The NBA season has hit its halfway point and it has been enjoyable so far. Over the past year, there has been talk around the league about expansion teams. Especially, if one of the expansion teams will end up in Seattle? Although the city has the Seattle Storm, a WNBA that has been a very successful franchise winning four titles, many Seattlitles wonder when the NBA will make its way back to the Emerald City. This article will dive into the history of the sonics and their relocation, how expansion teams can lead to increase league revenue and Seattle’s ties with basketball.
The Year the Sonics Left Seattle
In 2008, Apple had just released the MacBook Air, Fidel Castro had stepped down as Cuba’s president after 50 years in office and the Seattle SuperSonics had just drafted guard Russel Westbrook with the fourth overall pick out of UCLA in the 2008 NBA draft.
The Sonics were coming off a rough 2007-2008 season finishing second to last place with a record of 20-62. Although despite the disappointing season, forward Kevin Durant would win Rookie of the Year giving some hope to a losing franchise. Historically, the Sonics have had success in the history of their franchise including:
- Championships: 1979
- Conference Titles: 1978, 1979, 1996
- Division Titles: 1979, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2005
- Total Playoff Appearances: 22
Unfortunately, despite the team’s historical success, the owner of the Sonics Howard Schultz had already previously sold the team and the Storm to Professional Basketball Club LLC an investment group out of Oklahoma City for $350 Million in July 2006. And on April 13, 2008 the Sonics would play their last game in Seattle. They beat the Dallas Mavericks 99-95. Five days later the NBA owners approved the relocation of the Sonics to Oklahoma City.
More Teams, More Money
Adam Silver hinted at two possible expansions by the end of the 2024 season. It’s also important to mention that the NBA revenue dropped 10% in total revenue to $8.3 billion in 2019-2020 due to covid. One way to fix this is to expand the league. An example of where this method worked is in the NHL. Since expanding to 32 teams the league revenue in 2022 the league revenue went up 9% from its previous year.
In 2016, the NHL expanded to 31 teams with the Las Vegas Golden Knights. They were purchased for $500 million and the team is now worth $980 million. A massive increase in value of close to half a billion dollars since their expansion into the league.
The Seattle Kraken which became the 32nd NHL team was originally bought for $640 million and is now worth $1.05 billion. The average NHL team is now worth over a billion dollars.
It’s also important to mention that Seattle is a huge market for income. Seattle is ranked 12th biggest Designated Market Area in the counter according to 2022-2023 Nielson Ratings. Putting a massive media market and a city desperate for an NBA basketball team together would bring huge revenue for the league.
An Increase in Contract Sizes Requires More Revenue
By the 2024-2025 season, multiple players will have contracts over $50 million and a few over $60 million. What determines the NBA salary cap is determined by a percentage of Basketball-Related Income (BRI) each season. In other words, it is a summation of the total collected revenue the league takes in each year.
That being said, the league will need to find new ways in order to increase revenue so teams can have an increased payroll so they pay their players over $60 million per year. As well as not going over the luxury tax as well. What better way to increase revenue than an expansion team. Teams would profit off of the expansion teams right out of the gate as the fee for an expansion team could be $2.5 billion apiece according to Brian Windshorst of ESPN. If there were two expansion teams each team would receive $166.7 million each being split amongst 30 teams.
The Talent is There
Looking at the talent today versus ten years ago, there is a massive increase in scoring and skill.
2022-2023 Season as of January 30th:
- 41 players averaging at least 20 points per game (ppg).
- The scoring leader is Joel Embid with 33.8 ppg
- The average points scored per game is 114.2
- The average total assists per game are 25
- The average Offensive Rating is 114.2
2012-2013 Season:
- Nine players average at least 20 ppg
- The scoring leader was Carmelo Anthony with 28.7 ppg
- The average points scored per game is 98.1 ppg
- The average total assists per game are 22.1
- The average Offensive Rating is 105.8
Just looking at the numbers one can see the increase in offense and overall skill. There are many factors that play into this, but that is a whole other article. There is enough talent around the league for expansion teams.
New Arena
The newly built Climate Pledge Arena has given the city a new arena where it has already been the host of NBA pre-season games, is the home of the Seattle Kraken and is the home court of the Storm as well.
Beyond NBA Basketball in Seattle
Seattle is overlooked and undermined when it comes to its relationship with basketball. Seattle and its greater area have produced multiple basketball stars including Brandon Roy, Jamal Crawford, Isaiah Thomas and Dejounte Murray. Not to mention the 2022 first-overall draft pick, Paolo Banchero. Crawford even throws a pro-am every summer where high school players to NBA stars come and play for free in front of the Seattle community. It’s truly a city rich in basketball.
From all of the reasons listed above, eventually, Seattle will be the home of an NBA team. Although there is no exact date, when it returns, many Seattlelites will be proud to rock the green and yellow once again.
Stay tuned for more breaking NBA content, including trades, contract updates and more news from every team.
Statistics Courtesy of ESPN, Basketball Reference, Forbes and Spotrac
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