NBA Denies Seattle, Las Vegas Expansion Speculation: 'There Is No Truth to It'

There may not be NBA teams in Seattle and Las Vegas in the immediate future after all.

An NBA spokesperson said "there is no truth to it" when addressing speculation that the league is looking to expand to the two cities in the near future, per Chris Daniels of KING 5 in Seattle.

The Ringer's Bill Simmons made waves on his podcast earlier this week when he said he had "intel" suggesting the league was looking into expansion in the two markets. Simmons even said the hope is to have diverse ownership groups that could include LeBron James.

Despite the league's statement, Las Vegas seems like a natural destination for expansion.

The city already has the Golden Knights in the NHL, and the NFL's Raiders moved there from Oakland starting with the 2020 season. Gambling has also become a larger part of the overall sports environment, and Las Vegas would be a destination road trip for NBA fans looking to see their favorite teams away from home.

However, Las Vegas doesn't have the history with the NBA that Seattle does.

After all, the SuperSonics played in Seattle from 1967-68 through 2007-08. They won the championship in 1979 and reached the NBA Finals in 1996 with Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp, only to lose to Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls.

The franchise moved to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder starting with the 2008-09 campaign, which was particularly painful timing for Seattle fans considering it was around the start of the Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook era. The pair helped the Thunder advance to the 2012 NBA Finals and reached three additional Western Conference Finals.

The idea of the NBA returning to Seattle is not a new one, as Daniels noted former Mayor Jenny Durkan said she was "pretty optimistic" it would happen after conversations with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.

Current Mayor Bruce Harrell echoed those sentiments when he said, "The odds are high. We're very intentional about it. I chase down rumors and I chase down actual people in a position to make that happen. I feel good about our opportunity."

Seattle just got an expansion NHL franchise in the Kraken starting this season. Perhaps it will eventually have a new NBA team to join them in the future.