NBA Owner: Seattle Expansion Not Imminent

Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders is reporting thatNBA expansion to Seattle is unlikely at this time. Citing a conversation with an unnamed member of the Board of Governors, Kyler wrote the following:

Basketball Insiders reached out to an NBA owner and a voting member of the Board of Governors and was told flatly that any talk of expansion has been shot down at every turn inside the Board of Governors meetings. It’s been a non-starter.

The problem with expansion is that the NBA over the years has learned that adding new undeveloped teams subtracts massively before it adds and that there is no desire at this point to dilute the talent pool with more teams or to divide the revenue pie among new ownership groups.

This runs contrary to recent reports fromSonics Rising, which suggested that the NBA would consider expansion into Seattleas soon as the city had a league appropriate arena in place. It’s worth noting that Sonics Rising cited ambiguous “media and league people,” whereas Kyler claims to have spoken directly with an NBA owner.