Kevin Durant, a former Texas Longhorn, has long been vocal about his desire to bring a WNBA team to Austin. “It’s a basketball city,” Durant told Cory Mose of KVUE. And why not? The WNBA’s trajectory, especially since the arrival of the 2024 rookie class, has witnessed an upsurge. Investing in a piece of the WNBA could yield significant profits. However, he’s not the only one calculating the benefits.

With the addition of the Golden State Valkyries as the 13th team, followed by Portland and Toronto set to join by 2026, Cathy Engelbert has announced plans to extend the league to 16 teams by 2028. Ever since, the race to claim the final spot has heated up, with NBA ownership groups from Philadelphia, Detroit, Cleveland, and Houston leading the charge.

But more recently, things turned up a notch with the entry of Cleveland’s massive bid. However, the Phoenix Suns star isn’t giving up. “I don’t think we’ll stop trying to bring that here to Austin,” he said. “We’ll have to see how it goes in the future, but I have hope that there will be a professional basketball team here at some point.”

And, Austin is more than ready for the arrival.

The Moody Center, home to Texas Athletics and an annual NBA showcase has been highly praised by WNBA officials. Plus, the Texas Longhorns with Madison Booker in the lead, are making a strong case for the culture. The Vic Schaefer-led team is topping the SEC charts and national rankings, drawing a peak of 2.3 million viewers in a win over LSU and over a million when they defeated the defending champions, South Carolina. It was Super Bowl Sunday at that!

“We’ve always had major, major support here for women’s basketball. We have one of the greatest coaches and greatest players to come through here… I just think this city is primed for basketball, especially women’s basketball at the highest level,” Durant added.

If it did happen, the NBA All-star will be able to invest a maximum of 4% of a W’s team according to new CBA rule. This means with Austin franchise at a $200 million valuation, his stake would be worth around $8 million. Impressive, right? But it’s not as easy as it seems.

According to a recent report by Sports Business Journal, the Rock Entertainment Group, owned by Cleveland Cavaliers majority owner Dan Gilbert, has put in a record-breaking bid for a WNBA expansion team. The $250 million offer is reportedly the highest ever for the league, and sources say there’s a 90% chance the team will land in Cleveland.

If this happens, Cleveland is set to join from the 2028 season and will be playing at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse which is home to NBA’s Cavaliers. However, the battle rages on with the WNBA expected to announce its next franchise by March 2025. But, all this isn’t really enough to crush Durant’s hopes.

With tough competition threatening to crush Kevin Durant’s WNBA dreams, a ray of hope still shines.

Durant’s efforts came up in the form of partnership with Marc Lasry, former Milwaukee Bucks’ owner, Jenny Just and Fran Harris. And then the group proceeded, hoping to secure Austin’s place at W and finally submitted their bid in January.

Despite all these dreams on the verge of shattering, Durant isn’t giving up. It’s because he’s got many more options. With NBA commissioner Adam Silver eyeing expansion within the next decade, Austin could even find itself in the running for an NBA franchise down the line. And not just that, it has another option available.

The WNBA commissioner has emphasized that expansion is a long-term priority. This means if Austin doesn’t land a team now, Durant and his team could still take another shot in a few years.

Moving on, all this comes after the announcement from W in March. Harris acknowledged the competition, saying, “Could be anywhere from April to the end of May … the latest we would hear back is in the fall.” Still, Durant and the group have got a 10% chance to lock up a deal and welcome W to Austin, Texas. 

However, as the bid has risen to $250 million, Durant and co. too needs to increase the bid to match the trends. What do you think? Will they do so?