Before Celtics-Mavs Game 2, Adam Silver tabbed Seattle and Las Vegas expansion cities

Before Game 2 of the NBA Finals series between the Boston Celtics (2-0) and Dallas Mavericks, Adam Silver revealed the Association’s plan to add expansion teams in Seattle and Las Vegas, as well as New Mexico City in the not-so-distant future and potentially a Canadian city.

“We have to understand what our long-term media relationships are before we look to expansion. We’re in the process of wrapping up those deals now,” Silver told co-hosts Tom Giles, Eddie House and Brian Scalabrine on NBC Sports Boston’sCeltics Pregame Live (h/t NBC Sports Boston). “They’re going to be long-term deals. I’m hoping, we’re not done yet, but they’ll be successful in terms of generating more money for the league and the teams and then we’ll be in a position to look at expansion.

“There’s been some discussion about going back to Seattle, potentially Las Vegas, no doubt, is very interested in a team. Mexico City one day. But there’s lots of other U.S. cities and Canadian cities, frankly, that have reached out to us to tell us they’d be interested.”

Adam Silver has the NBA reaching $7 billion, with a “B,” annually starting in 2025-26. That certainly feels like a landmark year in the league, when new teams in Seattle — well, perhaps the return of the Supersonics, since no other name will satisfy the city — and Las Vegas.

Celtics-Mavericks Game 1 didn’t do great ratings, likely due to its one-sided nature, but Game 2 likely saw a substantial increase as the Mavs caught the game with under two minutes left but ultimately succumbed and even failed to cover the spread. Boston certainly has made this look as one-sided as possible, but Game 3 should be more must-watch. Game 4 doesn’t stand much of a chance if the Celtics won.

Why bring this up? This isn’t a much-watched Finals and the NBA is still making unfathomable television money and has the means to split the pie with more teams. The league is a juggernaut, and it has the means to bring the action to more cities.