The NBA is expected to select the winning bid for owner of the Las Vegas expansion team in the very near future, with a price of at least $12-13 billion for the franchise and new arena among three finalist groups -- Nancy Walton Laurie and Bill Laurie; Steve Apostolopoulos and Marc Lasry; and Bill Foley and Jerry Colangelo, sources told ESPN.
The league, which will hold a formal approval process by the end of December on two expansion teams, is closing on Las Vegas before Seattle for several reasons. Las Vegas has a livelier bidding market with higher offers and the process consists of the logistics of developing a new arena versus Climate Pledge Arena already being a ready-made home for the Seattle team. The Vegas runners-up also could join the Seattle bid process.
The league has targeted as soon as the 2028-29 season for the expansion teams, sources said.
Nancy Walton Laurie is the daughter of Walmart co-founder James "Bud" Walton. Her husband, Bill Laurie, is a former owner of the NHL's St. Louis Blues. The two have a home in Henderson, Nevada, a suburb of Las Vegas, and they have a net worth of $17 billion, according to Forbes.