Post-Sonics Watch
Feeling lost without your Seattle SuperSonics? Seattle-area NBA fans face their first season without an NBA team in 41 years. Primarily, our coverage here will focus on the City of Seattle’s attempt to bring the NBA back to Seattle. But we also will provide updates on the Portland Trail Blazers, the Oklahoma City Thunder and area players plying their trade for other teams in the NBA.

Eric Williams covered the Sonics' last season in Seattle. A Tacoma native, Eric graduated from Mount Tahoma High and the University of Puget Sound.

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Post-Sonics Watch
Keeping an eye on the NBA and Seattle's efforts to get back into the game
Monday, February 25th, 2008
Judge orders Sonics to hand over emails
Posted by Eric Williams @ 09:31:51 pm

An interesting story involving the KeyArena lease lawsuit between the City of Seattle and the Sonics from the Associated Press this evening.

SEATTLE (AP) — The Seattle SuperSonics’ ownership group has already turned over 150,000 e-mails as part of its KeyArena lease dispute with the city. But a federal judge says the team must provide many more.
U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman ruled Monday that as part of the lawsuit’s discovery process, the Sonics’ ownership group must give Seattle’s lawyers copies of e-mails sent from or to all of its eight board members that could potentially be relevant to the case.

Last month, the Sonics produced e-mails from Chairman Clay Bennett and co-owner Aubrey McClendon. The team’s lawyers argued that digging up the e-mails of the other six board members would be too much work and would only turn up redundant information.

The city, which is suing to keep the team from moving to Oklahoma City, disagreed. Trial is set for June.
The judge gave the Sonics 14 days to produce the rest of the e-mails.

Categories: NBA • 9 comments

COMMENTS:

knutson_11 @ 09:25 - Tuesday, February 26th, 2008 Email
Definitely sounds like a plus for the city, i read you posts often but dont typically post, but how do you see this really going down, i see the city winning the court case, but even if they do what do you think the BOG is going to vote, it is hard telling from a fans perspective not knowing much about some of the owners?
Opal @ 10:27 - Tuesday, February 26th, 2008
Its tough seeing wise moves for the future being made - that temporarily render our team to worthless, and not have the hope of seeing the team grow.
chawksfan @ 12:13 - Tuesday, February 26th, 2008 Email
this is all posturing.the city wants to win so that they can hold ownerships feet to fire for a full buyout of the bonds for the remodel that is all the city wins this team will be gone next year unless someone steps up and builds the arena.at this late date i doubt even that will work as clay is now a white night in oklahoma.their will be another relocation within five years in oklahoma as the market will not support basketball there or for that matter a losing team for the next few at least
Eric Williams @ 13:16 - Tuesday, February 26th, 2008 Email
Knutson_11: I don't see the city backing down on this. Seattle deputy mayor Tim Ceis has made strong statements that the city will make the Sonics play out the lease if the city wins the court case, and from talking to people that know him, Ceis is a man of his word.

If the city wins the court case it could force the Sonics ownership group to pay more for the buyout, but then Seattle still has no anchor tenant when it's ready to build a new arena. Ultimately, the city will need to build a new arena in the next five to 10 years as part of an overall remodel of Seattle Center, so why not get that process started now with the Sonics?

From what I've heard there are local businessmen willing to invest in the project waiting to see what happens with the court case.
knutson_11 @ 13:36 - Tuesday, February 26th, 2008 Email
All excellent to hear thanks Eric. From everything that i have read regarding the court case, I think the City has a darn good shot at winning this forcing the Sonics to 2 more years, and if there are businessmen waiting in the wings as far as investment, it seems to me that would make things very hard for the BOG to ok a relocate knowing Seattle has plans and finances together for a remodel or new arena.
ttownport @ 14:15 - Tuesday, February 26th, 2008 Email
What exactly are they looking for in the emails? Proof that they never gave the city of Seattle a chance to keep the team?
pwhit44 @ 15:01 - Tuesday, February 26th, 2008 Email
Even if there were incriminating emails between the Oklahoma City owners, wouldn't it just be a matter of wiping hard drives clean of any evidence that there has been a conspiracy to move the team from the beginning?

Seems unlikely that any bad emails will turn up...
MarkS @ 19:24 - Tuesday, February 26th, 2008 Email
"Even if there were incriminating emails between the Oklahoma City owners, wouldn't it just be a matter of wiping hard drives clean of any evidence that there has been a conspiracy to move the team from the beginning?"

You clearly don't know much about computers. It's not that easy.
chawksfan @ 15:02 - Wednesday, February 27th, 2008 Email
YOU ARE ASSUMING THEY WILL NEED AN ANCHOR TENANT.the city would have no underlying debt on the property after the buyouts.they will have a revunue stream from concerts and other events.as far as these behind the scenes investors they probably should step up now so that thepublic can get behind this.it sounds though that clay bennet will take tis team regardless as that weas the plan all along

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