In a recent announcement, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver revealed plans for the league's expansion process and acknowledged the approval of part of the TV and digital rights deals. While the reported $76 billion deal, which is said to include Amazon, is still being worked on, Silver affirmed the progress made so far.

"We did approve this stage of those media proposals," Silver stated. "But there are other rights that need to be worked through with existing partners. There's going to be a fair amount that I'm not able to discuss yet about those media deals because they haven't been finalized."

Silver emphasized the complexity of the expansion process, particularly in relation to the ongoing media deals. He explained that bringing in new partners would impact payments to teams, making it essential to carefully consider the long-term prospects and potential talent dilution. Despite the challenges, Silver confirmed the league's intention to engage in earnest in the expansion process this fall.

"We're not quite done with our media deals yet, but once we are, we will turn to consideration around expansion," Silver stated. "Should we expand? If we were to expand, how many teams should we expand and what markets should we be looking at?"

Seattle and Las Vegas are among the markets of interest for the league, according to Silver. Seattle has been without an NBA team since 2008 when the Sonics ownership group, led by Clay Bennett, settled with the city and relocated the team to Oklahoma City. However, with the Kraken owners, David Bonderman and Samantha Holloway, expressing their interest in bringing the NBA back to Seattle, hopes have been reignited.

In an exciting development, Climate Pledge Arena announced that an NBA exhibition game is scheduled for October 11th. The game, featuring the Los Angeles Clippers and the Portland Trailblazers, will provide fans in Seattle a taste of professional basketball and fuel anticipation for a potential NBA return to the city.

As the NBA works towards finalizing the media rights deals and contemplates expansion, fans in Seattle and beyond eagerly await the outcome, hoping to see the return of NBA action and the growth of the league in the coming years.