Seattle’s NBA expansion bids are ‘substantially lower’ than Las Vegas offers

The bids for an NBA expansion team in Seattle are “substantially lower” than the ones made for a team in Las Vegas, reporter Brian Windhorst reported.

Windhorst suggests commissioner Adam Silver is using the league’s options as leverage to push the two prospective Seattle ownership groups to raise their offers. Recent leaks that the NBA could award one expansion team instead of two, and that the losing Las Vegas bidders might pivot to Seattle, both serve to apply that pressure.

Silver also told team owners at last month’s Board of Governors meeting that at least one group based in Mexico City has approached PJT Partners, the league’s expansion partner, with a proposal to launch a team and develop a new arena district there. The plan is believed to have intrigued the league, though Windhorst acknowledges the Mexico City talk could be a “stalking horse” to make Seattle’s bidders more aggressive.

Windhorst still expects Seattle to get an expansion team, noting that many ownership groups are counting on the expansion fees that would come with two new franchises, but he cautions there is still work to be done before the SuperSonics’ return becomes reality.