The NBA may finally be one step closer on the long road to expansion. Commissioner Adam Silver said Tuesday that the league has been tasked by team owners to study the issue more formally, which would be the first official move in a long process toward adding franchises.

At the Board of Governors meeting Tuesday in Las Vegas, Silver told reporters that league owners instructed the NBA to conduct an in-depth analysis of its options. It is a small yet important box to check on the extensive to-do list that comes with league expansion and could get the ball rolling for a 31st team to enter the picture.

The Thunder were the seventh different NBA champion in the last seven years. That feat was going to be accomplished either way this year. The Indiana Pacers haven't won a title despite their rich basketball history,