Report: NBA to pick new owner of Las Vegas expansion team soon, with $12-13 billion price tag

Apparently someone is going to, according to a new report from Shams Charania of ESPN , and the NBA is going to pick that owner in the "very near future."

The NBA is expected to select the winning bid for owner of the Las Vegas expansion team in the very near future, with a price of at least $12-13 billion for the franchise and new arena among three finalist groups -- Nancy Walton Laurie and Bill Laurie; Steve Apostolopoulos and Marc Lasry; Bill Foley and Jerry Colangelo, sources told ESPN.

Quick note: Charania's phrasing suggests — or at least leaves open the possibility — of a $10 billion expansion fee to the league plus a $2-3 billion new arena. While Las Vegas does have the T-Mobile Arena just off the Strip — home to the WNBA's Aces, the NHL's Golden Knights, and host to the final rounds of the NBA Cup the past two years — Silver said earlier this month, "it needs some significant improvements" before an NBA team could call it home. With NBA ownership more of a real estate investment now (just ask Mark Cuban), it seems likely the new owners would want to build the arena as an anchor for a new hotel/casino/resort complex (maybe with shopping and condos/apartments) rather than rent an existing building.