Since the Seattle Sonics were relocated and changed to the Oklahoma City Thunder, fans in Seattle have been begging to bring a franchise back to the city. They tried to make it happen when the Sacramento Kings were up for sale and again with the Milwaukee Bucks, neither was successful. This time the Mayor Ed Murray met with NBA commissioner Adam Silver to discuss the possibility of the NBA expanding and including a new Sonics team. Unfortunately he was hit with another rejection.
Mayor Ed Murray says a recent visit with NBA commissioner Adam Silver has him doubting that Seattle can land a team within the next few years. And that has Murray worried no team will arrive before the November 2017 expiration of a Sodo arena funding agreement between the city, King County and entrepreneur Chris Hansen.
“Their official line, and I think they’re being straightforward with me, is a city grabbing a team or a new (expansion) franchise at this point is not, in their mind, something they see happening,’’ Murray said Thursday of his Monday meeting with Silver and other league officials at NBA headquarters in New York City. “They actually expressed to me that they felt expectations in Seattle had been raised that weren’t consistent with what they had been sharing about a path to get there within the next few years.’’
