All the buzz the past few days has been on Howard Schultz announcement that he plans to file a lawsuit against the current ownership group over breach of contract because he believes the failed to live up to a “good faith, best effort” stipulation that was part of the agreement in the July 2006 sale.

Opinions vary on whether this move is a publicity stunt by Schultz or a legitimate issue that could help keep the team in Seattle.

However, the case would seem hard to prove in court because of the subjective nature of good faith stipulations, and proving whether someone acted in good faith or not could be difficult.

I talked to Sid DeLong, a professor at Seattle University Law School who has taught contract law since 1989, and he had this to say about “good faith, best effort” stipulations.

“If a buyer makes a contractual promise without intending to perform it, the seller can sometimes rescind the sales contract on grounds of promissory fraud,” DeLong said.

“If the buyer intended to perform at the time of the contract, then changed his mind and breached, the usual remedy would be money damages.”

Whether Schultz has a chance to win in court or not remains to be seen. However, I believe if he does file it will help in Seattle’s efforts to try and keep the team because it adds another element that the current Sonics ownership group will have to answer to.

State and local politicians also stepped into the fray, sending a letter to NBA Commissioner David Stern asking that he postpone the vote by owners to relocate the team to Oklahoma City.

Gov. Gregoire released a letter asking NBA Commissioner David Stern to postpone the vote by owners to relocate the team to Oklahoman City.

So did Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels.

ESPN’s Outside the Lines will air a special on the situation in Seattle throughout the day today. I'll post a link to the video when one is available.

And if you haven’t viewed it already, take a look at the special TNT put together on Save Our Sonics effort to keep the team in Seattle here and here.

Bill Simmons picks Kevin Durant as his Rookie of the year for these reasons provided at the bottom of this column.

Somehow, Durant evolved into a legitimate scorer after the All-Star Break (21.3 points and 47 percent shooting) even though defenses were keying on him and he weighs about 120 pounds. Check out the sidebar to the right -- he's well ahead of Nowitzki and KG and right there with LeBron and Melo, right? When his 3-point shooting comes around (a safe bet) and he moves to forward and starts getting easier baskets (especially off offensive rebounds), he's going to average 30-plus a game. And it's going to happen sooner than you think. Like, potentially next year.

Durant gets extra credit for his performance in Seattle's last (and potentially final) two home games. In a revenge performance against a Denver team that desperately needed to win, Durant hit game-tying 3s in regulation and OT -- the last one was a 35-foot bomb in which Durant was so far away, you couldn't even see him celebrating when the half-court camera followed the shot into the basket) -- and finished with a career-high 37 points. And then, in an emotional season finale against Dallas, KD scored the go-ahead and clinching baskets in the final minute, celebrated like he just won the championship and admitted he almost cried afterward.

Read the entire article here.

ESPN’s David Thorpe anoints Kevin Durant the rookie of the year here. Jeff Green finished 18th.