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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Hoopshype.com

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Blazersedge

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BehindtheBlazers

Barrett'sBlazerblog

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Post-Sonics Watch
Keeping an eye on the NBA and Seattle's efforts to get back into the game
Thursday, June 5th, 2008
Sonics respond to Schultz lawsuit
Posted by Eric Williams @ 10:24:19 am

In a filing late Wednesday the Sonics responded to former Sonics owner Howard Schultz's lawsuit in federal court, which seeks to undo the sale of the team because of breech of contract, fraud and negligent misrepresentation.

In the eight-page filing, attorneys for the Sonics deny the ownership group led by Sonics chairman Clay Bennett group lied to Schultz when they bought the franchise in July 2006, and that the group followed through with the contract stipulation to make a "good faith best effort" to get an arena deal done in Seattle for 12 months after the sale in the group's unsuccessful attempt to secure funding for a $500 million new arena in Renton.

Attorney's for the Sonics contend the lawsuit filed by Schultz should be dismissed.

In the filing attorneys for the Sonics also argue it's impossible to unwind the sale because of several transactions that have occurred since the deal, including he sale of the Seattle Storm to a local ownership group, and the pursuit to move the team to Oklahoma City, including a public vote to secure funding to upgrade the city's Ford Center, and a binding lease for the team to begin playing at the Ford Center beginning in the 2010-11 season.

The two sides are scheduled to meet before U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman, the same judge presiding over the trial between the City of Seattle and the Sonics, on June 30.

Read the filing here.

Categories: NBA • 5 comments

COMMENTS:

erinandjames @ 12:12 - Thursday, June 5th, 2008 Email
The Sonics have a few good arguments. Looks like a toss up.
DoctorEvil @ 12:17 - Thursday, June 5th, 2008 Email
Impossible to unwind?? They must have missed the part where the remedy is clearly spelled out. No psrt of that solution is difficult.
"Impossible" would be undoing all the personnel actions (trades/etc)that have taken place over the last three years. Conveying ownership to a trust is as easy as filing a piece of paper.
MrBaker @ 13:31 - Thursday, June 5th, 2008 Email
I can not wait for the Schultz side's reply. Winding, unwinding, meaningless. As long as Bennett hasn't done damage that he will have to pay for, as long as the fixed price of 10,000,000 is transfered back in cash, as long as the NBA board of governors do not vote again for relocation in 2008 and again in 2009, as long as Schultz does not apply for relocation of the Sonics in 2008 and again in 2009 (no relocation approval = no relocation to OKC), as long as Bennett has this kind of argument, there is a real chance that the team stays, that PJ is fired, that Bennett caused damage to the SEATTLE Sonics through fraud and is responsible for his actions after committing that fraud; such as signing a lease with OKC, then he will pay off that lease, and any other damage he has caused as a result of his fraud.
I am no lawyer, I am just sayin', a guy on the Internet can figure this out, it will not be tough for the judge that sees the liar the second time around.

Keep up the good work Eric.
MrBaker @ 13:32 - Thursday, June 5th, 2008 Email
ah, the 10 million is for the Storm sale.
psheehy @ 16:41 - Thursday, June 5th, 2008 Email
I can't imagine that Schultz and company can't simply waive all the changes like roster, front/back office and the Storm as part of day to day business (meaning they just accept them as is) and still unwind the original sale of the remaining assets. They can say that everything else would have been done by them anyway, other than the point in question which is moving the team.

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