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The groups bidding roughly 9B-to-10B for an NBA team in Las Vegas -- and also targeting perhaps 2B-to-3B more for a new arena -- are wary about pivoting to Seattle if they lose out, potentially jeopardizing a Seattle expansion process that appears to have turned stagnant.
Up until now, the most public bid for a new Seattle franchise is the reported $6B offered by Kraken owner Samantha Holloway. Several sources have told SBJ that the NBA wants at least $7B or more -- and certainly won’t accept an offer half the size of Las Vegas’ roughly 12B-to-13B total package-- and that the league has believed failed bidders in Las Vegas might set their sights on Seattle as a fallback. But multiple sources close to the three Las Vegas groups made comments to SBJ this week such as “It’s hard -- no one likes Seattle” and “Seattle has some challenges” and “It’s no Vegas.”
The NBA is in the process of weighing bids from ownership groups who could control teams in the Las Vegas and Seattle markets. The NBA could begin playing in one of those markets as early as 2028. “We have been public about the fact that we are looking closely at Las Vegas and Seattle,” Silver said. “Las Vegas seems to have an insatiable appetite for sports and entertainment. Several groups now are thinking about building a brand-new arena in town. … Seattle has a great arena. It has a great NBA tradition there. So we are looking closely at returning to Seattle.”
NBA commissioner Adam Silver appears to be upping the ante on the leverage game involving the possible future of the Seattle SuperSonics, multiple ownership sources told ESPN. We say "possible" with care because Silver left owners with the impression that a Seattle expansion team was no longer a lock at last month's board of governors meeting. Silver even reintroduced the idea of Mexico City as a possible destination. At the meeting, owners were told about at least one Mexico City-based group that has approached NBA expansion partner PJT Partners with a plan about launching a team and developing a new arena district there that apparently has caught the league's attention, several sources said.
As for Seattle, there are two known bidders, but the group led by Kraken and Climate Pledge Arena owner Samantha Holloway has long been considered the leader. The offers, sources said, are substantially lower than what the bidding war for the Vegas franchise is driving, which could exceed $10 billion. It is Silver's job to raise that price. It could be argued that Silver's No. 1 job on a day-to-day basis is to increase the value of teams. He has shown to be excellent at it, and naturally this is what he's working on diligently.
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Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr said it would be “a tragedy” if the Trail Blazers left Portland should the team and city not come to terms on a long-term lease before a December deadline. “Oh, that would be a tragedy,” Kerr said. “I mean, Seattle was a tragedy. I would hope we have learned as a league since the Seattle debacle just how important franchises are, not only to communities but also the history of the league.”
When the SuperSonics left nearly 20 years ago, the artifacts that remained behind in Seattle from 41 years of history were entrusted to the Museum of History & Industry till the time came that the NBA decided upon a return. With the potential of that finally coming to fruition, MOHAI has decided some of those items should find their way into public display and help tell the story about the history and impact of of basketball in the community and region.
As Silver mentioned, there is still discussion among current owners and the bid groups about the best place for a new arena. A vote on the three groups bidding on Las Vegas -- Nancy Walton Laurie and Bill Laurie; Steve Apostolopoulos and Marc Lasry; and Bill Foley and Jerry Colangelo -- could come soon, sources told Charania. The runner-up groups could then pivot to Seattle, where Kraken owner Samantha Holloway's group appears to be in pole position, with a valuation sources with knowledge of the process currently estimate to be around $6 billion.
There is one other publicly known bidder in Seattle, BlackSun Private Equity group, which announced that it had joined the Tulalip Tribes on a bid featuring a new arena built in a massive entertainment district 35 miles north of the city. However, industry sources have indicated that there's at least one other group that has expressed interest in Seattle that hasn't been publicly identified. Why is there so much more interest in Vegas? Seattle is a top-15 media market with 4 million residents with massive corporate wealth -- anchored by companies such as Microsoft, Amazon and Costco.
Tom Dundon is in a standoff with the city of Portland regarding a renovation of the Moda Center and has used the expansion process and the threat of relocation for leverage in recent discussions with other owners and city officials, according to multiple ownership and industry sources. Though Silver has publicly stated that he'd consider relocating the Blazers as "a failure," Dundon's threat is real as long as Seattle and Vegas are being considered as NBA markets and Dundon has issues with his current arena. Still, expansion is far more likely than relocation.
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Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson: Being drafted 8th overall in 1987 and immediately traded for Scottie Pippen is one of the most famous draft-night deals in NBA history. Looking back, how did that trade shape the trajectory of your early career in Seattle and how do you view that moment decades later? Olden Polynice: You know, it’s funny because that trade happened the night before. But low and behold, the NBA doesn’t announce trades until after the draft has begun. So technically, for all intents and purposes, Scottie Pippen and I were traded for each other. But the trade happened the night before, so if they had done it the right way, there never would have been that connection. Chicago would have picked fifth, Seattle would have picked eighth and that would have been it. With that being said, I didn’t work out for a lot of teams and I damn sure didn’t work out for Chicago. So I knew I was going to Seattle; we had an agreement like, “That’s where I’m going.” So when the fifth pick was about to be announced and David Stern was standing there, he goes, “With the fifth selection, the Seattle SuperSonics select…” I literally get goosebumps, Scoop! I’m like, “Oh, he’s about to say my name.” And then he says Scott Pippen! I’m like, “Who the hell is Scott Pippen?” Nobody knew who Scott Pippen was, so I’m a little upset.
Then I get drafted by the Bulls and now I’m all excited saying, “Oh man, I’m about to play with Michael Jordan!” And then they announce the trade. So that was it. I got my first taste of NBA trades and life and I realized in that moment: hey, this is the business you’re in. Once everything settled and I got to Seattle, I had a business decision to make. It came early: do I come in here coming out as a junior—after playing a year in Europe—saying that I’m going to be the man, or that I’m going to average 20? Mind you, they had Dale Ellis, Tom Chambers, and Xavier McDaniel—three 20-point scorers coming off that season! I went, “If I want to play, I better make a decision here. I need to figure out what to do to get on the floor.” And that was to play defense, rebound, score when I can when I get an opportunity to get the ball and that was it. That was my thing. It’s so funny because early on in my career—and pretty much throughout my career—I didn’t get a lot of assists because I’m like, “I’m not passing the ball back out!” That’s the last thing I’m doing once I get the ball because I don’t get it anyway! So I’m going to score or put it up whenever I can. I shot over 50%, and my offensive rebounding was the key because I’m like, “Hey, all these guys are going to shoot, and they’re not all great shooters. So I’m going to do what I do best: go get that damn offensive rebound and put it back.”
It seems as if the league is taking a different approach with Las Vegas than it is Seattle. The effort in bringing a team to Sin City has brought a number of bidders to the fore. There is only one known interested party in Seattle. The NBA has set multiple bid deadlines in Las Vegas and just one so far in Seattle. It could name a winning bid in Las Vegas before it moves on to Seattle, according to industry sources with knowledge of the process. The NBA, however, has not yet revealed its hand.
In Seattle, so far it seems more streamlined. Samantha Holloway, the owner of the Kraken, is the only known bidder in the Pacific Northwest. She has stated publicly she wants to bring the Sonics back, has an arena ready to go and has been preparing for the endeavor by putting her team and the arena under One Roof Sports and Entertainment. Another bidding group, led by the New York-based BlackSun Private Equity and partnering with the Tulalip Tribes, has emerged, but it’s harder to assess their viability. Their proposed arena site would be tough to get to from downtown Seattle.