Fans, NBA Basketball is coming back to Oklahoma City this fall. After serving as a home away from home for the New Orleans Hornets following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina 2 seasons ago, Oklahoma City's Ford Center will be the new home of the NBA's Sonics. Late this afternoon, Sonics' owner Clay Bennett reached a settlement with the city of Seattle in which his team will terminate its lease with KeyArena and pay as much as $75 million to accelerate the move to Oklahoma City next season. The relocated team will have a new team nickname, new colors and a new logo in Oklahoma City as the Sonics' name, green & gold colors & logo will remain in Seattle under terms of the settlement Bennett reached with city officials. It remains to be seen if the NBA will grant another team to Seattle similar to the deal Cleveland made with the NFL following the controversial move to Baltimore as the Ravens, yet the Browns' logo & colors stayed in that city in the late '90s. A lot hinges on whether Seattle officials can make massive renovations to KeyArena before the end of next year & if the NBA grants another team to that city.

Seriously. I think the league could stand to lose at least four teams as it is.

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"Cowabunga? Cowa fucking piece of dog shit! This game is diarrhea coming out of my dick!"

At least that. Why the fuck is Memphis a team? Seriously, would more than 11 people in that city even notice if that team was contracted?

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

i'd say the charlotte bobcats have been the biggest waste of space in the NBA for the last few years.

good points. basketball will likely succeed in OK with Durant. there are other places for the NBA. Memphis? Move 'em to St. Louis or Kansas City. Move someone up to Seattle, maybe New Orleans. and finally, move Charolette to Las Vegas. Then they all have a chance, at least...

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

I dont know how good St. Louis and KC would be as basketball cities. New Orleans shouldnt be moved. That city has enough to worry about with the Saints, and the Jazz already got hijacked from them. I see that becoming a very good basketball city over the next decade with its young core. If any team should be moved to Seattle, I think Memphis should. I doubt after the All Star game a couple years back in Vegas they will ever get a team during Stern's tenure. Charlotte is a good basketball city, but the management for the Bobcats since their inception has been horrendous. Oklahoma City proved despite not being a huge city it is more than willing to support a basketball team for a whole season last year.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I don't think California has enough NBA teams. They should move one or two of them there.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I understand what you're saying Fairve...but New Orleans and Memphis didn't succeed at first because their metropolis area doesn't have enough people to support the team...I dunno...

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

Youre right about Memphis, but New Orleans supported their team back in the Pistol Pete days and despite the unsettlement there, it only took a couple years for them now to sell out regularly now that they have a good product. I just dont like teams getting hijacked from cities that grow to be loyal to them, and I think the Hornets have finally built a good foundation there, and them, Portland, and LA probably have the three brightest NBA futures right now. It would be just wrong to take that team away from New Orleans.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

why not put a team back in KC or St. Louis then...wasn't there a fair amount of support? they let Sacremento stay where they were despite horrible teams for years...

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

I thought the Kings left KC for Sac-town because of bad attendance? I could be wrong on that though.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

yes, they did...which is what I'm saying, the difference between Sacremento having the Kings and Kansas City having the team was waiting for the team to get good and putting up with poor attendance until that happened...

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

I'm old enough to remember the Kansas City Kings, before they moved to Sacramento I believe in 1985, but the NBA in St. Louis was before my time. I do know this. Kansas City does have a new arena called the Sprint Center, while St. Louis calls its arena the Scottrade Center. One of the main reasons why the NBA is going back to Oklahoma City is because taxpayers in Seattle wouldn't finance a new arena for the Sonics and that fans in OK City did.

Nor should they have to, having done it as recently as 12 years ago and being promised they wouldnt have to again for a long, long time.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

no, Seattle is getting the screw job, I don't think there's any question on that. But I still think that St. Louis could be a natural rival or KC, both of which have a cleaned up downtown (somewhat) and a obvious sports following in other sports...

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

NBA Commissioner David Stern, I believe, initially warned Seattle they may not get another team if the Sonics moved to Oklahoma City. He has since softened his stance, but believes that another team could become a viable tenant in Seattle's KeyArena, contigent on whether the state legislature comes up with enough funds to renovate. If lawmakers there don't, Sonics' owner Clay Bennett would then owe $75 million to the city of Seattle instead of the initial $45 million.

do you really think they will renovate? and don't you think Memphis ends up there either way after the latest embarresment of a trade?

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

The Memphis Grizzlies' situation puzzles me as well. While many NBA insiders seem to think they got the better end of the Draft Day deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves in which the Grizz got O.J. Mayo hours after the Wolves drafted him #3 overall, there are issues down there. I think they've got ownership issues of their own, and there have been good seats available for Grizzlie home games at FedEx Forum, which I think is a relatively new arena built when they relocated from Vancouver many years ago. Bulls' #1 pick Derrick Rose and the Memphis Tigers a season ago played in front of packed houses for their college basketball games in that same arena...

I actually thought Memphis might pick a Memphis Tiger in the later picks but they did not (Douglas-Roberts?). Guess that didn't work too well for Charolette...and what the heck are the Bobcats doing?!! I digress...

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

I really don't think basketball would work in St. Louis...don't know why, just a feeling...

it may not but we know where it doesn't work...

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

I think Chicago could use another team. We don't have enough meatball talk around here.

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

Factually speaking, that Douglas-Roberts guy you were referring did get drafted in Round 2 by the Detroit Pistons last week in the NBA Draft.

right, but he didn't get drafted by Memphis...they actually could have used him, he's going to be good, but he slipped due to an unorthadox game...

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

I've also heard his game is uncatholic, too.

I completely agree with you. I would have advocated the Spurs taking him at #26, but far be it for me to second guess Pops and RC Buford, the best NBA management team of this decade.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

NO was moved because the jackass owner was from Utah and had wanted to move them from day 1.

My cajun kin will back anybody that's a winner, or is exciting, and the Jazz were getting better, and Pete was a superstar there.

I think it's great that they got another basketball team and have something to take them through those dead months after football's over.