It's been a while since Seattle folks last saw an NBA basketball game played in their city. After the Seattle Supersonics relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008, Seattle's sports fans have lobbied to get a team of their own again.

Some nine years later, there seems to be a glimmer of hope with regards to their requests.

In an interview with the Players' Tribune, NBA commissioner Adam Silver was asked by Portland Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum about the possibility of an NBA team coming to Seattle once again.

“I think it’s just a question of when the right time is to seriously start thinking about expansion. Think about the state we’re in the league right now where [it is] amazing to me that, coming off of these Finals, you have some fans saying, ‘There’s only one good team in the league.’ And I’m thinking, well, if people really believe that even though we have 450 of the best players in the world, and 450 players can only form one really good team, probably doesn’t make sense to expand in terms of dilution of talent.”

“Now I don’t really believe that, and I think these things correct themselves. And I don’t want to put a precise timeline on it, but it’s inevitable at some point we’ll start looking at growth of franchises, that’s always been the case in this league, and Seattle will no doubt be on a short list of cities we’ll look at.”

That's as vague as Silver could get about the topic, but at least he didn't say it's not in the league's plan, meaning there's hope. The fact that Silver recognizes the idea that league expansion is soon going to be inevitable is something Seattle hoop fans could cling to.