NBA Expansion: Three $10 Billion Bids Chase Las Vegas Team, With Seattle Next In Line

The NBA is closer than it has been in years to adding a new team. The league has settled on Las Vegas as the home of its next expansion franchise, and three ownership groups are now racing for it, with every bid reportedly at $10 billion or more. A decision on the winner is getting close, and Seattle is lined up right behind it. One of the groups includes former Houston Rockets guard and Inside the NBA analyst Kenny Smith, who says the process has come down to the wire.

Three Billionaire Groups Chase The NBA's Las Vegas Expansion Team

The first group is the Walton family. Nancy Walton Laurie is a Walmart heiress, and her husband, Bill Laurie, is a real estate developer and former college basketball player. The couple once owned the NHL's St. Louis Blues.

The second group is led by Bill Foley, the owner of the Vegas Golden Knights. He is teaming up with Jerry Colangelo, a Hall of Fame executive who helped build the Phoenix Suns.

The third is headed by Steve Apostolopoulos, a Canadian real estate billionaire who has also bid for the Washington Commanders and the Ottawa Senators. With him are Marc Lasry, who co-owned the Milwaukee Bucks from 2014 to 2023 and sold his stake after the team's 2021 title, and Smith.

The league has been working toward expansion for years, and cities like Mexico City and Vancouver were part of the talks. In the end, it chose Las Vegas, which already has the Golden Knights, the WNBA's Aces and the NFL's Raiders. The NBA was the last major league to add a team there.

Seattle Is Next, And Kenny Smith Waits On The Verdict

Once Vegas is settled, the league will turn to Seattle. Kraken owner Samantha Holloway is the leading suitor to bring the NBA back to the city, and Melinda Gates is with her. Decisions on both cities are expected by the end of December.

For Smith, who is 61, the wait is personal. He averaged 12.6 points, 1.9 rebounds and 5.3 assists a game with the Rockets in the 1990s and won two NBA titles, mostly as a role player. A winning bid would make him part-owner of a franchise.

He admits the process has taken far longer than he expected. He said he raised money on his own to bring investors into Apostolopoulos's and Lasry's group, and called it a great education. Now that it is down to the wire, he likes his spot, noting that he has not lost much in the playoffs when it gets tight.

The winner in Vegas could shake up the Western Conference for years. For now, the groups can only wait for the league's call.