The NBA’s announcement of an expansion analysis was met with a muted response from potential expansion applicants and tepid optimism among fans in Seattle.

The idea of NBA expansion sounds promising on paper, but the league may lack the necessary momentum to expand beyond its current.

Momentum among league owners to expand at this time is "not overwhelming," according to a Tuesday morning report from David Aldridge and Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic.

Silver previously said he believed the Board of Governors would urge his office to continue exploring expansion and had often mentioned Seattle and Las Vegas.

Saying owners have a “curiosity” about the notion, Commissioner Adam Silver said this week that the league will now study the issue more formally as part of an in-depth analysis, which would be the first official move in a long process toward adding franchises.

The NBA will take another step forward as it continues to explore expansion, Commissioner Adam Silver told reporters in Las Vegas.

Silver called it “day one,” which may end up being correct. It also felt like a hollow phrase. “Day one,” at least for Sonics fans, was July 3, 2008, the first day the team no longer called Seattle home. In that sense, if Silver wanted to call Tuesday “day one” it was that multiplied by 17-plus years of waiting.