Silver made clear that any NBA expansion was not imminent, given there were still some major hurdles to get past before the league would be ready to add a new franchise. One such area is the regional television distribution rights, and how games would be distributed within local markets of an upstart franchise.

The NBA’s announcement of an expansion analysis was met with a muted response from potential expansion applicants and tepid optimism among fans in Seattle.

There are cities like Seattle that would love to have a team back in their city, after already having the SuperSonics there, almost two decades ago. Seattle and the state of Washington have produced many notable NBA players over the past couple of decades, including Jamal Crawford, Isaiah Thomas, Paolo Banchero, Dejounte Murray and several others.

As the NBA’s board of governors meets Tuesday afternoon at Las Vegas summer league, the subject of expansion is front and center for fan bases in Seattle, Las Vegas and other cities hoping to join the league. But the appetite for adding new teams might not be as strong as previously believed.