2019-11-13T00:17:21-05:00. Former Pelicans owner Tom Benson, also the owner of the New Orleans Saints, died last March. Seattle SuperSonics legends Shawn Kemp #40 and Hersey Hawkins #33. share. New stadium. Only one of the spurned cities — Charlotte, North Carolina — has regained a team.A more likely scenario, however, is that expansion will not occur until after the 2024-25 season, when the NBA’s nine-year, $24 billion television and media rights deal with ESPN and Turner Sports is scheduled to expire.
Only thing that's missing is our beloved Sonics. There may be some truth in that assessment, but it makes sense for the NBA to take a position on the renovation, which is being done in anticipation of an NHL team but is also designed for an NBA club. Here’s a look at how long other cities have waited after losing professional sports teams. He returned as a member of the Golden State Warriors, the reigning league champion, who played the Sacramento Kings, a team that came close to relocating to Seattle a few years ago.Seattle has been waiting 11 years for a new NBA team. It's … After 11 miserable seasons without our beloved SuperSonics, the city of Seattle rejoiced Friday morning when NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced the return of an expansion franchise. How realistic is it? Seattle traded Sellers midseason for Steve Johnson, who played 21 games for the SuperSonics. Source: Getty Images KEY STEP FORWARD FOR SUPERSONICS RETURN. 12. Bring em back, baby! The nostalgia is … Four decades ago, the Seattle SuperSonics won it all. The scene at KeyArena for the final game played in the former home of the Seattle SuperSonics before the arena’s two-year, $700 million reclamation project confirmed what most sports fans in Seattle already knew: The city deserves an NBA team.. New hockey team. The league prevented former Pelicans owner George Shinn from moving in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and subsequently bought the franchise from him before selling it to Benson in 2012. Bear in mind that since 2000, seven professional franchises — one in baseball, one in hockey, two in football and three in basketball — have relocated. Entries in italics indicate an existing team moved from another city. As it does with any other arena, the NBA is going to want to have a say in how its product is presented, and it stands to reason the league would benefit by using its position on the arena as a bargaining chip to get what it’s looking for when the time comes to discuss expansion in a realistic context.So, basketball-starved fans might end up waiting close to 20 years until they can cheer on their team once again. Asking 30 ownership groups to accept smaller slices of the revenue pie before they have an opportunity to renegotiate the TV deal seems completely unfathomable.“Everybody in the basketball world and the NBA knows the Sonics need to be back in Seattle,” Durant said during the week leading up to the game. So, while a relocation of the Pelicans can’t be ruled out entirely, if it were to happen, even an optimistic timeline wouldn’t bring a team to Seattle until the mid-2020s.The October 5 preseason game brought former Sonic Kevin Durant back to the place where he played his first NBA season a decade earlier. The team, who was owned by Starbucks founder Howard Schultz, was sold to … While in hindsight this trade was wildly lopsided, The Seattle Times noted context that helps stomach it a little easier. It seems unlikely the NBA would look favorably upon a move by the Pelicans, even though New Orleans is the 51st-largest media market in the United States and Seattle-Tacoma has risen to No. 17 comments. The league is considering abolishing its “one-and-done” rule that requires potential players to spend at least one year in college. Join. But those hoping for a revival of pro basketball in Seattle might want to cool their jets, even amid the NHL news. Back in August, Hall of Famer and Seattle Sonics great Gary Payton was interviewed by Fanatics View and was asked to weigh in on Durant’s interest in purchasing a piece of the Supersonics when his career is over.Payton was asked which group he will be partnering with in the efforts to bring the Sonics back to Seattle – the Oak View Group or the Sonics Arena Group led by Chris Hansen.“I was planning to come up there around that time to interview Chris Hansen, and he said ‘We’re having this meeting, why don’t you come to join us?” Buford said.”That would be a dream come true because all I really want to do with my time on earth is to be around basketball. Click here for a free subscription. The city of Seattle has been yearning for the return of its beloved NBA team, the Seattle Supersonics. 73. If I can’t play anymore, that would be the next best option.”