NBA commissioner Adam Silver has revealed that there are no plans to form a new franchise in Seattle.
The city has been without a team since the Seattle SuperSonics moved to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder in 2008.
Silver told ESPN: "Seattle is a wonderful market. It would be very additive to the league to have a team there. But we're not planning on expanding right now, so it's not a function of price.
"I and the owners will look at not only the dilution of economic opportunities with one more partner to divide national and international money but also dilution of talent. Right now some are already making comments about the [Eastern Conference], so is it the ideal time to be adding another 15 or 30 players to the league?
"Ultimately I'm responsible for the financial and competitive health of a 30-team league, and while we made tremendous strides in the last collective bargaining agreement, we're still not there yet. We don't have 30 profitable teams in the NBA, and while we've made progress, there are still teams that aren't competitive enough."
Seattle is already home to franchises in the NFL, MLS and MLB.
Sian Cowper
