The NBA is returning to Seattle for another night, leading to immediate speculation that the SuperSonics are not far behind.

On Thursday, Climate Pledge Arena announced it will host the ‘Rain City Showcase’ on October 10th between the Los Angeles Clippers and Utah Jazz. It follows a similar sold-out event in 2022, and as NBA Commissioner Adam Silver suggested, expansion talks will likely ramp up next year after a new TV and digital rights deal is completed.

“Once that’s done, we’ll turn to expansion,” said Silver definitively.

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“The League took notice and saw what we were doing here with this game,” acknowledged Climate Pledge Arena Senior VP of Programming Eric Bresler in an interview with KOMO News. “The chance to continue our basketball footprint is really important to us.”

Bresler said the Clippers will serve as the home team and had to seek NBA approval to get the exhibition game on the schedule, just as they did last season.

That exhibition game featured the Clippers, Trailblazers, and a rousing speech from Ballmer, who made it clear through an energetic pre-game speech that he supports a Seattle franchise. Before he bought the Clippers, he led two efforts to bring a team to the city.

“If you were here, while it was a preseason game, it literally felt like it was an NBA playoff game. We realized we had something special here,” said Bresler.

With every development, the owners of “Simply Seattle” see a surge in sales. The longtime retailer has a healthy online presence and bills itself as the biggest seller of Sonics merchandise in the country.

“You can see just a spike. A massive spike in online traffic, not only on our site, but I think on social media,” says Jake Smidt, Simply Seattle GM. He points to Silver’s comments or when former Sonic Jeff Green wore the franchise hat to the recent Denver Nuggets championship parade. “I think it's such a unique story for a team to no longer be playing, and still, people are constantly talking about it.”

Smidt says their Sonics gear sells better than any other franchise, Mariners and Seahawks included.

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“I think that a big component of it is hope, and I think a big part of it is just connecting with the city, too.”

So, what is the hope for an actual franchise in Seattle? There is a certain amount of fatigue for many fans, who feel like the city was robbed of the franchise back in 2008. The NBA allowed the Sonics owners then to move the franchise to Oklahoma City after the then-Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels settled the team’s lease at KeyArena.

If the NBA was to complete its new TV and streaming deal in 2024, the league could take up the topic quickly or later that season if Silver’s statement is to be believed. If the National Hockey League is any guide, the Kraken was awarded to Seattle in 2018 to begin play in 2021.

There is also the question of cost, given that the Phoenix Suns were just sold at a franchise value of $4 billion.

The NBA last expanded in December of 2002, with the addition of the now Charlotte Hornets, which began play in 2004.

Meaning don’t expect a quick resolution.

Kraken Owner David Bonderman retains a minority stake in the NBA’s Boston Celtics. It is believed that he intends to invest in any future NBA franchise. There is already a designated NBA locker room inside Climate Pledge Arena, to be completed for a future franchise.