Link I don't know why he kept up the pretext this long. He wasted a lot of money on it. This whole time he was talking about building a new arena in Renton, there was absolutely nobody willing to pay for it. The state wasn't going to give Bennett as much money as he wanted, and there's no way he didn't know that. At no point has any Washington official suggested they would pay more than a fifth or so of the cost, which is why I never believed the Sonics had a chance to stay. On the bright side, they might trade Ray now and start from scratch like they should've done already.
I can see it now, Sonics get 2nd pick in draft, take Durant, move to Oklahoma City and win 5 championships. Will the rainclouds over Seattle never leave?
I'm not convinced that we are definitely on the move. Obviously Bennett realizes that Seattle is a better market place than Oklahoma City and that he'd probably maximize his profits if he stayed in the region and was able to produce a winning team. I think that in his mind, he has exhausted all of his options to get the necessary public funds and figures that he will have to hard ball (ala Schultz) in order to get what he wants. Basically he is saying, "If you do not give me what I want than I am packing up my shit and leaving." I think that he'd rather have this world class building in Renton b/c he will be facing the same obstacles in OKC with an arena if he decides to relocate in his hometown. Obviously he has better relationship with the political leaders in Oklahoma than he does in Washington but I think that he wouldn't have made such an effort to get the arena in this area (and do the things that he has done to garner respect in the community) if he really didn't think it would help maximize the value of the franchise and his profit margin. It is just a shame that we had such a terrible year b/c it really would have generate a ton of support to keep this team in the region. I doubt that Clay is going to receive too much resistance if indeed he does plan on relocating the team. I just hope that the tax payers bend b/c I don't live in the region.
ESPN reported a few days ago that Bennett has mentioned the Sonics will no longer be in Seattle after the 07/08 season. Also, I should note that it is strange he released this information since the March deadline for paperwork to be filed to the NBA board for relocation has already passed. Opinions?
I find it hard to believe that - does he want to play in front of even an emptier Key next season? I have heard him say it doesn't look that promising that we'll be able to drum up the money and council support to stay in Seattle, but nothing definite. Doesn't make any sense to say that.
