Adam Silver's Firm Stance on Clippers and NBA Expansion Plans
NEW YORK — Adam Silver walked out of the Board of Governors meetings in midtown Manhattan with a message that echoed far beyond the hotel ballroom: the Los Angeles Clippers’ punishment is done, it’s severe, and it’s meant to scare everyone else straight.
The NBA commissioner confirmed that the league’s sweeping sanctions against the Clippers for circumventing the salary cap are final. No appeals. No softening around the edges.
Los Angeles lost five first-round draft picks, was fined $30 million, and saw owner Steve Ballmer banned from all league and team activities for a year after the NBA found the franchise had “knowingly seeking to help” Kawhi Leonard secure off-court income opportunities. Two Clippers executives were suspended, and Leonard himself was fined $700,000. None of them were in the room this week.
Ballmer has already apologized to fans and publicly accepted the penalties, saying he will not contest the league’s findings.
Silver, speaking at his press conference as the NBA prepares to launch its 81st season on Oct. 20 — when the New York Knicks open their title defense against the Philadelphia 76ers — acknowledged the weight of the decision but framed it as a necessary stand.
He talked about “competitive consequences” for breaking the rules and stressed that the league cannot afford to treat violations as just another cost of doing business.
“We still want to be a 30-team league, and we recognize that, in some ways, we're unfortunately punishing the fans of that team as well. And so that's the balance we're trying to seek,” Silver said. “The ultimate goal, in terms of these type of sanctions, are to ensure that other teams don't have to engage in this type of behavior, in the future, so there has to be something beyond suspensions and financial consequences, and that has to be to regulate competition.”
The commissioner insisted he does not believe the penalties will inflict permanent damage on the Clippers as a franchise. But the message is unmistakable: tamper with the cap, and the league will come after your future.
The Clippers’ on-court future has already shifted. On June 30, they finalized a trade sending Leonard back to the Toronto Raptors, where he delivered a championship in 2019. In return, Los Angeles received forward Brandon Ingram, guard Gradey Dick, two unprotected first-round picks, a first-round pick swap, and two second-rounders.
That deal sat in limbo at the team’s discretion while the league completed its investigation. Once the punishment dropped, the trade moved, closing a turbulent chapter and starting another in Toronto and Los Angeles.
Lakers sale hits resistance
While the Clippers deal with sanctions and a reshaped roster, their city rivals sit in the middle of a different kind of storm.
Silver also addressed the pending sale of the Los Angeles Lakers, a transaction that would set a record valuation of $12.5 billion. Los Angeles Dodgers co-owner and TWG Global CEO Mark Walter has agreed to sell to businessman Josh Kushner and former Disney CEO Bob Iger.
Inside the Lakers’ ownership structure, though, nothing is straightforward.
Controlling owner Jeanie Buss is challenging the move, arguing that her five siblings do not have the right to sell the family’s remaining 17.8% stake. By holding more than 15% of the franchise, Buss remains the Lakers’ governor and is using that authority to contest the deal.
Silver said he did not know Walter intended to sell until potential buyers with a handshake agreement reached out to the league. He also addressed the cloud hanging over Walter, who is under federal investigation for possible financial improprieties tied to two insurance companies he controlled.
“Even to this day, as you know, these are allegations,” Silver said. “There are issues that are now being looked into, but independent of Mark Walter choosing to sell this team right now, he was not being investigated by our league.”
The league cleared Walter when he bought into the Lakers in October 2025 and, according to Silver, found “no red flags” at that time. Now, the NBA must navigate a record-setting sale, a powerful governor in open dispute with her siblings, and an owner under federal scrutiny — all while insisting its own processes hold up.
Vegas, Seattle, and a Portland problem
While the present brings headaches in Los Angeles, the future of the league stretches out toward Las Vegas, Seattle, and a stubborn situation in Portland.
Expansion remains on the horizon, but not on the calendar. There is no set timetable for adding new teams, which would be the first since the Charlotte Bobcats joined in 2004, bringing the league to 30 franchises. The Bobcats later reclaimed the Hornets name, but the number of teams has not changed in two decades.
Silver confirmed that the next round of bids for potential franchises in Las Vegas and Seattle will arrive soon. Both markets have long hovered near the top of any expansion conversation, and the commissioner did little to cool that interest.
On Las Vegas, he pointed to T-Mobile Arena as a potential home but stopped short of calling it ready-made.
“I think that there is real excitement around either, you know, a renovated T-Mobile Arena,” Silver said. “I think it still needs some significant improvements, but at the same time, there are groups who have presented plans to go, what I would call, you know, a modern entertainment palace in Las Vegas, and it's a unique market.”
Seattle, which has waited for a team since the SuperSonics left in 2008, remains firmly in the mix as well, with ownership groups and fans ready for a return.
Then there is Portland.
The Trail Blazers remain locked in a long-running struggle over a new arena. The Moda Center, opened in 1995, now ranks among the league’s least favored buildings, and Silver did not sugarcoat the urgency.
He said the franchise needs a new arena and made it clear that the league views a relocation as a failure, not a solution.
“It is important, at the same time, that Tom Dundon reaches a deal with the city officials and the state elected officials that makes operating important and viable for the long term. So that's what we're focused on.”
No relocation talks, Silver insisted. But no patience for stasis, either.
As the league readies for opening night, the themes are familiar but sharper than ever: competitive balance, ownership power, market growth, and the buildings that house the sport. The Clippers have paid dearly for crossing a line the NBA cannot afford to blur. The Lakers’ future ownership hangs in a high-stakes family and legal fight. Vegas and Seattle circle, ready for their shot. Portland waits on a deal that will define its place in the league.
The 81st season will start on time. The real question is how different the NBA map will look by the time it’s done.
