Chris Hansen and the city of Seattle have done everything they need to do to prepare for the return of the Seattle Sonics. Now all that's left is convincing the NBA to allow the sale of the Sacramento Kings to Hansen...and that process might get a little thorny.
Folks from both Seattle and Sacramento went to New York and pitched their cases for the franchise yesterday. Seattle pulled out all the stops...
Hansen made his case that Seattle's plan for the NBA is stronger than Sacramento's, and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer asserted that all the pieces are in place to relocate the Kings to the Emerald City. That's according to Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn and King County Executive Dow Constantine, who held a news conference after their pitch to the NBA's finance and relocation committees at the St. Regis Hotel in New York. So what happens now? NBA commissioner David Stern and the board of governors may take more than two weeks to figure out which group they want the team to go to. At that point, if they choose Seattle, they will also set a relocation fee, to be paid by Hansen's group to the league. Three-quarters of the board must vote in favor of either group to approve the ownership transfer.
If Seattle loses the bid to Sacramento, it's not the end of the world, but it would mean that plans to get cracking on the SoDo Arena come to a halt, at least until the league approves an expansion franchise or another team becomes available to relocate.
· Maloofs urge NBA to approve Kings' sale, relocation to Seattle [SeattlePI]
· Two Investment Groups Present Pitches for Kings [NY Times]
· All SoDo Arena Coverage