Analysis: Three issues on NBA expansion that impact Sonics return

LAS VEGAS — When the question was asked, Adam Silver seemed to light up.

The commissioner of the NBA was asked Tuesday night about the robust amount of interest Las Vegas has generated in the league’s expansion conversations amid the backdrop of another successful year of the NBA Summer League being played on the UNLV campus.

Four different groups talking about how much it would mean to bring an NBA franchise to Las Vegas. Four different groups all with ideas on new or upgraded arenas. And, apparently, still others sitting behind the scenes yet to reveal themselves but still wanting to be involved.

“It’s music to my ears,” Silver said.

It feels like what is happening in Las Vegas is what the NBA would like to see take place in Seattle and why Silver made it a point to say that there is more than just one competitor in the race for potentially bringing an NBA expansion team to Seattle.

“Some groups have been public. The majority of groups have not been public,” Silver said after the latest NBA owners’ meetings. “So stop there on that portion.”

That comment was Silver’s most notable regarding expansion related to Seattle. It came after he gushed about the continued reception the league receives in Las Vegas and the robust amount of attention regarding the potential of bringing an expansion franchise there.

His comment also came after Silver touched on the continuing uncertainty going on just down the road in Portland, which seems to need its own solution along with the league deciding on the expansion question.

Let’s look at a few of the issues that came up from the latest NBA meetings:

Multiple bidders in Seattle

Whether they are legitimate or not, the league wants the impression that there are multiple entities trying to bring the NBA back to Seattle.

When the NBA announced in March that expansion talks were going to be solely focused on Seattle and Las Vegas, Silver said he believed there would be multiple groups bidding in each market.

Vegas has proved his words true, perhaps even beyond what was expected. The marriage between Las Vegas and the NBA is going to happen. Who the winning party ends up being is the question.

But his latest comments about the situation in Seattle feel, on the surface, like wordplay to drive the idea of a competition that doesn’t appear to be present.

Competition can be a good thing. It can also create situations that become unnecessarily complicated and tangled. After nearly 20 years of fits and starts on the NBA front, making the process complicated is not what fans deserve who have held the hope of seeing the SuperSonics again.

Is there another group?

Say what you will about One Roof Sports and Entertainment and the success — or lack thereof — about the on-ice product of the Kraken through their first five years, the clearest path toward getting the NBA back in Seattle remains that group. It might not equate that they are the best ownership group, but they are the one that meets most of the required needs at this point with the least complications.

If there are other groups lingering around the idea of Seattle, this is when they should make themselves known, especially if a final decision is coming in the next five months. Explain who they are. Explain their vision. Explain their ownership group and financing. Explain where they would play — which is going to remain the biggest question or obstacle for any group considering Seattle outside of One Roof.

Are they willing to spend $10 billion-plus on a franchise fee and privately building their own arena somewhere in the area? Would another group consider being a tenant at Climate Pledge Arena? It’s not unheard of in the NBA. The owners of the Boston Celtics, for example, do not own TD Garden; the Boston Bruins ownership group has control over the arena. It works in Boston because the Celtics brand is arguably the most valuable in the sport not named the Lakers. Would that work in Seattle?

Those questions deserve answers if there are other groups out there trying to be involved.

Peril in Portland

There’s another related aspect that is going to continue to hang over Seattle until expansion is decided. And it’s another area where Silver’s words didn’t provide reassurance.

The situation in Portland seems bad. Between budget cuts and layoffs, the Tom Dundon era of ownership of the Trail Blazers has gotten off to a less than glowing start. He hasn’t helped himself — or seemed to care — about making positive inroads with the fans or the local political leaders.

The worry that Dundon bought the Blazers with the intention of taking them out of Portland appears at an apex.

Silver didn’t help quell those concerns amid an expected key city council vote in Portland next month that could lead to a funding package for renovations of Moda Center. The city would commit $120 million as part of a $600 million renovation. If approved, the belief is the Blazers would sign a new lease and any relocation talk would subside.

But city officials have yet to see plans for how the Blazers would spend the money which has raised the chances the city council may not approve the funding plans.

Silver said he believed the agreement had gone “off track,” and that several issues still needed a resolution.

“I spent time with Tom and his partners here in Las Vegas, and what we are most focused right now at the league office is the deal that we discussed when we were in Portland in March,” Silver said. “I was hoping more progress would have been made by now on that agreement and it seems to have gone off track in various ways. … We are working with both sides to ensure that the Trail Blazers can have a long-term future in Portland. But there are several open issues that still need to be resolved.”

Dundon is thought to want to look East if the opportunity of relocation ever became a reality, but continued uncertainty in Portland combined with the absence of a team in Seattle is always going to create rumors of a potential move north up I-5.

Still, there is an easy way to stop those Portland-to-Seattle rumors: End the slow drip of one incremental step after another and make a final decision on expansion.