When it comes to moving the SuperSonics from Seattle, team boss Clay Bennett says:

Hypothetically, OKC is ready

Seattle SuperSonics chairman Clay Bennett told his employees that Oklahoma City is ready to foot the bill for the team to relocate there next season, a source within the organization said.
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• Any legal fees involving the team’s fight to break the KeyArena lease.

• Whatever the settlement is to the Seattle Center to buy out the lease.

• All relocation fees the NBA would force the team to pay other owners.

• Costs of physically moving the team’s staff and offices.

• Costs of upgrading the city’s current arena, the Ford Center, to make it NBA-ready.

• Costs of building a new arena, and when it’s finished, keeping the old facility running.
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Bennett told The News Tribune that his comments were a hypothetical response.

Sounds as if Bennett has been talking things over with OKC Mayor Mick Cornett… hypothetically, of course.

Aug 1 -
“Our consistent position is we’re not proactively pursuing any specific franchise,” Cornett said. “When we’re told a franchise is available, then we will pursue it. We don’t want to be stealing Seattle’s or New Orleans’ franchise until they’re available.”
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In a four-month, on-line poll that received 131,214 hits, 85 percent of respondents want Oklahoma City to pursue a MAPS 3 initiative. That plan likely would include a new 20,000-seat arena to complement the efficient, but hardly superlative, Ford Center.

But listen to Cornett recently about dealing with the negative impact of new development on city services:

Aug 22 -
Mayor Mick Cornett said one method the city can seek on its own is impact fees, which pass the cost of new infrastructure on to developers when they are building new houses or commercial developments.

“It’s the best solution I’ve seen so far,” Cornett said.

What an innovative idea! Wonder why nobody ever thought of that before.

But if OKC can’t afford to maintain their streets, even after all the extra sales tax generated from the city’s economic development of Bricktown and the North Canadian Oklahoma River, how are they going to get all the money for road repair and meet Bennett’s expectations for the Sonics? Hypothetically.

Cornett said the city will also work with the Legislature to come up with new revenue streams.

And here I’ve been referring to them as the OKC SuperSonics, when it looks like they’re really going to be the Oklahoma SuperSonics. Truthfully.

Sonics’ co-owner Aubrey McClendon had no comment.

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