SuperSonics, Seattle reach last-minute settlement

[DeclinetoState]

By TIM BOOTH, AP Sports Writer
36 minutes ago

SEATTLE - The SuperSonics will move to Oklahoma City for the 2008-09 season as part of a settlement with the city of Seattle, ending a contentious relationship that resulted in a trial in which the judge was due to issue her ruling Wednesday.

The settlement calls for Sonics owner Clay Bennett and the Professional Basketball Club LLC to pay up to $75 million to the city in exchange for the immediate termination of the KeyArena lease between the NBA team and the city.

The team's name and colors will be staying in Seattle.More (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080703/ap_on_sp_bk_ne/bkn_supersonics_seattle_trial)

[DeclinetoState]

Seattle will be hoping for an expansion franchise, like Charlotte got? I don't think that's likely to happen, given the overpriced, watered-down talent that starts on so many NBA teams as it is.

[M.C.]

It wouldn't be impossible to get a team in Seattle again. Oklahoma city is a good market, so from a franchise's perspective they made the right choice. However, a decent new team could succeed there if they get some decent talent in the expansion draft in either the '09 or '10 season. I wouldn't give up hope if I were Seattle. I don't see the NBA as having many undeserving starters as you do. I think there are a few, but give a few years and it should level out with all the young talent leaving college after only one year.

[DeclinetoState]

It'd be more likely that Seattle would get an existing franchise, such as Sacramento, relocating from its present location. The Kings aren't happy about ARCO Arena, which is about twenty years old and showing its age. I think, however, they are itching to move to Las Vegas, where they could play at UNLV's joint for a couple of years until they got a place of their own. Whether the rest of the league would cotton to having a franchise locating in the gambling Mecca remains to be seen, however.

[DesertFox]

I'm pretty sure they took the "Super" out of SuperSonics several years ago, and have just been the "Sonics" since then.

[DesertFox]

Speaking of Mecca: That would be a superb place to locate an NBA franchise. :evilgrin:

[Proud American]

Oklahoma City has got to be a much smaller media market than Seattle. It strikes me as very odd to move there.

[DeclinetoState]

I guess the Hornets did reasonably well when they had to relocate there after Hurricane Katrina. No telling how long the Sonics (or whatever they'll be called in Okie City) will do, especially if they're not very good. If they have another 20-62 season, they may get sent packing somewhere else.

I think the Sonics were sore about their archrivals, the Trail Blazers, getting a huge new arena (The Rose Garden) in the mid-'90s, while Seattle had to settle for a remodeled joint.

[DeclinetoState]

2 days ago

SEATTLE — With the SuperSonics on their way out, Seattle needs to act fast if it wants a new NBA team soon.

Commissioner David Stern sent the city a warning Wednesday, saying officials have less than 18 months to come up with a funding plan for a KeyArena renovation if there's hope of an NBA return within five years.

A settlement reached Wednesday between the SuperSonics and the city terminates the current lease and allows owner Clay Bennett to move the team to Oklahoma City for the 2008-09 season.

Stern said the league was aware that city, county and state officials were discussing a US$300-million renovation of the arena, adding the league would help with the reconstruction plan if the funding was approved. But it's got to happen fast.

"Given the lead times associated with any franchise acquisition or relocation and with a construction project as complex as a KeyArena renovation, authorization of the public funding needs to occur by the end of 2009 in order for there to be any chance for the NBA to return to Seattle within the next five years," Stern said in a statement.

Stern sentiments were reiterated by officials in Seattle. But threats and deadlines often don't sit well with legislatures at the state capital in Olympia, about 60 miles southwest of Seattle.
More (http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jz4orxNOqPiRMp8OEOW9etsrRLJQ)

Legislatures? Washington state has more than one?

[DesertFox]

Seattle's a liberal bastion. Let 'em do without. They don't appreciate sweaty, hard working people anyway.

[DeclinetoState]

I dunno. They might appreciate seeing black people sweat.

[DeclinetoState]

How long can Seattle survive without an NBA franchise of its own? What I mean is this: The only NBA team left in the Pacific Northwest is Portland. The Trail Blazers will certainly be tempted to make inroads into the Seattle market, perhaps by playing a couple of preseason games each year at KeyArena, and maybe even some regular-season and/or playoff games there (though perhaps not, as there aren't likely to be scheduling conflicts with The Rose Garden, since the Blazers are the primary tenant there). If Seattlites have to turn their loyalty to the Blazers (what other game is there in town—the You-Dub Huskies?), will a new or relocated franchise in the Emerald City be able to build up a fan base?

The NBA is going to regret letting the Sonics, even as crappy as they were, leaving Seattle.