Momentum is building towards a two-team NBA expansion for the 2028-29 season, and it couldn't come at a worse time for the Phoenix Suns.
Just in: The NBA will hold a vote at the Board of Governors meetings March 24-25 to explore adding expansion teams exclusively in Las Vegas and Seattle, with the two franchises targeted for the 2028-29 season, sources tell ESPN. There is momentum for stakeholders to approve… pic.twitter.com/H6AYVdhh7S
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 16, 2026
What an expansion looks like for the NBA
The potential expansion will look to add two new NBA cities: Seattle and Las Vegas. Now, this would still leave the NBA at an even 32 teams, but these two teams are geographically located out west, so this means the NBA's conferences would be shifting around as well.
It's expected that either Memphis or Minnesota will be the team moving to the Eastern Conference to make way for these two expansion teams.
With expansion teams comes an expansion draft, where the two new teams select players from a pool of unprotected players from the existing teams.
There's plenty of rules and restrictions that come into play, but essentially, the existing teams will choose to protect 8 players and leave the rest to the whim of the expansion teams, allowing them to select one remaining unprotected player from each team.
What this means for the Suns
With how much change we see on a season-by-season basis, it's impossible to say what the Suns will look like in 2028, but with what we know now, it's easy to foresee two expansion teams being bad news for the Suns.
The obvious concern is the expansion draft. This season, the Suns have arguably their deepest roster ever, with a solid mix of young and veteran talent. This is a roster the Suns would almost certainly love to keep together for years to come. Adding an expansion draft to the mix means the Suns may have to sacrifice a portion of that depth, protecting just 8 players.
It's not just sacrificing the depth that becomes a concern. The Suns also notably have minimal draft capital over the next 6 drafts: 3 unfavorable 1sts in 2027, 2028, and 2030, and 2 2nds. So, not only could an expansion draft deplete their roster depth, but they'll also lack the ability to replenish that depth through the draft.
Beyond the roster implications, it's important to note that adding an extra team to each conference means more competition and even slimmer odds at the playoffs (assuming there are no changes to the playoff format), going from 8 playoff teams out of 15 conference teams to 8 out of 16. On top of that, this adds two more teams to the NBA Draft, meaning more competition for that young talent each year.
The protected and unprotected
The Suns still need to secure most of their players through 2028, but we can look at their current roster and project what it may look like in the coming years. Narrowing it down to 8 players, you can expect it to be some mix of current key contributors and young talent: Devin Booker, Dillon Brooks, Collin Gillespie, Jalen Green, Oso Ighodaro, Rasheer Fleming, Khaman Maluach, and Grayson Allen.
This would leave some notable omissions. Mark Williams, their current starting center (who is due for a payday this offseason), will still be just 26 years old, but may be expendable if Khaman Maluach and Oso Ighodaro continue to develop. Jordan Goodwin, who has been a pivotal role player and will still be under-30 by then, would be a brutal potential loss for the Suns.
Royce O'Neale has been a key veteran on this team, but he's the team's oldest player and will be 35 by then. Ryan Dunn's future as a Sun may be in question as things currently stand, but if he does develop as they hope, he'd certainly be a coveted piece they'd love to keep, as well.
Another important caveat: assuming there are no changes in the Suns' draft capital, this also could leave whoever they select in Round 1 of the 2027 NBA Draft or Round 2 of the 2026 NBA Draft up for grabs, as well.
A lot of these questions will be answered by 2028. If Jalen Green is still an inconsistent scorer, he'll be a free agent by 2028 anyway. If Khaman Maluach or Rasheer Fleming don't develop like Phoenix hopes they will, the Suns would certainly allow them to go unprotected. As for the veterans, there's no telling how their game changes as they age, so they, too, may very well be expendable by then.
The Suns aren't due to face the expansion draft just yet, so we'll get some clarity on the current roster in due time, but who knows what other coveted players may be added to the mix by then.