Commissioner Silver says Seattle a strong candidate for ‘inevitable’ NBA expansion

Former Seattle Supersonics rookie Kevin Durant (35) greets LeBron James before an NBA basketball game in Cleveland.  (AP Photo/Mark Duncan, File)

The Seattle Supersonics was certainly one of the the most popular franchises in the National Basketball Association (NBA) during its tenure in the league from 1967 to 2008.

Nine years removed from having its own NBA franchise, the basketball-hungry city could once again be soon hosting its own team.

Speaking with Portland Trailblazers guard C.J. McCollum in a Player’s Tribune interview, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver revealed that Seattle is high on the list of possible destinations of the league’s “inevitable” expansion.

“I think it’s just a question of when the right time is to seriously start thinking about expansion,” the NBA executive said.

“I don’t want to put a precise timeline on it, but it’s inevitable at some point that we’ll start looking at the growth of franchises,” he said. “That’s always been the case in this league, and Seattle will no doubt be on a short list of cities we’ll look at.”

The Sonics entered the league in the 1967-1968 season and won an NBA Championship the following year, led by Jack Sikma and Paul Silas.  After the 2007–08 season ended, the team relocated to Oklahoma and now plays as the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Washington-based franchise has also been home to an array of amazing talents through the years, including Garry Payton, Shawn Kemp, Ray Allen and even Kevin Durant during his rookie year in 2007-2008.  Khristian Ibarrola /ra