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Friday, May 9th, 2008
Posted by Eric Williams @ 05:16:43 pm
According to The Oklahoman today, Oklahoma City officials sent a nine-page letter to former Sonics owner Howard Schultz's attorney Richard Yarmuth, stating that if Schultz receives the Sonics back and does not move the team to Oklahoma City by 2010 they will file suit against Schultz. Oklahoma City officials have negotiated a lease agreement with the Sonics Oklahoma City-based ownership group for the team to play its home games at the Ford Center beginning the 2010-11 season. Yarmuth filed a lawsuit for Schultz against Sonics chairman Clay Bennett and the rest of his ownership group on April 22, seeking to undo the sale of the team because of breach of contract. In the suit Schultz claims that Bennett failed to honor a "good faith best effort" stipulation in the sales agreement. In today's letter, Wiley Williams, an assistant municipal counselor for the city states: "there is an expectation by City leadership and citizens that the owners of the Team, whomever they may be, will honor all of the Team's contractual obligations with the City — including the contractual obligation to relocate to Oklahoma City and to play home games at the Ford Center for the duration of the term of the lease." Williams also states in the letter that the city is prepared to sue if the Sonics do not relocate. Check out the letter here. Also, listen to a Sonics roundtable on the latest court dealings with Seattle P-I's Greg Johns, myself and KJR Dave "Softy" Mahler here.
Categories: NBA
• 8 comments
Thursday, May 8th, 2008
Posted by Eric Williams @ 08:00:59 pm
From the Associated Press today.
Categories: NBA
Posted by Eric Williams @ 01:42:11 pm
The Sonics will host a mini-camp for NBA Development League players and other professionals from overseas looking to latch on to an NBA roster next season. The Sonics already got a glimpse of three players that might wind up on the summer league roster during the season, signing point guards Mike Wilks and Eddie Gill and small forward Ronald Dupree to 10-day contracts during the season.
Categories: NBA
Posted by Eric Williams @ 01:00:31 pm
Sonics fan and Tacoma native Paul Brogan was on KJR with Mitch in the Morning spitting lyrics and kicking knowledge on the Mariners' losing ways and his passion for the Sonics, among other things. Take a look at Brogan in his environment here. Listen to his interview with Mitch here. And view Brogan's myspace page here.
Categories: NBA
Posted by Eric Williams @ 12:42:54 pm
Here's the press release from the Sonics.
Categories: NBA
Posted by Eric Williams @ 06:37:32 am
The Sonics will announce the hire of Utah Jazz head scout Troy Weaver as the team's new assistant general manager today, according to NBA sources. Weaver will replace Scott Perry, who left after a season with the Sonics, returning to the Detroit Pistons as vice president of basketball operations. Weaver seems to fit Seattle general manager Sam Presti's vision for the job, with a background both as a talent evaluator and coach. Weaver worked four years as Utah's head scout. Before joining the Jazz, Weaver worked as an assistant at Syracuse University for four seasons, primarily coaching the forwards. He also served as an assistant coach at Pittsburgh and New Mexico. Weaver also has a connection with Kevin Durant. He coached AAU basketball in the Washington D.C. area from 1993 to 1996, where Durant played.
Categories: NBA
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008
Posted by Eric Williams @ 09:23:11 pm
U.S. District court judge Marsha Pechman rejected a motion filed by the Sonics, ruling on Tuesday she would not determine monetary damages for a buyout regarding the KeyArena lease between the city of Seattle and the Sonics. Attorneys for the Sonics filed a motion requesting Pechman decide how much a potential buyout would be if the Sonics won its case regarding terms of the lease. The city filed a suit against the Sonics in order to force the team to honor a specific performance clause in the contract, which states the team must play all of its home games at KeyArena through September, 2010. In her ruling, Pechman stated the Sonics request falls outside the scope the two parties agreed on during a scheduling conference in January. Pechman also stated that granting the Sonics’ request could also delay the trial. Further, the Sonics had asked for an accelerated trial date, which begins June 16th, with the possibility of the team moving to Oklahoma City this season should they win the case. Adding the task of determining a buyout could delay the trial because of the added work involved for both parties. Check out the Pechman's ruling here. Sonics assistant GM search ongoing Seattle general manager Sam Presti said he is in the midst of searching to fill the role of assistant general manager left vacant when Scott Perry took the job of vice president of basketball operations with his former employer the Detroit Pistons just after the season ended. “Scott (Perry) was just a really solid person who is a team-oriented person,” Presti said. “Obviously he had a great understanding of what we look for in players. He brought both coaching and scouting experience to our front office and he contributed in a lot of different ways.” With salary cap specialist, assistant general manager Rich Cho already in the fold, Presti is searching for another good talent evaluator like Perry to help continue the rebuilding process for the Sonics as the team tackles the upcoming draft and free agency. Also, listen to Seattle deputy mayor Tim Ceis talks about the latest court filing with KJR's Mitch Levy here. And Sonics broadcaster Kevin Calabro talks NBA on KJR here.
Categories: NBA
Monday, May 5th, 2008
Posted by Eric Williams @ 10:30:40 pm
 As part of ongoing discovery in the suit involving the Sonics and the city of Seattle over terms of the KeyArena lease, an April 2nd transcript of Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels being deposed was released by attorneys for the Sonics on Monday. During the deposition, asked if he believed a solution to keep the Sonics in town was more likely to occur if the Sonics were forced to stay until 2010, Nickels said absolutely. According to the suit, Nickels also gave purposefully non-responsive answers when asked if the city pursued a strategy of enforcement of the specific performance clause in the KeyArena lease so the Sonics would lose money and perhaps be more willing to sell to local owners. In a filing on Monday attorneys for the Sonics stated they would withdraw a request for the judge to decide a specific number for the team to buy its way out of the lease if it delayed the June 16th trial. However, the Sonics also argue that the city does not want a specific monetary number determined because it works against the city’s argument that it is entitled to specific performance. Check out Nickels' deposition here. And look at the Sonics latest filing here.
Categories: NBA
• 2 comments
Posted by Eric Williams @ 10:17:14 pm
Kevin Durant will get another opportunity to show off his growing wardrobe in two weeks. The league’s Rookie of the Year will represent the Sonics in the NBA draft lottery on May 20 in Secaucus, N.J., according to the team’s spokesperson Tom Savage. The No. 2 overall pick last season, Durant and Sonics are in the lottery again after finishing a franchise-low 20-62 overall, the second-worst mark in the NBA this season behind the Miami Heat. The Sonics have a 19.9 percent chance of getting the top pick, an 18.8 percent chance of grabbing the No. 2 pick and a 17.1 percent chance of snagging the No. 3 selection. Seattle can finish no worse than with the fifth pick overall.
Categories: NBA
Friday, May 2nd, 2008
Posted by Eric Williams @ 08:47:13 pm
 BY ERIC D. WILLIAMS Attorneys for the Sonics filed a motion in federal court on Friday arguing against documents from Seattle developer Matt Griffin being sealed for attorney’s eyes only and not available for members of the Sonics ownership group to view. Friday’s filing was the latest in court proceedings leading up to the June 16 trial between the City of Seattle and the Sonics over terms of the KeyArena lease. The city filed a lawsuit against the Sonics to force the team to honor the last two years of its lease, which ends in September 2010. The filing claims that Griffin, who serves as spokesperson for a private investment group trying to secure arena funding for an NBA team in Seattle, has not met the heavy burden necessary to establish confidential treatment for the documents.
Categories: NBA
• 3 comments
Thursday, May 1st, 2008
Posted by Darrin Beene @ 12:39:30 pm
Just talked to Eric Williams, who is up in Bellevue covering the Kevin Durant/rookie of the year press conference. Eric said one piece of news came out of the event when general manager Sam Presti said coach P.J. Carlesimo would be back with the Sonics next season. Two weeks ago Presti gave a vague answer in regards to Carlesimo's status for next season. In his first year with the Sonics, Carlesimo led the young team to just 20 wins.
Categories: NBA
• 6 comments
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008
Posted by Eric Williams @ 10:19:36 pm
The city of Seattle filed a motion in opposition to a filing last week by attorneys for the Sonics that, if granted, could push back a trial between the city and the Sonics over monetary damages involving the KeyArena lease another six months. The city’s lawsuit seeks to compel the Sonics to live up to their KeyArena lease requiring the team to stay through September 2010. Last week the Sonics filed a counterclaim for declaratory relief, requesting Judge Marsha Pechman provide a monetary figure for the city’s damages should the team receive a decision that allowed the Sonics to move to Oklahoma City this season to avoid another trial to resolve the financial issue. However, in the city’s filing on Wednesday, attorneys for the city argue that the team’s request "dramatically expanded the scope of this litigation," by asking the court to decide the issue of damages.
Categories: NBA
Posted by Eric Williams @ 12:13:27 pm
 Apparently winning 74 percent of your games is not good enough to keep your job in the NBA. As first reported by ESPN’s Marc Stein, the Dallas Mavericks let Avery Johnson go today. Johnson’s Mavericks fell to New Orleans in a disappointing five games after picking up veteran guard Jason Kidd in a midseason deal with the hope of making a deep playoff run. Johnson is not the only coach feeling hot under the collar, as Phoenix’s Mike D’Antoni and Denver’s George Karl also are on the hot seat after first-round departures. Both coaches have been successful coaches and won a lot of games in the league, but this is what happens when you don’t meet owners’ lofty expectations. Sometimes it’s easier to get rid of the coach than to make roster moves with hefty salaries involved.
Categories: NBA
• 2 comments
Posted by Eric Williams @ 11:05:43 am
This story from Bloomberg wire services seems to point to the fact the Hornets may be staying in New Orleans long term. The New Orleans Hornets will break even at worst after preseason projections of a $20 million loss, team owner George Shinn said. The Hornets last night eliminated the Dallas Mavericks in the opening round of the National Basketball Association playoffs, advancing to face the defending champion San Antonio Spurs. Sellout crowds and an invigorated fan base will help the Hornets at least break even this season, Shinn said during an interview with Bloomberg Radio’s “On the Ball” that will air this weekend. “We’ll be right at a break-even point,” Shinn said. “When the season started, we were budgeted to lose about $20 million. That is slowly evaporating.” Shinn also said officials from the team and state are negotiating a long-term contract for the Hornets to remain in the NBA’s smallest media market, which is recovering from Hurricane Katrina.
Categories: NBA
Posted by Eric Williams @ 09:59:15 am
 According to league sources, Seattle rookie Kevin Durant will be named NBA rookie of the year. The Sonics will have a press conference to announce the award on Thursday. Durant finished ahead of Atlanta's Al Horford and Houston's Luis Scola to become the first Sonic to win the award. Durant led all rookies in scoring (20.3 ppg.), free-throw shooting (87.3 percent) and assists (2.4 apg.). And Durant became just the third teenager in league history to average 20 points a game for a season, joining Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James. Durant will travel from Washington D.C. to Seattle for Thursday's press conference. In news involving the Sonics future location, Seattle law firm Byrnes & Keller accepted a summons regarding former Sonics owner Howard Schultz's lawsuit against the current ownership group on Tuesday, and will represent Sonics chairman Clay Bennett and the rest of the ownership group. Byrnes & Keller also is representing Bennett's group in the lawsuit vs. the city of Seattle. Bennett's group has 20 days to respond to the complaint. The Sonics finished final lease negotiations with Oklahoma City that include having Oklahoma City in its name should the team move there. And here's an interesting article on the new revenue sharing package owners passed during the NBA Board of Governors meeting in New York, and how it could affect small market teams.
Categories: NBA
Monday, April 28th, 2008
Posted by Eric Williams @ 03:34:03 pm
In what looks like another minor victory for the city of Seattle, a U.S. District Court judge in New York ruled that attorneys representing the city can dispose NBA Commissioner David Stern, according to a report in The Oklahoman.
Categories: NBA
• 8 comments
Friday, April 25th, 2008
Posted by Eric Williams @ 06:42:03 am
The city of Seattle released more emails that seem to suggest the NBA may have suspected the Sonics breached its good faith agreement with former Sonics owner Howard Schultz. Here's my story from today. Here's the city's filing in New York City. And here is the NBA's response. And here are the emails along with the other exhibits the city submitted. The city and the NBA will meet in federal court in New York to settle the dispute on Monday. Thursday, April 24th, 2008
Posted by Eric Williams @ 01:22:22 pm
The same judge presiding over the city’s of Seattle’s case against the Seattle SuperSonics ownership group regarding the Keyareana lease will oversee a recent lawsuit filed by former Sonics owners Howard Schultz against the Oklahoma City-based ownership group. Schultz lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, was reassigned to federal court judge Marsha Pechman on Wednesday. Judge Robert Lasnik initially had been assigned the case. Pechman also will oversee the city's lawsuit against the Sonics regarding the KeyArena lease, with the trial starting June 16. Also Lester Munson, ESPN legal analyst, was on KJR Dave Mohler’s show this morning, and said that Schultz had a better than 50 percent chance to win his case. Listen to that conversation here.
Categories: NBA
• 2 comments
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008
Posted by Eric Williams @ 12:35:00 pm
The Wages of Wins Journal rates this year's Sonics team among the worst teams in league history, according to their statistical analysis.
Categories: NBA
• 2 comments
Posted by Eric Williams @ 09:49:44 am
Those boys from the Seattle Weekly stay busy. Here they document Seattle Sonics players returning to Boeing Field from the team's last game of the season in Golden State, a 126-121 victory. It's worth checking out.
Categories: NBA
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Sonics Insider
Eric Williams took over the Sonics Insider blog in July 2007. Williams joined The News Tribune in 2006 as the Coordinator for Prep Sports. Previously he spent four years as both a news reporter and sports reporter at the Kitsap Sun in Bremerton, Wash. A Tacoma native, Eric graduated from Mount Tahoma High and the University of Puget Sound. Frank Hughes covered the Sonics for The News Tribune from 1997-2007 before moving over to cover the Seattle Seahawks for the news company. He is now writing the Seahawks Insider blog. Calendar
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