Boban Marjanovic has signed with Fenerbahce in Turkey. Marjanovic, who is represented by agents Mike Lindeman and Jeff Schwartz, had spent the past nine seasons in the NBA. Marjanovic’s deal contains a brief NBA out in December.
Marjanovic averaged 13.1 points and 8.6 rebounds during the 14-15 season for KK Crvena Zvezda when he last played in Europe.
LeBron James has spoken publicly of his interest in purchasing an expansion franchise in Las Vegas. James could potentially partner with Fenway Sports on a bid. Active players are not allowed to have an ownership stake in a team and there haven’t been any concrete discussions on how an expansion process involving James would play out since he is not yet retired. If an expansion team begins playing with the 27-28 season, James could be retired by then as his current deal runs through the 26-27 season.
Marc Lasry is also putting together an ownership group to bid on a potential expansion team in Las Vegas, according to sources. Lasry sold his stake in the Milwaukee Bucks in 2023 at a $3.5 billion valuation. Candace Parker is among the potential investors in Lasry’s group.
The NBA is expected to begin expansion plans in earnest at some point during the 24-25 season. Sources tell ESPN that the NBA is targeting the 27-28 season for when the expansion teams will begin playing games. While starting as early as the 26-27 season hasn’t been ruled out, it is considered unrealistic to begin that quickly.
When the NBA added the Charlotte Bobcats in October 2024, the announcement came in 2002. During that round of expansion, the NBA didn’t consider other cities and was replacing a relocated team with the Hornets moving to New Orleans that year.
The NBA will need to select cities and ownership groups in what is expected to be an expensive bidding process. Another factor that could slow the process is the NBA would like to let the sale of the Boston Celtics play out to reset the market for a possible expansion fee.
