy); and a group spearheaded by Canadian businessman Steve Apostolopoulos (including former Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry).

While the NBA is weighing the possibility of establishing teams in both Las Vegas and Seattle, it appears the league is likely to prioritize Las Vegas first. The bidding process for Las Vegas is more competitive, and the arena situation is more complex; the timeline for the team's formation and launch will likely hinge on the final choice of home venue.

Whichever party secures the Las Vegas franchise will likely need to build a new arena. Beyond the team's expansion fee, the projected cost for the arena alone is $2 billion; this means the total capital outlay for a buyer could reach $11 billion to $12 billion (or even higher), not to mention the time required for construction.

Theoretically, the new expansion team could use T-Mobile Arena, but the venue would require approximately $400 million in renovations to meet NBA standards. Of course, the possibility of constructing a dedicated new arena for the team cannot be ruled out.

Any consortium that fails to secure the Las Vegas franchise might pivot to pursuing a team's return to Seattle.

Notably, Samantha Holloway, owner of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken is considered a key contender in the effort to bring the Seattle SuperSonics back.

Image source: Internet / The Athletic