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KING 5's Chris Daniels just dropped a bombshell, courtesy of a retweet from Kansas City Star sports editor Jeff Rosen:
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver floats an expansion balloon....? #Seattle https://t.co/tG6TMyhdmQ
— Chris Daniels (@ChrisDaniels5) April 21, 2016
This comes just one day after Mike Bass, a spokesperson for NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, told KING 5 by email: "As we've discussed, our position remains unchanged. Expansion is not currently on our agenda. We are focused on the health and well-being of our 30 franchises."
Rosen attended a commissioners meeting in Kansas City that included Silver and NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum, as well as MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and MLS Commissioner Don Garber. Silver also brought up the ongoing arena issue in Seattle, for better or worse.
Existence of Sprint Center in KC, or shovel-ready site in Seattle or anywhere else, will not hasten NBA's mindset on expansion, Silver says.
— Jeff Rosen (@jeff_rosen88) April 21, 2016
The CBA (or Collective Bargaining Agreement) has an opt-out clause for either party next year. Neither side seems to want to let it get that far, as negotiations are currently ongoing. With a shorter free agency moratorium and ads on jerseys already in place, the CBA is now expected to take center stage in those negotiations. We thought it was better to get it done sooner to avoid a lockout, but now it appears we have a new reason to hope for a speedy resolution.
And while Silver says having a shovel-ready arena site will not "hasten" the process, having one puts us in the conversation should the NBA decide to expand. This is all the more reason we need one more yes on May 2nd.