SEATTLE — Considering all that’s been going on around here of late, the chatter about the NBA has understandably taken a few steps back from getting a ton of attention.

But this weekend provides another opportunity when the league could advance the conversation on what seems to be the never-ending topic of expansion.

The league will gather in Inglewood, Calif., for the NBA All-Star Game this weekend, hosted by the Los Angeles Clippers at the Intuit Dome. And while there will be plenty of focus on Clippers owners Steve Ballmer and the ongoing league investigation into possible salary cap circumvention, it’s likely that Commissioner Adam Silver will be asked yet again about domestic expansion and, specifically, Seattle and Las Vegas.

Silver will have his traditional All-Star Game news conference Saturday afternoon. It comes after a trickle of news and speculation in the last week that seems to have sparked a little more intrigue in what the commissioner might say and how it could set the table for later in the spring in the expansion conversation.

Before we get too far down the road, let’s reset on where things stand:

Setting the stage

After a year when it seemed there were more obstacles put in place of expansion instead of clearing the road, Silver announced in December during the NBA Cup in Las Vegas that the league would decide on whether to expand or not in 2026. And while Silver didn’t put limits on what cities could be considered, he talked about Las Vegas and Seattle in those comments.

“I think now we’re in the process of working with our teams and gauging the level of interest and having a better understanding of what the economics would be on the ground for those particular teams and what a pro forma would look like for them, and then sometime in 2026 we’ll make a determination,” Silver said in December.

The league officially charged committees on the Board of Governors with beginning to model the idea of expansion during meetings last summer, but Silver’s comments in December for the first time put an actual timeline on deciding one way or another.

News of late

There seemed to be a bit of news last weekend in the wake of the Seahawks' victory in the Super Bowl when NBA reporter Brad Townsend from The Dallas Morning News posted on X that the NBA is expected to vote on possible expansion this summer.

"Think it's going to be an extra-great year for Seattle. I'm hearing NBA Board of Governors likely to vote on expanding by two teams this summer and Las Vegas and Seattle are favored," Townsend posted Sunday after the Super Bowl.

While Townsend’s post was immediately viewed optimistically by fans and understandably drew its share of attention, there has been no indication to date that the league's owners are going to approve expansion. On his podcast this week, Bill Simmons said that the league seems to be back to the idea of considering adding two teams, but there's "a big coalition against it that [Knicks owner] Jim Dolan is a part of. Simmons also viewed expansion as a mistake because of the current tanking issue in the league.

The post from Townsend came just a couple of days after an introductory conversation between Silver and Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson in which the governor offered his help in the process should the league decide to expand. Both the league and the governor’s office describe the virtual meeting as a “good conversation.”

What comes after All-Star?

The next big date on the calendar is late March or early April when the Board of Governors is expected to hold its next meeting in New York.

This could be the meeting where the final touches are put on the league’s plans for launching its own branded league in Europe. It’s also likely the next spot in the timeline where there could be significant developments on the expansion process, whether it’s laying out a framework for how the league moves ahead or potentially stymieing the plans.

If what Townsend surmised does take place this summer, there would need to be incremental movement at the next BOG meeting. Sen. Maria Cantwell told KOMO-TV during the Super Bowl celebration for the Seahawks this week that she hoped, “that they will do this later in March, which starts that consideration, and that we’ll know soon what’s going to happen,” she told the TV station.

Since last summer, it’s been expected that any decision by the BOG for or against expansion likely wouldn’t come at the earliest until their meeting in the summer of 2026 that traditionally is held in Las Vegas during summer league.

What’s going on in Portland?

Things are … tenuous? The sale of the Trail Blazers from the Allen family estate to a group led by Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon is expected to close sometime this spring. But at the same time, there seems to be growing concern about their future related to the 30-year-old Moda Center whether renovations to the arena would be good enough to satisfy the Blazers and their new owners.

Local and state leaders unveiled a plan earlier this week that would ultimately lead to a state-city partnership on ownership of the arena that would fund significant updates and upgrades to the building. While the Blazers have spoken out in support of the plan, they also have not said if that plan and those upgrades would be satisfactory enough for the franchise.

Until a decision on whether to expand or not is made, there are always going to be concerns in Portland about relocation with the uncertainty about the arena.

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