Here's the latest buzz about the Sonics and NBA expansion

SAN FRANCISCO — Damian Lillard might as well be an adopted Seattle player that’s currently in the NBA but not from the city.

Remember all his years just down the road in Portland?

Remember THAT shot against Oklahoma City in the playoffs? You know, the one he later said was in part for all those old SuperSonics fans?

“I just love the Northwest in general,” Lillard said this weekend. “Spent so much time in Portland, and being in Portland sometimes shows don’t come through Portland, so you got to make that trip to Seattle. I’m a big WNBA fan. Got a great relationship with Jewell Loyd for her time while she was there. I know she just left. So me and her would talk, I would go up and watch their games in Seattle. I would go up and visit with my agent … and it was such an easy drive, such an easy trip. So I love the Northwest.”

So consider Lillard one who would be completely in favor of the NBA eventually returning to Seattle. But that will only come when, and if, the NBA decides to move forward on the expansion process.

“That’s definitely a place, like, anybody who would get the opportunity to play in that city, they’ll be a lucky customer,” Lillard added.

But any of the buzz about future NBA expansion was muted at best during the All-Star events this weekend in both San Francisco and Oakland. It was subdued to the point where it wasn’t even brought up as a question to Commissioner Adam Silver during his news conference on Saturday.

The league has other issues which bubbled more to the surface over the weekend. There’s the anger of Dallas fans seeing a franchise player in Luka Doncic dealt to the Los Angeles Lakers a season after the Mavericks played in the NBA Finals. There is the concern that All-Star weekend has become a meaningless activity with players not caring and fans not watching — a debate that will only grow with LeBron James not playing due to foot and ankle soreness.

There was the worry of lower TV ratings earlier in the season and one of the more prominent voices in the game — Golden State’s Draymond Green — openly called the current style of the NBA “boring,” over the weekend.

Those are not exactly the words that incite excitement for fans about a league that by all accounts is actively wanting to expand its footprint in the next few years.

Someone not surprised by the lack of expansion buzz in San Francisco was a former Sonics player who has been among the most vocal about getting the NBA’s return to Seattle.

Gary Payton is not concerned.

“I don’t worry about that. We don’t need to worry about that,” Payton said Sunday after signing autographs at the NBA’s fan festival, including several of his Sonics jerseys. “We don’t need to worry about buzz and all that stuff as long as Adam Silver makes a decision on what is going on, we’ll be fine.”

Despite the lack of notable talk, the idea of expansion is a whisper that is being heard.

“I’ve heard it. I’ve heard it. I’ve heard Seattle, too,” Lillard said.

So too has former SuperSonic and Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Spencer Haywood. Following the announcement of this year’s Hall of Fame finalists on Friday, the mention of expansion couldn’t fully be asked before Haywood interjected.

“Two years,” he said.

If Haywood is correct and if the league intends to have at least one new team starting in 2027, it must begin the process soon. Some league observers have said a new franchise could be ready to go within 18 months, but two years would be preferred.

That would mean a franchise being awarded sometime between September 2025 and February 2026. It also means requesting more patience for fans with the 20-year mark of the franchise’s final season in Seattle drawing closer.

“We’ve been frustrated for 18 years, but it doesn’t matter. I think that we know the inside of it and I know Adam Silver is doing what he has to do,” Payton said. “We got to make it at the right time. Seattle will be back, so I’m not worried about that.”

One idea that has gotten attention of late is the thought of international markets outside of North America. Last month in Paris, Silver brought up the idea of creating an NBA branded league in Europe. By doing so, he raised the speculation of someday there being NBA teams based internationally.

It does make sense with the growth of the global footprint on the league. For instance, seven international players were part of the All-Star Game this year, headlined by Victor Wembanyama, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokić.

Kenny Atkinson, currently the head coach in Cleveland, spent a significant amount of his coaching career in Europe before rising through the NBA ranks. He’s a dreamer and joked about the idea of coaching long enough to see teams in European cities.

But should it take the place of looking at expanding domestically?

“That’s hard for me. I don’t know the economics of it. That’s a decision to make,” Atkinson said. “I’m more of a romantic. I know how great FIBA basketball and international basketball (is). I’d just love one day to go play an NBA team in Madrid or an NBA team in Paris. I know how passionate the fans are. I think it would take the NBA to another level.”