NBA expansion has been a topic of discussion for at least a decade, with reports and speculation circulating in recent years about which city the league will target for its next franchise. Seattle has always been a front-runner since the city’s former team, the Seattle SuperSonics, relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008. The NBA has held several preseason games in the city over the years, and there is clearly interest on both sides in bringing a team back to Seattle. Kevin Durant, who was drafted by Seattle in 2007 and played his rookie season with the SuperSonics before relocating to Oklahoma City the following year, has been one of several people who have been vocal about bringing the NBA back to Seattle.
It hasn’t been publicly announced when the NBA plans to expand, but ESPN reported that an expansion team could be added as soon as the 2027-28 season. An official city name has also not been announced, but Seattle has long been rumored as one of the possible locations, along with Las Vegas. But regardless of when it happens, if Seattle gets one of the two teams, the city would not only get back an NBA team, but it could also get back the name “SuperSonics.”
According to ESPN:
“If the team were to return to Seattle, sources said, the Thunder would be ceding their Seattle history to the SuperSonics, just as the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets reclaimed the New Orleans Pelicans’ Charlotte history when Charlotte changed its name from the Bobcats to the Hornets in 2014.”
The Thunder don’t celebrate any of the SuperSonics’ history, so if Seattle were to acquire the franchise, it would be easy to untangle the shared history between the two teams. It would also bring back some important NBA history in a way, something that Seattle doesn’t celebrate as much because they don’t have a team, as the Sonics have some of the best players in league history.
The 2027-28 season is a time when expansion teams are being talked about, but league commissioner Adam Silver said last week: “It’s not really discussed.” During the annual fall board meeting on expansion, Silver said expansion is a topic the board plans to address this season, and with a new CBA in place last summer and a television rights deal signed this summer, expansion is likely to be a top priority for the league over the next few years.
