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The only way to begin your day of NBA consumption is by watching GG Jackson dunk on Victor Wembanyama and then Wemby getting Jackson back with an even more ferocious dunk on the very next play. This is March!
Expanding horizons
The NBA moves closer to Seattle, Las Vegas
The NBA announced yesterday that it has approved exploration of expansion into Las Vegas and Seattle. That doesn’t mean the league will definitely add teams in those cities, but the next steps involve strategic adviser PJT Partners evaluating “prospective markets, ownership groups, arena infrastructure and the broader economic implications of expansion.”
We can safely assume the Seattle team would take the SuperSonics name, and its history, back. But there is still a lot to figure out. Let’s figure it out together.
1. How much are these new franchises going to cost? The Athletic has reported that expansion fees would run between $7 billion and $10 billion. That sounds … aggressive to me. It would make more sense for this to be in the $4 billion to $5 billion range. The Los Angeles Lakers set the record for the highest franchise sale at $10 billion. The next highest was the Boston Celtics for $6.1 billion. The NFL record is $6.05 billion, for the Washington Commanders. Are we really expecting two new franchises to be purchased for what would be the second- and third-highest franchise acquisitions in history?
2. How quickly will this happen? Adam Silver said in his news conference after yesterday’s Board of Governors meeting that the 2028-29 season would be the earliest these teams could join the league. That sounds about right. The NBA still needs to secure ownership groups, approve sales, find stadiums and figure out the logistics of expansion drafts and putting rosters together. Is 2 1/2 years enough time to do so? Probably!
3. Is there enough talent for two new teams? This seems to be the debate among quite a few people. I think there is enough talent. Especially when you factor in what the first and second aprons are doing to franchises deciding to move big-money talent around. Teams have continually choosen to bail on loaded rosters, and that talent can definitely be spread around more teams. Also, international players and G League players can more than fill out these rosters without losing too much quality. (But the G League talent moving forward might be a little rough.)
4. We need a team in the West to move to the East. We went over this last year with the different machinations of the league if the Grizzlies, Timberwolves or Pelicans go to the East. I vote for Minnesota.
5. We need a name for the Las Vegas team. This is the fun/chaotic part of it all. I saw an email from one of those betting sites not long ago about odds on what the team name would be. These were the options (with its reasoning and an emoji reaction from yours truly):
Spades (card game synergy with WNBA’s Aces): 👎👎
Outlaws (Wild West heritage): 👎 Pretty sure this is stolen from NBA 2K.
Blackjacks (casino culture direct tie-in): 👎👎
Vipers (Mojave Desert wildlife): 👍
Scorpions (desert theme): 👍👍
High Rollers (gambling culture nod): 👎👎
Crowd (tied to LeBron James ownership bid): 👎👎👎
I’d recommend avoiding as much gambling culture stuff as possible with the name, especially with the recent federal probe that tainted the beginning of this season. Scorpions is my favorite name so far. You can have a pretty good mascot and logo with that, and it’s unique.
Some of our writers at The Athletic offered up their name suggestions. Eric Koreen tried the Jokers, although that could be both tampering with Nikola Jokić and tough if the team isn’t very good. Jason Jones offered up the Sharks (nod to Jerry Tarkanian) and the Strip (feels risky!). Shakeia Taylor nominated the Oasis (kind of dope), and Jon Krawczynski suggested “The Vegas, Babies” as a nod to “Swingers.” I love the movie but hate the name.
My suggestion? Las Vegas Sinatras. An ode to one of the city’s most popular figures ever. I mostly just want to see a giant cartoonish Frank Sinatra mascot.
Rob Peterson explores how we got here on NBA expansion
The last 24
🏀 Fix coming. Adam Silver spoke about figuring out solutions to tanking. We’ll know what it is in May.
🏀 Bad opinion. Silver also decided to double down on the 65-game rule and claimed it’s working. He’s wrong, and that’s disheartening from him.
🏀 Draft time. Speaking of expansion, the WNBA is adding two teams in Toronto and Portland and has set its expansion draft. It will be April 3.
👀 Surprise! Who saw these guys coming this season? Fred Katz has his all-surprise team, including Jalen Duren and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
🏀 Interested? Billy Donovan didn’t deny interest in the North Carolina job. He says he’s focused on Chicago.
Stream the NBA on Fubo (try it for free!) and catch out-of-market games on League Pass.
Sweet 16
Top draft prospects face off
Tonight! The men’s NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 tips off with four intriguing matchups. And while Texas against Purdue or Iowa against Nebraska could be thrilling games, the two other matchups should grab most NBA fans’ attention. Let’s start with the Arkansas facing Arizona.
No. 4 Arkansas vs. No. 1 Arizona, 9:45 p.m. ET on CBS: Arizona is a big, physical No. 1 seed with a massive frontcourt of Koa Peat, Motiejus Krivas, Tobe Awaka and Ivan Kharchenkov. Those four guys control the paint and put so much pressure on the rim and boards that it allows projected lottery pick Brayden Burries to let it fly as a perimeter scorer.
The Wildcats will try to use their size and physical nature to test the mettle of Arkansas’ Darius Acuff Jr., one of the best guards in the country. Acuff is on a tear right now. Over his last 16 games, he’s averaging 27.8 points, 6.9 assists and just 2.2 turnovers with 48.5/48.5/81.5 shooting splits. Acuff has been anointed by Reebok and Allen Iverson as its next franchise guy, and it’ll be shocking if he’s still on the board around No.s 7 or 8 in this upcoming draft.
There is other talent on this Arkansas roster like Meleek Thomas, Billy Richmond and Karter Knox (if he’s cleared to come back from his knee injury). But this will be about Acuff showing whether he can carve up a big-time frontcourt.
No. 3 Illinois vs. No. 2 Houston, 10:05 p.m. on TBS: This is the battle between Keaton Wagler and Kingston Flemings. In Sam Vecenie’s latest mock draft, he had Flemings going fifth and Wagler right behind him at sixth. Interestingly enough, both players have been struggling to shoot by their standards for an extended period of time. After Flemings went for 42 against Texas Tech and 27 against TCU, he’s putting up 14.6 points on 42.3/36.1/86.3 splits with 5.0 assists and 4.8 rebounds over 16 games. After Wagler dropped 46 on Purdue, his last 14 games have him averaging 18.3 points on 42.0/37.0/76.2 splits along with 4.9 assists and 4.8 rebounds.
Those aren’t bad numbers, but they’re not up to earlier standards. Wagler will have a tough time cracking this loaded Houston squad, and Flemings might not need to do a ton for the Cougars to win. But we want to see a showdown of lottery guards going back and forth.
Could Jayson Tatum and the Celtics play the Thunder again in June? (Winslow Townson / Imagn Images)
About last night
Celtics top Thunder … in a finals preview?
Celtics 119, Thunder 109: That’s right. This might have been a preview of the series we’ll see in June. Jaylen Brown had 31-8-8, and Jayson Tatum had 19 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists to end the Thunder’s 12-game win streak. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander put up 33 points and eight assists, but nobody else on OKC could get going. Jalen Williams’ jumper looks awful and makes me wonder if that wrist is still injured.
Wolves 110, Rockets 108 (OT): Without Anthony Edwards (out), Rudy Gobert (fouled out), Naz Reid (ejected) and Jaden McDaniels (injured), the Wolves erased a 13-point deficit in overtime to win the game on a 15-0 run. There is no chance Ime Udoka likes his team anymore.
Hawks 130, Pistons 129 (OT): Jalen Johnson had 27 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds, and Jalen Duren missed a putback opportunity as time expired. Duren had 26 and 14. The Hawks (41-32) moved up to fifth in the East.
Heat 120, Cavaliers 103: Eight of the nine Heat players scored in double figures. Miami lit up the Cavs’ defense for 52 percent from the field and 18 3-pointers. Miami (39-34) moved from 10th to eighth in the East.
Clippers 119, Raptors 94: Kawhi Leonard had 27, and Darius Garland had 24 points as the Clippers (37-36) kept pace with the Trail Blazers to stay in the eighth spot in the West. Toronto dropped (40-32) to sixth in the East.
Let’s head over to the Dunk Tank!
Lakers 137, Pacers 130: Luka Dončić had 43 points. Tank score for Indiana is 7/10.
76ers 157, Bulls 137: Paul George had 28 points, six boards, four dimes and four steals in his first game back from suspension. Philly scored 51 in the third quarter. Tank score for Chicago is 10/10.
Spurs 123, Grizzlies 98: Victor Wembanyama had 19 points, 15 boards and seven blocks in 24 minutes. Tank score for Memphis is 10/10.
Wizards 133, Jazz 110: The Wizards were up by more than 30 in the first half, and Angel Reese’s brother, Julian, led the Wiz with 26 points and 17 rebounds to snap their 16-game losing streak. Tank score for Utah is 10/10 and 0/10 for Washington.
Nuggets 142, Mavs 135: Jamal Murray had 53 points, and Jokić put up 23 points, 21 rebounds and 19 assists. Absurd. Tank score for Dallas is 7/10.
Warriors 109, Nets 106: Gui Santos had 31 points. Tank score for Brooklyn is 6/10.
Blazers 130, Bucks 99: Scoot Henderson had 23 off the bench to overcome Thanasis Antetokounmpo’s one point off the bench. Tank score for Milwaukee is 9/10.