“Boo hoo” back to you Clay Bennett
Posted on Monday, May 26th, 2008 at 6:37 pm by Mr. Baker (thinking good thoughts for George Karl))
Greg Johns in the Seattle PI has an interesting story on the Sonics, Kevin Durant should click right HERE to read the whole story. Clay has a message for you.
Among the hundreds of thousands of words transcribed on 470 pages of depositions taken by lawyers for the upcoming trial between the city of Seattle and the Sonics’ ownership group over the team’s KeyArena lease, there are two Clay Bennett would surely love to take back.
Boo hoo.
In an e-mail to Oklahoma-based public relations consultant Brent Gooden after hearing some of the Sonics players were upset about the prospect of moving the franchise to Oklahoma City, Bennett responded by writing, “Boo hoo,” according to a line of questioning by city of Seattle attorney Jeff Johnson.
To which Gooden replied, “Great response. I would play wherever for half of the lowest paid player on the team.”
While Bennett’s own deposition is almost entirely redacted in the documents released last week via a public-records request, this particular e-mail exchange was contained in Gooden’s deposition.
Under questioning from Johnson, Gooden said he remembered that correspondence with Bennett and then tried to explain his own response.
Get ready!
The plaintiffs (ths city) pretrial statements were due on 5/23/2008, and the defendant (the alleged two faced liars from Oklahoma City) pretrial statement is due 5/29/2008, accourding to the schedule set back in April.
On 5/21/2008 the judge had ruled/filed a statement (Minute Order) that said ALL motions to admit or suppress evidence are due on 5/27/2008, that would be tomorrow, Tuesday. This is Motion in limine. I thought we should learn something along the way to recovering our team.
By the end of the week the trial statements will be filed and all the stuff that can be used will be known by both sides.
I thought we needed a new thread.
May 26th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Memo to Sam Presti - get on the phone to the Bucks. Word on the street is that if you take one of their guards with a heavy contract, the #8 pick can be had.
And for the guys who like to play with RealGM and the ESPN trade machine, the guards in question:
Michael Redd - $52mill over the next three seasons, $15.78mill in 2008-09.
Mo Williams - $43.5mill over the next five years, $8.35mill in 08/09.
Charlie Bell - $14.9mill over the next four years, $3.35mill in 08/09.
Reckon we can swing Ridnour for Bell and the #8? That would be theft.
May 26th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Herein lies the problem with the ownership limbo. I doubt Clay will want to take on much additional salray. As such, the Sonics would be missing out on a great deal (if the Bucks would actually do that).
Wouldn’t it be nice to have this all behind us?
May 26th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
“Reckon we can swing Ridnour for Bell and the #8? That would be theft. ”
That would be lunacy. Salary don’t match anyways. But hey, Presti is the man, let’s see what magic he applies here.
May 26th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Willing to give up the cap space we got from the Ray trade for any of those players? Im not…
May 26th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
This team - this current Sonics team - isn’t moving anywhere. Not this year, not next year, not in 2010, not ever. Period.
The City is going to win their lawsuit, and if Schultz’s case gets to trial, he will win as well.
My prediction is the OKC Rustlers will be buried (legally), done (figuratively), and gone (literally) by 2010. Ballmer and Co will own the team, and we’ll have the pleasure of watching Durant and the rest play in the “new” Key Arena.
Read it and weep, Clay - you and your posse are HISTORY.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/basketball/364678_arena27.html
May 26th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
I do Watson for Williams and the #8. Too bad we have Bennett, and maybe the Kurt Thomas trade didn’t have to happen.
May 26th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Courtsense,
I love your optimism. Frankly, I have long felt similarly, that at the end of the day the Sonics would be saved.
I have two fears:
1) the City settles for a promise of a future team too soon; and
2) Bennett signing that damn lease in OKC with the draconian promise that the Sonics would not sign a lease anywhere else. The only way to get around that is to prove Bennett committed fraud. That requires going the distance on the Schultz trial, because we know that Bennett would never agree in a settlement that he committed fraud. (The NBA may need to step in and placate OKC, although Stern doesn’t have the power to force the 30 owners to expand again, nor can he force a team to move there).
The chances of a stalemate are very high, IMHO.
May 26th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Re: the article Courtsense just posted -
Whoever made the awesome signs for the Dallas game should make a big “Boo Hoo Clay” sign for our pre-trial rally.
May 26th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
Memo to Sam Presti - get on the phone to the Bucks. Word on the street is that if you take one of their guards with a heavy contract, the #8 pick can be had.
And for the guys who like to play with RealGM and the ESPN trade machine, the guards in question:
Michael Redd - $52mill over the next three seasons, $15.78mill in 2008-09.
Mo Williams - $43.5mill over the next five years, $8.35mill in 08/09.
Charlie Bell - $14.9mill over the next four years, $3.35mill in 08/09.
Reckon we can swing Ridnour for Bell and the #8? That would be theft.
How about their rookie, Ramon Sessions?
The last few games where he started, he averaged
13.1 points per game
13.1 assists per game
1.7 steals per game
5.57 rebounds per game
Yeah, those might not be amazing numbers, but on a team like the bucks, where points aren’t exactly the easiest to come by, he averaged 13 assists… exactly as many points he scored per game.
He also had games of:
25pts, 14asts, 7 rebs, 3 stls, 3 turnovers
20pts, 24asts, 8 rebs, 1 stl, 1 block, 2 turnovers
12pts, 13asts, 6 rebs, 2 stls, 2 turnovers
May 26th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
Great story in the PI. If I’m Durant or a teammate who has fallen in love with Seattle (Collison) and I’m reading these comments from Clay, I’d be PISSED.
Bennett is such a jackass! Can you imagine if you had voiced a legitimate complaint about something at work, and you later found out your boss had smugly replied, “BOO-HOO.”
This dude is diggin’ his own grave. I honestly think it’s just a matter of time. The lease case is pretty much a win as far I see it. And if these Okies are stupid enough to see the Schultz suit play out, their even dumber than I thought.
Obviously Clay never intended any of these emails to surface, and now he must be kicking himself. I wonder if he and Stern are still having their lovefest, or if Davey boy is ready to kick this Okie liar to the curb for his flat-out mis-management of the entire situation.
You know what’s ironic? Clay was so hell-bent to get the heck out of here, that it’s probably gonna cost him his franchise. If he would’ve just sat back, kept his mouth shut, and played out the remainder of the Key lease, he could’ve taken the team to OKC at the end of the ‘09-’10 season. But when he tried to break the lease, it opened up a complete can of worms that he obviously couldn’t foresee.
I freakin’ LOVE IT!!!
GO SUPES!!!!
May 26th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
I posted this on the other thread but wanted to make sure it got seen. So here’s my idea:
I think we’re getting into a really exciting time and I think more now than ever we all need to be getting word out to folk’s that things are getting tense on the legal scene and things could be starting to swing our way. If I can make a suggestion, everyone find a talk show or morning show to call or e-mail tommorrow. Even if it’s your local radio show outside of Metro Seattle let people know this is getting big tell them you want to talk about the depositions that were released on Friday before Memorial Day. Ask if that was done to limit the media time spent on the story. If they start to shine you use terms like “Good Radio” and “Compelling” when talking to the phone screener you’ll have a better chance. If 3 or 4 people can work together to call one station in a controlled time frame someone will have a better chance of getting on.
If I can also suggest let’s try Thursday’s too. Thursday is the day radio ratings books are monitored and PD’s are more apt to put something on if they think it will get them a rating point or 2. If we can get a group going on Thursday’s or get a station to stunt with us on a Thursday that would be huge. Then when we have success or get someone who’s warm to our situation post an update here on sonicscentral and let us know so we can reach out too.
May 26th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
Boo hoo? Hhahahahahahaahahah. What a tool. Way to make yourself popular with the players on your team.
That is the kind of quote that should be interesting on an espn.com level. Someone send that to Bill Simmons and Adande and Chad Ford…
Classic stuff. I’m an attorney, but even a decade before going to law school I had heard of public disclosure requests and kept that in mind when emailing to/from a public entity…
May 26th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
I have an idea as well. Some of us who usually buy tickets are boycotting because of Clay.
We should set up a section of this website for “ticket commitments” for the post-clay sonics.
In other words, we can commit publically to the ticket package we will purchase the day after Bennett sells to local owners. That way, any low ticket sales next year will be counterbalanced…
I personally would be willing to actually put the money in escrow, but perhaps that is asking too much. Thoughts?
May 26th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
I’ll change the name of the thread
May 26th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
Schultz’s lawsuit will eventually be recognized as a “game-changer” - a truly unprecedented, historical action.
And anyone with even the slightest awareness of how Schultz perceives himself knows that he is “in it to win it.”
Good for him, good for Seattle, good for the team, good for us.
May 26th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Anybody see in Aubrey’s deposition that he claimed he didn’t have a personal email address, and he used his work one for ALL email correspondence?
I for one ain’t buying that AT ALL.
May 26th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Speedcat said: “That would be lunacy. Salary don’t match anyways. But hey, Presti is the man, let’s see what magic he applies here.”
Yeah, it’s a pretty rough sketch of a trade. I fancy the salaries might actually match if the Bucks pick for us and then trade the player’s rights.
The Bucks would do this because it’s a salary dump. We’d do this because we get another good young player and we get rid of Luke to boot. (And Bell wouldn’t be too bad a substitute until we draft our PG of the future)
May 26th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
gustafm,
I love that idea. Wer’ve got to find a way to tweak it to make the escrow thing work but Awesome idea. Combine that with what I said above about a stunt with a Station and that could be huge.
LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!
May 26th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
That trade is not really a salary dump. Neither Rid or Watson’s contracts are expiring. It is simply an exchange. No real reason for Milwaukee to do that.
May 26th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
4020,
Thanks! I thought of that while trying to do some actual legal work today (Sonics stuff is much more interesting than the contract work I was doing).
In any event, I am torn by my own decision to NOT buy tickets. I did last year, but can’t send Bennett any money. I just can’t do it. But I feel like I’m abandoning the guys. So it’s tough.
I suspect others feel the same way. . .
May 26th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
That trade is not much of a salary dump. Neither Rid or Watson’s contracts are expiring. It is simply an exchange. No real reason for Milwaukee to do that. Saving that $6M for one year is not that big of a deal unless you are near the luxury tax. If Milwaukee kept the #8 and Bell it could trade each piece off separately which might be easier. Wilcox for number eight would be a better salary dump for them.
May 26th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
That’s a good article I can’t believe bennett said ‘boo hoo’ about the players. Actually I can believe it.
May 26th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
“Johnson, the city’s attorney, also questioned Gooden about whether he’d heard that Bennett tried to get the NBA to consider a special relocation process to avoid playing the 2007-08 season at KeyArena, but the league said it couldn’t meet such requirements by its June 1 deadline.
“I may have heard something, but I don’t recall anything specific,” Gooden said.”
Is it my imaginiation or does this indicate that there was a high potential for the NBA to have been aware of efforts to flee Seattle WELL IN ADVANCE of the Oct 31 deadline? If so, then why weren;t they interested in this as part of the ‘Good Faith Agreement’ that Joel Litvin was supposedly investiating?
Is this another example of Clay and David ‘Doing the Okie Pokie?’
May 26th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
4020… Agree - the more Sonic fans call into KJR or other radio stations the better.
The message should be simple - positive - firm…
1. No financial settlement on the lease law suit
2. We are in this to keep this team here
Once we get the lease settled and the 2-years locked up - time to get an arena figured out
May 26th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
Okay just had a FLASHBACK:
I really want to make this happen so we’ll all need to get on board.
Back in the day Woody Paige capped on SLC during the Olympics. He made a comment about Green Jello. Anyway Jimmy Chunga a local raido morning guy sent a U-Haul full of Jell-o Boxes to Woody’s House.
With the BOO-HOO comment WE HAVE GOT TO SEND THOUSANDS OF BOXES OF KLEENEX TO CLAY!
Seriously we will gget more national and regional press from that than about anything else. I’m not up there but am willing to orchestrate from here but who’s willing to help get the Kleenex Drive going?
Folk’s we’ve got to make this happen!
May 26th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
Courtsense…. I agree with you & thanks for posting the link to this new article.
I think we will see more & more stuff coming out in the coming weeks from all the depositions. Oh my - just wait until Clay’s stuff starts coming out!
I think if the city wins the June lease case & the Sonics are locked in for 2 more years - I don’t think Howard’s law suit will ever hit the courts. Stern & clay will cave in - fold - this summer and the sell to ballmer will be figured out in the next few months.
I agree - Howard is in it to win - but he will drop it all if Clay agree’s to sell to Ballmer - and Howard hopefully will pull clay’s wallet for all his legal expesnes!
Clay is done - toast as long as Nichols does not surprise and accpet a big finacial buyout of the lease or the court shocks us and rules for Clay on the lease. But even if the court case rules for Clay Howard can likely get an injuntion to keep the team from moving.
I’m surprised no one in the national media is doing any serious investigative journalism on this story and laying it out for people.
May 26th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Malaman, the Bucks are trying to cut the lengths of their contracts. The previous management dished out contracts that were far too long, and the Bucks have lost flexibility because of this. For them, this trade cuts the length of their reserve point’s contract in half.
Obviously, they’d much prefer us to take Mo or Redd, that said!
May 26th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
4020…
The kleenex idea is good - what we need is 3-4 Sonics Fans wearing SOS gear arriving in front of one of the arena’s during the NBA finals with a few 1000 boxes of Kleenex for Clay and a big sign & a simple flyer handout with the quote from Clay’s e-mail etc.
Get it on TV & ESPN with an SOS sign etc.
May 26th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
Mo Williams is a good player - but he has 5 more years on his contract - I’m not sure he’s a guy to invest in at that level - probably not.
I serioulsy doubt Clay will want to committ to that kind of $$$.
Redd is terrific but has 48 million in slary for the next 3 years. Don’t see that as making sense when you arn’t going to be in the playoffs next year anyway.
May 26th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
Re: The PI article.
That’s absolutely remarkable behaviour. When was the last time we heard of an owner saying such things about his players? Just… remarkable. This really can’t be the type of owner that the NBA wants or needs.
This is also going to hit home in the Schultz trial when they try to prove that the Sonics intentionally tanked the team. What kind of owner says this about their players when they’re not trying to tank them?
Great work from Percy and co. to find this amongst the hundreds of pages of emails released!
May 26th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
I am feeling pretty positive about the sonics staying here but I have a couple of fears 1. We are being overly confident about the lease case and we end up losing 2.The city settles too soon(as someone said above) 3.Clay and Stern stick with it and end up winning in the end But really none of know what’s going to happen I just think from now on its gonna be exciting. And we definately need a BOO HOO CLAY sign for the rally and for opening day. I don’t want to give my money to Clay but I have to go to some games and the players deserve our support
May 26th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Clay has turned this into such a debacle. If he loses this team.
Does anyone think that the other owners will let him have another team?
My guess is no and that makes me a bit nervous on what he’ll do.
May 26th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Agree - Mo’s contract is far too long, so they wouldn’t want him for his impact on the team salary cap. Redd has non-existent defense, so they wouldn’t want him for his on-court impact, much as he’s a good guy.
May 26th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
On the idea of fans committing to buying tickets once Clay is gone - I don’t think we need an escrow for that
But, while it has some PR value I think it might be pre-mature. We do not want to start talking about striking or boycotting games at this point - because this could hurt the cities resolve to hold clay to the final 2-years - they make money on Sonics games.
I’d hold off on that idea until the SOS leaders like Brian & Steve give more clear direction or input.
May 26th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
I love the irony that the Boo-Hoo public relations debacle was in an e-mail to the public relations consultant.
I also love the fact that the guy who’s bread and butter is public relations writes back “Great response.”
May 26th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Martin,
Thought his contract was 3 years not 4. My bad.
The other contracts aren’t worth it for sure. We don’t have the pieces to send back for Redd. Williams is over paid.
May 26th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Malaman, I agree - I’m awfully glad that we don’t have Milwaukee’s contracts. On top of those guards, they’re also handing Dan Gadzuric about $21mill over the next three years. To put that into perspective, it’s not far off Weezy’s contract. Eek.
And Bobby Simmons is getting $20mill over the next two as well!
May 26th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
“Johnson, the city’s attorney, also questioned Gooden about whether he’d heard that Bennett tried to get the NBA to consider a special relocation process to avoid playing the 2007-08 season at KeyArena, but the league said it couldn’t meet such requirements by its June 1 deadline.
“I may have heard something, but I don’t recall anything specific,” Gooden said.”
In the context of a deposition
‘I may have heard something, but I don’t recall anything specific’ = YES
I agree with Bluestreak.
May 26th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
There are going to be alot of teams dumping salary and picks. The salary cap has half the league in a bind. NY is shopping their big men and Marbury.
Isn’t it interesting that Kneeland was fired for suggesting that Clay should engage the city in discussions about the Key Arena expansion and make a public committment of X amount of owner financing. He really didn’t want to make any effort that might actually have a snowballs chance of passage.
May 26th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Sonics/Presti have a GREAT opportunity to develop a consistent 50+ win team that competes for the title beginning in 2-3 years. What they have is…
1. A young superstar to build around in KD
2. Another very solid young player who will become a strong starter in JG
3. The #4 pick this year & 6 first round picks in the next 3 years
4. No real bad real long contracts that are dragging on them at this time. Luke & Earl W. are the worst - overpaid but not Huge #’s by NBA standards and only 2 years left instead of 3-4+
5. Salary cap room coming soon
Presti has the opportunity - if he can scout well and assess talent the sonics should be able to become an exciting & competative team.
Obvioulsy I believe in KD - He wil be a star - And I’m optimistic about JG becomeing a very solid player
May 26th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
Amoung the many important dates that have come and gone, to me, two stand out that will ultimately save this franchise.
First when “a deal is a deal” was adopted by the city council and really showed the support from the fans. This also lead, in my simple mind, to the mayor’s firm stance.
Second the Shultz case. The city can not back down now with any form of settlement. They are the source of evidence for Shultz, and it would, again in my mind, be idiotic to settle now.
This is going the distance, and Stern nor Bennett can not hide. These Sonics are not going any where.
P.S. We still need an arena.
May 26th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
The comments in this article about Clay NEVER commiting to what the team would contribute towards the Renton arena vision when Clay was in Olympia asking for money is so indicative of his fraud.
That whole effort in Olympia was designed to fail - he was just going through the motions while getting ready to get the team to OKC.
The is more evidence of that.
May 26th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
“There are going to be alot of teams dumping salary and picks. The salary cap has half the league in a bind. NY is shopping their big men and Marbury”
How is it possible for a lot of teams to dump? Doesn’t one team dumping imply that some other team will take on salary . . . is dumping salary a zero sum game?
May 26th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
gustafm–
Any lease with OKC had to be contingent on the NBA approving a move. That would be the out should a settlement happen exchanging ownership.
May 26th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
Gustafm said, “I have two fears:
1) the City settles for a promise of a future team too soon; and
2) Bennett signing that damn lease in OKC…
I share the same fear about #1. The City of Seattle must not settle, unless, of course, we keep the real Sonics (with Durant & Mayo).
#2 - the lease signed with OKC was a poison pill, but the NBA can bail them out by giving them an expansion team. In any event, the PBC can settle with Schultz in a way that will supersede the OKC contract with respect to the Sonics. If done quickly, before the renovation of the OKC Ford Center, then the PBC will have to pay OKC only their lost revenue, per the express terms of their contract.
May 26th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
Another great article, this just keeps getting worse and worse for Bennett and his cronies. Stern can’t be happy with that “boo hoo” comment either as it certainly isn’t helpful for the league’s relationship with its players. When is he finally gonna cut Clay loose?
May 26th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
Maybe Stern really is the smartest guy in the room. With all the vitriol Bennett has inspired, it’s damn near certain the legislature will fund an arena remodel if Ballmer buys the team. If a new arena in Seattle was Stern’s ultimate goal, he sure picked a messy (but effective) tactic to ensure it became a reality.
May 26th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Not sure that the legislature will really care. No reason for them to put on an in your face move.
May 26th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Dumping when there are more sellers than buyers will drive the price down. We should be able to pick up good players for their salary and a second. Our expiring contracts will increase in demand as part of the trade. Presti, should be patient.
May 26th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
Boo Hoo, The NBA Cares!
May 26th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
Gustafm… I agree with Rock - the OKC lease and their recent “Letter” is fluff - it is not a problem for us in seattle. And in a weird way it could help us because it could put more pressure on clay to sell faster this summer once the Key Lease case is finalized and he is facing the reality of not being able to break it.
May 26th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
I have read that very, very few teams have enough cap flexibility to participate in the free agency market this summer. Two that do, Seattle and Memphis are unlikely to participate because they will be trying to hold their payrolls down.
Is this true??? Is it possible that no players cash in on free agency this summer?
May 26th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
Sam K….
Your comments add to my belief that among the many reasons to get an arena solution done ASAP - is it gives Stern an “out” to ditch clay and come out as a winner - especially in the eyes of NBA owners - because he could say…. “See - it was a mess but we are getting a brand new arena in seattle”
It’s weird i know - but an arena helps us because in part it can make stern look good - and this could motivate him to support keeping the team here long-term
May 26th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
The big FA’s hit the market next year. Yes, I would expect their are going to be more players than jobs. Reducing salary will a priority for alot of teams. 15 teams are at or over the salary cap. 9 are in luxury tax territory. Seattle is in a good position to target a good player on a team that is desperate. There should also be alot of teams trading first round picks for a second to avoid the guaranteed contract. We are in a good spot to get players.
May 26th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
D_G… YES - It will be slim options for NBA free agents this year - a few mid-level contracts but not much BIG money available.
There will be teams at the draft that will offer a player with an unwanted contract to a team like Seattle or Memphis - and maybe offer their draft pick - all to unload salary.
Kind of the same dynamic as Phoenix had with trading Kurt Thoomas & 2 #1 picks to the Sonics for a #2 pick. Weird - but if you have room to take on some salary somehow there will be teams calling you will offers like that.
May 26th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
http://www.goodengroup.com/people.htm
Clay says: BOO HOO,
Mr Brent ( I like cake) GOODEN says.. :To which Gooden replied, “Great response. I would play wherever for half of the lowest paid player on the team.”
This guy never even picked up a basketball in his life and he has the gumption to make a BS comment like that about NBA players?? Not to mention Clay’s statement (lol). But honestly Mr Gooden I bet you would crap your pants if you had to get paid
Mickael Gelabale $802,000 /2 = 401,000.
If Mr. I love cheezeburgers Gooden got 401,000 per year I bet he would cry himself to sleep.
May 26th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
City of Seattle filed this case 10/9/2007, 8 months later we are here.
Schultz filed 04/22/2008, 8 months later would put us in the legislative session this fall. I would think that Schultz has a need for much more discovery, and different people in his case along with most of the PBC group. The Sonics will be here next season so there is no big rush for the case since the BOG can vote in Spring, so, we very well may have the funding from the state lined up before the Schultz case gets to the judge, well before the BOG meets to vote again.
May 26th, 2008 at 10:46 pm
So if they can find (or have) proof of Clay’s request to the NBA for a special relocation process in advance of the 1 year period then that should be proof enough right?
May 26th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
The OKC letter/threat to Yarmuth was a desperate ploy - no doubt jointly hatched by Bennett and Cornett - to see if they could intimidate Schultz into second-guessing his lawsuit or even dropping it altogether. Uh…it didn’t work. I’m guessing that Yarmuth probably read the letter, laughed a good hearty laugh, crumpled up the paper, leaned back in his big maroon leather lawyer chair, and arced a soft J right into his trash can.
It’s a joke. Clay, the PBC, and the rest of the buffoons in OKC apparently have no idea who or what they’re up against in the lawsuit by Schultz, but as clueless as they are, they still sense the tide shifting against them ever getting this team to OKC.
Roll call: on one side we have Slade Gorton, Richard Yarmuth, Howard Schultz, and Steve Ballmer. Gorton and Yarmuth each played important roles for the only legal team to take on both the NFL and MLB - and win. Schultz and Ballmer are two of the most internationally successful businessmen EVER. Both have no doubt been involved in contract negotiations and/or legal proceedings where the relevant numbers ran into the billions.
On the other side, we apparently have the biggest of OKC’s Big Time Operators in Clay Bennett, Aubrey McClendon, Tom Ward, and Mayor Cornett. As recently as 7 months ago, none of these geniuses were aware that email transmissions are admissible in court. None of them understand what the term “good faith best efforts” means within the context of a contractual obligation. Of course, Howard Schultz understood exactly what it means - and that’s why his attorneys included that specific language into the Purchase & Sale Agreement when he sold the team to Bennett.
2 years ago, the OKC crew looked at Schultz, the Sonics, and the City of Seattle, and all they saw were easy marks. I’m still waiting for the email that says “This’ll be fun, Boys - we’ll just ride on up there in the middle of the night and rustle that team back here to OKC before they even know what hit ‘em.”
Boo hoo indeed…
This is an example of “our team is better than their team.” The Seattle guys are bigger, faster, stronger, more skilled, more experienced, and most of all - a lot smarter. It’s only a matter of time before we unload on these guys and run them right out of the gym.
May 26th, 2008 at 10:55 pm
Hey Clay,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOjtKdO2bB4
May 26th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
courtsense,
Does that make Slade, KOBE or Jordan? I vote Jordan..!!
May 26th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Presti may be a good GM but he is still Clay’s puppet. All of these trade talks and offseason move talks sound great..but unless Clay knows he is leaving Seattle for sure, he will keep the salary at the lowest and the excitement/fan involvement level even lower.
May 26th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
JJ, is there a reason you bust on the Mayor’s spelling, or are you just guessing at how its spelled? I thought we wanted him on our side and it seems silly to bust on it like that….
May 26th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
Slade is Jordan. Yarmuth is Pippen with Jordan. Unbeatable.
Schultz is Magic: the prick who never stops smiling, who never committed a foul, who’s always complaining about the 2-3 calls he didn’t get even though he went to the line 15 times a game, who puts his arm around you and acts like he’s your best friend after he just ripped your heart out in crunch time.
Ballmer is Bird: the arrogant SOB who comes into the locker room before the 3-point contest at the All-Star game and asks the other contestants “which one of you assholes is playing for 2nd?”
May 26th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
What’s that sound? It’s Satan “ugly man” Bennett squirming like a worm.
I hope your stressing out clay, you no-people-skills having clown.
May 26th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
Puppet or not, the plan is to go young which will lead to losses. Young players with promise provide for the future while taking losses today.
I honestly believe the approach is not to disenfranchise the fans but ignore them entirely. Same result but different approach. They are trying to build a team that will be a winner in 2010. With the debacle that training camp and the beginning of the season was, I believe the FO packed it in, told PJ to evaluate for what to do with the pieces for 2008-09, and dropped all the folks who would not be around in 2010. If a particular unwanted player is still here, they will get moved or their contract will be allowed to expire.
Today’s fans? Who cares. We are building a team for the future.
I think that would actually be kind of freeing as a GM. I don’t think he is being told to tank. I think he has been given a long leash in terms of the time it will take to put together the right pieces.
This season, I expect one of both of these tandems to be moved this year, Wilcox/Collison and Ridnour/Watson. Yes, they will be traded for 3 tickets to the Puyallup Fair, a ferry ride to Anderson Island, and airfare to Des Moines, Iowa. My guess is that they move Collison and let Wilcox’s contract expire if they cannot get him traded.
Honestly, it is good business. Moves like this make the Clips losers on the court and winners on the balance sheet.
Next off season, they make a run at an impact free agent. Not necessarily a superstar, but someone who will be an impact player.
May 26th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
While this is a bit of a contradiction to my last post, I would not be surprised to see one of next year’s first round picks traded to move up in this draft. If there is a player they like, it moves the process of becoming good along a bit faster. Some of these picks are going to have to be traded for Vets sooner or later, why not now. The player picked will still take 2 years to catch stride. If you trade Phoenix’s pick you still end up with a decent lotto pick.
May 26th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
This news is clearly awesome! I can see tuning into ESPN SportsCenter in a month or two: Seth Everett and Scott Van Pelt saying “Settle down Save Our Sonics fans, you’re team is staying put!”
May 26th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
Malaman,
I don’t see them trying to move Collison. I think he’s one of the few players (along with Durant and Green) who is in Presti’s long-term plans. Nick won’t be a starter once Sam gets the roster he wants, but he’ll be a great guy to have coming off the bench. He’s not the answer as a starting PF/C, but he’s the perfect role player.
May 26th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
Do you guys remember the Sonics commercial this season that had the Supes at the Gorge Amphitheatre? The 3 players they focused on were Durant, Green, and Collison. I always thought that was pretty interesting. Like getting a look into Presti’s crystal ball as far as who he had targeted would be with the Sonics long term.
May 26th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
I think they would look to fill is role cheaper. Back up PF’s come pretty cheap
May 26th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
his on is
May 27th, 2008 at 12:01 am
“Good for him, good for Seattle, good for the team, good for us. ”
Can’t believe we’d be saying this kinda stuff about Howard Schultz!
May 27th, 2008 at 12:02 am
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/basketball/364681_arenabar27.html
I apologize if this has been posted already. And wow is mcclendon a really bad liar or what.
Just how is he expecting to make a judge believe what he said? A federal judge who’s probably heard of all the bad lies in a couret nontheless.
May 27th, 2008 at 12:08 am
An interesting one for SOS to sound out after our “Boo hoo” revelation today would be the NBA Players’ Association. The entire reason that the NBAPA exists is to protect the players from the league and the owners. Surely, they can’t take too kindly to an owner who thinks of his players in such a way.
May 27th, 2008 at 12:11 am
Clay, why dont you save any more humiliation and just sell the team. BOO HOO Clay never come back. If I ever see you in Montana, I will get you a box of tissue.
Your Toast!
May 27th, 2008 at 12:11 am
NBA - National Boohoo Association ?
May 27th, 2008 at 12:16 am
Does McClendon think we’re all fools??? We all know what you meant Aubrey. It’s freakin’ common sense. If Clay was a man possessed to get a deal done in Seattle, he would’ve spent more than a handful of days up here. He would’ve met with the Mayor. He would’ve lobbied more than one day in Olympia. He would’ve had serious talks with the Muckleshoots. He would have made a firm commitment on what the PBC was willing to invest in an arena. The list goes on and on. The only thing he was possessed about was getting the Sonics to OKC as quickly as possible.
All the lies in the world can’t save you guys now. The Okies are toast!!!
GO SUPES!!!
May 27th, 2008 at 12:21 am
PBC didn’t even have a conversation about how much they would contribute to an arena plan…
How serious could they have been?
May 27th, 2008 at 12:24 am
All the firing’s have got to be a big issue here as well.
I mean, how many people did Clay “Satan” Bennett cut ties with that had North West connections? Lenny Wilkins, Jim Kneeland, to name a few.
Also, on trying to lose interest up here, they even tried everything they can to get rid of Ridnour in the offseason(Ridnour, who is our starting PG but ever since new ownership came in, Luke hasn’t even spent more than 15 minutes on court..)
It is clear cut what Satan and co. wanted all along.
Clay is stressing right now.
Serves his bi*ch *ss right.
May 27th, 2008 at 12:30 am
I asked this once before and didn’t get an answer. Can the city request PBC emails (minus to/from their counsel) from the day the first suit was filed? I’m sure they haven’t stopped talking via email and everything they say about the Sonics/Seattle is still relevant.
May 27th, 2008 at 12:42 am
I never thought about this until today.
I once worked as a lifeguard at a very successful waterpark. The first year I worked there was a blast. Until the next year the waterpark changed management. At first the manager was a great person, I trusted him and he trusted me (I thought). Until one day I was squirting water at some kids, having a blast. I was using a toy we sold called “the big squirt”. They cost around 5 bucks to the consumer but the next moment would cost me my job. In our office in a drawer, we had a couple “big squirts” in the drawer and our manager encouraged us to use them. After having another water fight with the kids, a child around 6 years old asked if he could see it and ill we always remember saying to him,”Kid this is your lucky day” I tossed him the big squirt and went to the break room. As I walked out of the break I noticed a women walking towards me. It was the kids mother and he said “I think your getting fired,” I laughed and told her it was a big deal little did I know it was true. The next day I walked into work excited for the day when a co-manager came and to me and told me I had been fired. I kept my composure until I left, I was extremely upset. I loved my job, the tan and most of all the interaction with kids. As the weeks went by I kept hearing about my co-workers either quiting or being fired. Out of 6 managers, the main manager was the only one left by the end of the summer. He single handedly destroyed a great franchise
But thankfully he get the boot and was replaced by a great manager.
I bet your asking why did I write this on a sonicscentral?
Kinda sounds like something you guys know of
A manager with no class or respect for his employees.
Just take a guess what my managers name was
May 27th, 2008 at 12:48 am
Just to add, he fired me because he believed he should the kid should have paid for it. Just a ruthless jerk who wanted every penny in his pocket
May 27th, 2008 at 12:53 am
Kerry, It wouldn’t be “Clay” would it?
May 27th, 2008 at 12:57 am
Kerry, what I don’t get is why would the kid’s mother want you fired for giving her son a squirt gun? Of course, you should always ask the parents permission first because you don’t know their beliefs and what they want their child to have or not. With all the weirdos running around out there, she may have felt threatened and that it was really inappropriate. You never know unless you ask.
May 27th, 2008 at 12:59 am
OT: I like this Mock Draft that shows us getting Jarryd Bayless at #4 and Robin Lopez at #24. That’s a draft I could definitely live with:
http://www.mynbadraft.com/2008-NBA-Mock-Draft
.
May 27th, 2008 at 1:11 am
Say no to the lopez brothers > Say no to CRACK
Seriously.
May 27th, 2008 at 1:13 am
Rhino mounting me > Lopez brothers
No joke!
May 27th, 2008 at 1:38 am
It would be great to get a quote from a player in response to the “boo hoo”.
Shame West isnt still around, I’m sure he would have come out with some dynamite.
May 27th, 2008 at 1:39 am
Anyone remember the Lopez Twins’ older brother Alex when he played at Washington? Me neither. Todd MacCulloch ate him his redshirt freshman year to gain size and strength.
May 27th, 2008 at 3:02 am
Laporbo, I do not see why they would not be able to get every email they sent to each other during the 12 month good faith best efforts period.
This is a very simple fact that I hope everybody remembers: the good faith best efforts by Bennett were supposed to last through 10/31/2007. The City of Seattle case was filed on 10/9/2007 to keep Bennett from breaking the lease and leaving early. As noted in the Greg Johns story in the PI, they requested to relocate BEFORE the 2007/2008 season the started the day before the 12 month period ended. Not only were they not giving an effort to stay but they were actively attempting to leave. That, ladies and gentlemen, are cold, hard, facts. You can not spin the sequence of events or the hands of time.
Trying to break the lease and relocate before the end of the 12 month good faith best efforts period is not evidence of good faith best efforts. It just isn’t.
May 27th, 2008 at 5:45 am
“Isn’t it interesting that Kneeland was fired for suggesting that Clay should engage the city in discussions about the Key Arena expansion and make a public committment of X amount of owner financing. He really didn’t want to make any effort that might actually have a snowballs chance of passage.”
If he listens to Kneeland and does what he is supposed to…it probably still wouldn’t have gone through thanks to our dear legislature and he would have been home free with this team sitting in OKC getting ready for the Sonics maiden voyage in the dust bowl division.
And to all of you who thought that e-mails weren’t enough. I hope this becomes a case study that helps solidify the fact that e-mails are a legitmate and viable source of communication from which to derive considerable proof when substantiation is neccessary. In the end, it has to be taken more seriously.
I’m down to throw in a couple of bucks to get those Kleenex purchased.
May 27th, 2008 at 6:00 am
I don’t like to publish private correspondence very often, but here is the attack that Brent Gooden was so worried about he had to go get the league to bail him out…
Brent,
I am sure that you have heard rumblings that SaveOurSonics is looking into options to enforce the remaining 3 years on the Key Arena lease. It is our intention to use public disclosure to closely monitor the discussions and keep public pressure on Mayor Nickels to not allow any sort of buyout. Obviously this could at some point become contrary to Clay’s goals.
At this time we are planning a voters initiative which would restrict the Mayors ability to agree to any sort of financial buyout and enforce the lease specifically. Based on legal review we believe that this would be a valid mechanism which would force a lawsuit by Clay to be the only option for departure prior to 2010. We have recently acquired some key endorsements and financial backing that we feel would ensure our ability to get on the ballot where we think it would pass easily. Our PAC is formed and preparations are complete.
My primary concern about this course of action would be that, by extending the deadline for 3 years we push back the urgency and delay any action, possibly damaging the entire process and preventing an arena solution in the next 12 months. This would be bad for all parties.
While Clay’s public statements have been discouraging I recognize that they may be simply part of the game and that applying pressure is a necessary component of the process. I still hold out hope that he is open, receptive, and even actively working towards a solution here.
Before we take action with this initiative I want to invite ownership to discuss this matter with me. I have a great deal of skepticism at this point but am open to hearing your side. Obviously we have to make an independant decision about our actions but I want to do so fully informed.
You’ve been talking about Durant for a long, long time. He’ll be the hero in this whole mess.
Congrats.
I hope to hear from you.
Brian
May 27th, 2008 at 6:32 am
Looks like the right letter, written at the right moment.
Note the difference in response of the PBC to this letter and the letters by Gregoire or especially by Murray/Cantwell.
PBC e-mail response to SOS letter: “Stern better help us get out of dodge ASAP.”
PBC e-mail response to Gregoire letter: “HaHaHaHaHaHaHa, Oh, Oh, Oh, HaHaHaHeeeHeeee . . . ”
PBC e-mail response to Murray/Cantwell letter: “HaaaHHHH HaaaHHH . . . I can’t stop laughing. I think I broke a rib.”
May 27th, 2008 at 6:32 am
Looks like the right letter, written at the right moment.
Note the difference in response of the PBC to this letter and the letters by Gregoire or especially by Murray/Cantwell.
PBC e-mail response to SOS letter: “Stern better help us get out of dodge ASAP.”
PBC e-mail response to Gregoire letter: “HaHaHaHaHaHaHa, Oh, Oh, Oh, HaHaHaHeeeHeeee . . . ”
PBC e-mail response to Murray/Cantwell letter: “HaaaHHHH HaaaHHH . . . I can’t stop laughing. I think I broke a rib.”
May 27th, 2008 at 7:33 am
The more I read about Mayo the more I like him.
Draft Express:
Mayo’s competitiveness stood out the most when it was time for the NBA players and some of the lesser known prospects to go head to head in a five on five matchup. These types of games are usually not supposed to involved guys like Mayo (often for the fear of injury), but he refused to take no for an answer. “Juice, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Tim Grover asked him. Mayo pretended not to hear him, and proceeded to show off his playmaking skills and unselfishness by pushing the ball up the floor repeatedly, making some great drive and dish plays, and throwing a number of alleyoop lobs to his old running mate Bill Walker. He played great defense on Jeremy Pargo, not giving him an inch to breathe and absolutely shutting him down, but the fact that he had just completed a grueling workout in the weight room left him with almost no legs to finish his plays around the basket. Grover pulled him out after the first game was over, and Mayo looked visibly upset by the fact that his team lost.
“He pushes himself as much as any player I’ve seen” Mike Procopio noted. I’ve never seen a guy who is more focused than him. I feel bad for the guys who will have to work out against him. He reminds me of Clubber Lang [played by Mr. T] in Rocky 3 with the way he trained for that fight against Rocky. Rocky was in the disco having fun, and Clubber Lang was in some hole in the wall doing chin-ups. The guy is a nut when it comes to working out. You can see it in his eyes, he wants to be great. He’ll spend all day doing something until he gets it right. The kid cannot fail. He will not fail. He’s fearless. Some kids listen to the crowd around them, who tell them how good they are. They live on the hype. They live off the rankings of the scouting services around the country. He doesn’t. He wants to rip your heart out, serve it to you on a plate, and then do it again. The kid is a killer, he’s a total killer on the court. He’ll be a special player.”
May 27th, 2008 at 7:36 am
I would think if the Players Union were to get involved, they would of stepped up the minute the OKC newspapers started harassing our players. Particularly the ‘Get To Know Your Sonics’ feature they started doing midseason. Very distracting, obsurd, obnoxious (like most rednecks), and ridiculous.
May 27th, 2008 at 7:49 am
city of seattle lawyers can say: “Hey Clay, my better is better than your better”
May 27th, 2008 at 7:56 am
“if the Players Union were to get involved”
I would like to see the link made between the free-agent-player-salary crash that will hit this summer and the Sonics situation.
Every year of my life, the salaries offerred to free agents have increased by mind boggling sums. I don’t know if I have ever seen a year in which free agents have not cashed in . . . or at least some free agents.
I have a feeling that no free agents will cash in this summer, and many of them will not be used to “being disrespected.”
If no free agents cash in . . . at least some will turn to their agents and demand an explanation. The agents will turn to the players union and demand an explanation. The players union will have to do something and will be itching to level a criticism at the league in order to demonstrate that they have some power (and that the players who are contributing money to the union see that they are working behind the scenes).
They players union will need a target. Bennett and Heisley will offer them to examples of poor ownership decisions that are costing the players money. The players union might be mobilized to apply pressure for the NBA to apply pressure to get these two owners to get their franchises’ houses in order.
A lot of speculation here. . . but could happen.
May 27th, 2008 at 8:10 am
“All the firing’s have got to be a big issue here as well.
I mean, how many people did Clay “Satan” Bennett cut ties with that had North West connections? Lenny Wilkins, Jim Kneeland, to name a few.
Also, on trying to lose interest up here, they even tried everything they can to get rid of Ridnour in the offseason(Ridnour, who is our starting PG but ever since new ownership came in, Luke hasn’t even spent more than 15 minutes on court..)”
Not only that, but the Sonics team has limited the media exposure and access of the players (presumably in an effort to stifle fan interest in Seattle). You can cite the fact that there were only 2 or 3 times when a Sonics player did a radio interview or appearance on KJR this past season (and compare that with past seasons).
You can also cite the fact that the local celebration of Kevin Durant winning the Rookie of the Year award was muted at best. There was little-to-no effort to promote this by the team or the league in the Seattle area. When Durant was here to receive the award, they limited the amount of time he could talk and limited his ability to field questions.
Each of these examples could be look at as a coincidence if looked at individually, but it’s obvious that it wasn’t a coincidence if you put all the pieces together.
May 27th, 2008 at 8:14 am
I’m officially on the Mayo wagon. Everything being written about him since the season ended is GOLD. He is exactly what this team needs right now. Let it be.
May 27th, 2008 at 8:23 am
If what I said above comes to occur, it will be important that the players union be skeptical of the NBA’s claims regarding the comparative value of the Seattle versus the OKC market.
I think it is important to dangle a few convincing bullet points in front of the union’s face to create that skeptism. (I know the NBA have been preparing their own bullet points for the union to make their case).
Bullet point number 1: Ballmer. Dangle Steve Ballmer in front of their faces. You will watch their eyes get big . . . and when they blink you will hear the sound of a cash register ring . . . and when their eyes reopen their pupils will be in the shape of dollar signs. (Do you remember in those looney tune cartoons when the hunter looks at Daffy Duck and sees a giant drum stick . . . that will be the union looking at Ballmer, only they will see money bags).
The next set of bullet points have to focus on the relationship between actual market size and team payroll.
May 27th, 2008 at 8:26 am
If anyone can release my comment above from moderation . . . I’d appreciate it.
I’m curious as hell to see what I said that triggered moderation this time.
May 27th, 2008 at 8:30 am
Oh, I see . . . I wrote ‘dangle Steve Ballmer in front of their [referring to the player's union] faces.’ That must be the offending phrase that sent the post into moderation.
May 27th, 2008 at 8:34 am
“PBC didn’t even have a conversation about how much they would contribute to an arena plan…
How serious could they have been? ”
That’s precisely why Howard made them sign the good faith document. He had a gut feeling who he was dealing with, IMO.
I feel pretty certain that Schultz asked him to present some kind of an arena plan for here, since he was selling a basketball team to a group of eager owners that already had an open basketball arena in OKC. How could he not ask? When no plan was presented to him, Howrd might have said ‘let me think about this’. At that point Schultz’s team may have drafted the good faith document that he knew would be impossible to honor if the PBC was going to be dishonest at all at Point Of Sale. And the PBC signed anyway. Maybe somewhat to Schultz’s surprise.
All of this is speculation , I know. But I’m just trying ro make sense in between all the lies and terrible business decisions.
May 27th, 2008 at 8:38 am
For any informed lawyer / trial observer:
Why is Bennett’s own deposition almost entirely redacted and will it come out later?
May 27th, 2008 at 8:51 am
“city of seattle lawyers can say: “Hey Clay, my better is better than your better’”
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA @ CLAY BENNETT!
SAVE THESE KD & GREEN LED SONICS!!!
May 27th, 2008 at 8:54 am
I am not an attorney but I have dealt with ome litigation in my years as a paralegal. I would think that the reason is that there are items that don’t Bennett and his attorneys do not want to be made public. However, if there is information that is pertinent to the city’s suit, it will become public during the trial. If not, we will know what he does not want to be made public during the Schultz trial.
May 27th, 2008 at 8:57 am
I am not an attorney but I have dealt with some litigation in my years as a paralegal. I would think that the reason is that there are items that don’t Bennett and his attorneys do not want to be made public. However, if there is information that is pertinent to the city’s suit, it will become public during the trial. If not, we will know what he does not want to be made public during the Schultz trial.
May 27th, 2008 at 9:24 am
If all it takes to have a deposition redacted is a lawyer’s request that it not be made public, why isn’t everything redacted?
I’m sure that McClendon would have preferred his testimony not be made public.
May 27th, 2008 at 9:25 am
“Boo hoo”
Wow. Well done Clay.
Can’t wait to see what else this Oil-trash has to say.
Also, I spoke about a 5 part piece ESPN is going to do on this situation. I bet that they want to keep pouring out information but maybe they have a deal with the league to wait after the finals. I’m betting as far as the NBA goes, this will be the big topic of the summer.
May 27th, 2008 at 9:27 am
Or wait hes not in oil is he, he’s in that “my wife is wealthy-and I’m trash” category.
May 27th, 2008 at 9:32 am
Too bad Schultz made such a poor offer of his own money in previous rounds of arena proposals. What did that group offer, 17 mil? I worry that Bennett will turn around and say, “our contribution was in the same range as Schultz’s. How can he say we didn’t exercise good faith - we exercised the same amount of effort as he did two years earlier…”
May 27th, 2008 at 9:35 am
Zendoc,
The mother came up to me and said she overheard my manager talking about firing me sorry I was many beers deep last night
May 27th, 2008 at 9:41 am
She was very excited that someone would give her son something, she thanked me many times
May 27th, 2008 at 9:52 am
” I worry that Bennett will turn around and say, “our contribution was in the same range as Schultz’s. How can he say we didn’t exercise good faith - we exercised the same amount of effort as he did two years earlier…”
Worried about that?
How can it be considered good faith if you ‘excersise the same amount of effort’ as the failed efforts that preceeded him? Applying a little common sense, that plan could ONLY fail. How can you spin even one iota of good faith out of that? Quite the opposite I would say….Only in the PBC’s eyes could presenting an arena plan that is certain to fail equal good faith.
After all, isnt the definition of insanity asking the same question over and over expecting a different answer? I bet if he asks for the same funding right now he would get the same answer.
Ya think?
This whole charade wreaks of insanity to me!
May 27th, 2008 at 9:54 am
Did anyone listen to Mitch in the Morning on kjr today a few minutes past 9. I didnt catch the the whole thing but he mentioned the Boo Hoo article and then he went on to say that in court they could probably prove that Bennett lied before the sale but that the only rememdy they would give is $75 million to Shultz becuase that is the difference of money he could have made if he would have sold it to the San Jose group. Mitch and whoever he was talking to (his producer maybe) both said there is no way the sale would be rescinded, then they ended the converstaion. Now I know I should not listen too much to what he thinks its just his opinion just as we all have ours and hes definately not a lawyer I just hate when people say that Schultz has no chance and also KJR and others are spending no time on this. I remember a month ago they were talking about the sonics everyday but now its like 2 minutes a day and they spend the rest of the day talking about the Mariners who by the way are the worst team in baseball.
May 27th, 2008 at 9:54 am
Bennett got better treatment from the PBC lawyers than his good buddy McClendon. Let’s hope there is a rift between them, as McC gets publicly roasted & scapegoated while Bennett is protected.
May 27th, 2008 at 9:54 am
BTW, wouldnt the opposite of ‘good faith’ be simply defined as lying?
May 27th, 2008 at 9:57 am
Seems to me the $17M offer from Schultz is important to the good faith, best efforts clause. PBC had to have known that Schultz made this offer and it was unacceptable from the local government point of view. Does this not make the floor for PBC’s investment somewhere above $17M? After all, they promised to keep the team here and knew it was going to take more than $17M. Their offer: $0.
May 27th, 2008 at 10:02 am
The absurd part of McClendon’s lying was that he cut off the statement in mid sentence!
He claims he was agreeing with the first part: “That’s the spirit! I’m willing to help any way I can”
But not the last part of THE SAME SENTENCE: “to watch ball here next year.”
send these @ssholes packing.
May 27th, 2008 at 10:21 am
“the only rememdy they would give is $75 million to Shultz becuase that is the difference of money he could have made if he would have sold it to the San Jose group.”
Raises an interesting point . . . who is the plaintiff in this case? Shultz was only the a member in a partnership that sold the team. Is Shultz the plaintiff, or is the entire partnership?
May 27th, 2008 at 10:30 am
I know Schultz isnt asking for money, but if the Judge decided that was appropriate she could rule in his favor but just award monetary damages rather then putting the team in a trust. It is possible, I wonder how often a judge awards damages such as money instead of the actual damages the plaintiff is asking for.
May 27th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Even an expansion team under this ownership group in OKC is shaping to be the most unviable franchise in the NBA. What players with their druthers would choose to play there let alone for those jackasses? For how many years do they develop high draft picks for free agency before their franchise folds?
May 27th, 2008 at 10:33 am
Kerry was it Gooden? Clay would seem too obvious to forget.
Tim K. piece laying out a lot of Warriors’ complex sitiuation. Presti has many options to explore with them. I’d think the most desirable yet realistic would be to try to possibly net B Wright or their 1st
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_9331276?source=rss
May 27th, 2008 at 10:34 am
they did not name a dollar number, to claim now, after the pile of lies, that they had a dollar figure in mind is just not good enough.
As far as the land portion of that goes, they had an option to make an offer if the arena got state funding.
I will be interested in the conversations surrounding the timing of getting they poorly formed Renton pitch to the state as late as they did. If they delayed it to make it less likely to pass then they are completely screwed. That one crappy plan is the tent pole item keeping Bennett the clown’s bigtop show going.
Once Schultz’ lawyer deconstructs the Renton plan to show how unlikely it was to pass, and if he can show ANY intent to make it more difficult, then the game is over.
May 27th, 2008 at 10:36 am
“the only rememdy they would give is $75 million to Shultz becuase that is the difference of money he could have made if he would have sold it to the San Jose group.”
Maybe, but the Schultz group chose NOT to sell to Ellison in San Jose. I think that by choosing Bennett’s group (Less $$$) over the San Jose group (More $$$), Shultz was saying, in effect, that no sum of money is enough if it means that the Sonics are leaving Seattle.
May 27th, 2008 at 10:37 am
I know Schultz isnt asking for money, but if the Judge decided that was appropriate she could rule in his favor but just award monetary damages rather then putting the team in a trust
Can they really? I would love to read a link about this, everything I have read before is that if Schultz wins, he gets the team, not monetary damages.
May 27th, 2008 at 10:39 am
No His name was Clay haha I thought I should point to the obvious
May 27th, 2008 at 10:40 am
“Maybe, but the Schultz group chose NOT to sell to Ellison in San Jose. I think that by choosing Bennett’s group (Less $$$) over the San Jose group (More $$$), Shultz was saying, in effect, that no sum of money is enough if it means that the Sonics are leaving Seattle. ”
I completely agree, but the judge may see it differently.
May 27th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Letter to be sent in August/September 2008
Dear G. William Hunter:
(executive director of the NBA players union)
This year has been unprecidented in the trajectory of free agent players salaries. I am sure that this issue concerns you.
As you identify reasons why free agents are not able to attract competitive bidding for their services, we encourage you to note how much team salaries are related to their market size.
Of the top ten teams in terms of players salaries, nine of them are in the nation’s largest markets. Please note that the one exception to this rule, is the Portland Trail Blazers, a Pacific Northwest team owned by MicroSoft billionaire Paul Allen.
Of the bottom ten teams in players salaries, six are from small markets. Seven of these cities are not locations that support both baseball and football. One of the most glaring exceptions to that rule, is the Seattle Supersonics, who’s players salary is being restructured to be compatible with its new market.
However, there is a strong movement to keep the Sonics organization in a large market, and bring in an ownership group, headed by MicroSoft billionaire Steve Ballmer that can be competitive when it comes to players salaries.
In the interest of the players of the NBA, we strongly encourage you to let NBA management know your prefrence on how the situation regarding the Seattle Supersonics be handled.
Yours,
(Some legitimate voice of SOS)
[attach a spreadsheet listing team salaries, market size, and having baseball/football so the point can be easily seen]
May 27th, 2008 at 10:55 am
“Can they really? I would love to read a link about this, everything I have read before is that if Schultz wins, he gets the team, not monetary damages. ”
Yes,
he is asking for the team to be put in a trust and not for money. but in the complaint in the relief requested part, it says something along the lines of ” any other remday the court sees appropriate.” my wording is off but its something like that. and the judge can award anything she wants.
May 27th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Hey Courtsense and all,
Someone help me back from the ledge today… All I keep thinking about is yes, it is clear that Clay and others did not show good faith… but why wouldn’t the Judge reason that if Schultz had such reservations about this ownership group… he shouldn’t have sold it to them in the first place.
That’s the part I think will be hard to ignore. If Schultz wanted team here he should have sold to local ownership.
>:/
May 27th, 2008 at 11:06 am
“That’s the part I think will be hard to ignore. If Schultz wanted team here he should have sold to local ownership.”
Mark Cuban was quoted as saying something like, ‘Stern sold Howie a bag of goods’ in response to the same question you posed. That, in addition to Stern’s emails, makes me think that Stern actually believed Bennett would pursue the “sweet flip”, and that Bennett being from OKC would add needed pressure to get it through Washington legislature.
May 27th, 2008 at 11:06 am
“Yes,
he is asking for the team to be put in a trust and not for money. but in the complaint in the relief requested part, it says something along the lines of ” any other remday the court sees appropriate.” my wording is off but its something like that. and the judge can award anything she wants.”
I highly doubt that the judge is going to do something like that. Determining a monetary damage would be very difficult (granted I know this is a civil case). It is highly unlikely that the judge would resort to an indefinite such as money, when there is a definite on the table. I just don’t see a monetary award being feasible at this point, especially with so many charges framing this case….I just don’t see it happening.
May 27th, 2008 at 11:10 am
After a Seattle P-I reporter sought comment from Bennett over how much money his Professional Basketball Club would commit to the project, Bennett e-mailed Gooden, “Please stay WAY AWAY from talking about our investment in the building.”
May 27th, 2008 at 11:10 am
WOW.
May 27th, 2008 at 11:11 am
So his name was Clay but he wasn’t the Clay? Or was he?
May 27th, 2008 at 11:11 am
T:
In past threads, JJ has argued that the possibility of monetary remediation is a moot point, because before it would have gotten that far, the NBA and PBC would have incurred enough risk and damage that they would sell.
Don’t think I am as confident as JJ, but it is a happy thought.
May 27th, 2008 at 11:12 am
75 million would not be a remedy, when Schultz wins his case it will not be one the grounds that he did not accept 75 million more and intend through the sale to have the team relocated. The case is not based on Schultz not getting paid enough, but on the written promise that the buyer would use good faith best efforts for one full year to find an arena solution and provide long term ownership of the team in the Seattle market. Failing to do that means Bennett returns the property.
McClendon remarked in his deposition that there are only 30 teams, sale of those teams is rare.
To say that 75 million for remedy the situation is to say that the teams are not rare, and Schultz could just combine that 75 million with 350 million from some other party that wants a team in the Seattle market and just buy another. Not very likely by McClendon’s own admission to the rarity of team sales.
May 27th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Another e-mail from Gooden to Bennett, written in May 2007 when the Save Our Sonics fan group was trying to put together a referendum making it impossible for the city to negotiate with the Sonics for an early buyout of the KeyArena lease, said, “(NBA commissioner David) Stern should take note and help us get out of Dodge ASAP.”
It never ends.
May 27th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Like some other folks here, I think the one that’s really going to hurt the Okies is this:
Jim Kneeland, a longtime Seattle public relations consultant, apparently told Bennett he needed to make some such commitment and also should leave the door ajar for a potential KeyArena solution, but neither idea took hold and Kneeland eventually was fired.
May 27th, 2008 at 11:16 am
T, I have not read the complaint, but it is my understanding that Schultz did not ask for such other relief as is just and equitable, so that the judge could not substitute cash for a unique basketball team and heritage.
May 27th, 2008 at 11:16 am
“That’s the part I think will be hard to ignore. If Schultz wanted team here he should have sold to local ownership.”
I’ve said it once in a previous thread, and I’ll say it again:
If Schultz didn’t really care about whether or not the team would move out of Seattle, he could have sold it to Larry Ellison (founder of Oracle) for about $50-$75 million more and Ellison would have moved the team to San Jose at his earliest opportunity and made 0 effort to keep the team here. The reason that Schultz did not sell the team to Ellison is because he wouldn’t agree to the good faith provision.
May 27th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Joshu@,
Anything interesting going on today?
May 27th, 2008 at 11:27 am
Schultz will argue that the uniqueness of this particular team, its heritage, history, etc, makes gives the team an intrinsic value that can not be fully satisfied by a monetary payment. Schultz, if he wins, should be entitled to the team. I do not know if he will also try to get other damages to cover loss of value due to mismanagement or distribution of assets such as the Storm for cash.
It will be interesting to see if the PBC Sonics continue last year’s trend of selling draft picks for cash.
May 27th, 2008 at 11:30 am
So is Schultz suing, or is the partnership?
May 27th, 2008 at 11:33 am
I am foaming at the mouth in anticipation of seeing the Clay Clay depo and emails. We have alread got gems such as “Boo hoo” and “Stay WAY AWAY from commenting on our contribution to an area” just from other people’s depositions. Just think all the retarded crap he has in his own. And to think that it was kept private by choice of his defense team while these were allowed to see the light of day. I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas or Disneyland.
May 27th, 2008 at 11:35 am
“Joshu@,
Anything interesting going on today?”
Nope, started my second job at BYU today. 4-8 am in the Student Athletic Building. Now I am at my other job…so..interesting…not really, I am dead tired.
May 27th, 2008 at 11:38 am
After a Seattle P-I reporter sought comment from Bennett over how much money his Professional Basketball Club would commit to the project, Bennett e-mailed Gooden, “Please stay WAY AWAY from talking about our investment in the building.”
- This is the big question I have always had. People always reference that Bennett was on record as saying he would provide $XXX to the Arena and yet I’ve never actually see anything that quoted him on that.
Unless there is something I have missed I do not think that Bennett planned on providing any sort of money towards the Arena.
May 27th, 2008 at 11:40 am
D_G Says: So is Schultz suing, or is the partnership?
Didn’t I read that Schultz sent out a letter to the whole group saying he was doing this on his own so they didn’t need to worry about getting sucked in.
May 27th, 2008 at 11:41 am
with the emails that have come out and pending lease and schultz cases, i agree with the above sentiments that this team is not going anywhere.
under that assumption the only way an expansion team comes into play is if a team is given to OKC for selling to ballmer. i don’t think the nba can give the PBC a team after all that has occurred (the emails, lying, thieving). i think the schultz case will put enough pressure on bennett to sell (even more so with an arena deal in place) and there will most likely be no expansion team involved in this debacle of a situation.
so boo hoo for clay and his beloved OKC. he has given us the perfect tagline for his exit out of town.
May 27th, 2008 at 11:43 am
Alex,
Right… but no one was forcing Howard to sell.
This path starts to lead back to the “unfavorable political climate” discussion which seems to support the Okies.
May 27th, 2008 at 11:50 am
if there was a true conspiracy there would be MUCH more email evidence. What we have is pretty damning - don’t get me wrong - but not once does Bennet clearly say - “our plan is working boys, our original plan to move this team is on course.” Instead all we have is a man possessed and a non-operational owner flapping his lips (McClendon). Yeah, I know McClendon actually owns more the of team - we should be able to use that - but with all the emails we have virtually nothing “smoking” on Bennett.
May 27th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Sorry Versio. Don’t agree with your “true conspiracy” terminology. I don’t see how the stuff they are saying isn’t exactly that. Is is ENOUGH? Who knows. But it sure as shit is shows their true colors. Anybody who questions otherwise is from OKC.
May 27th, 2008 at 11:54 am
And I’m sorry. Clay isn’t the only one who can get in trouble for it to count. Aubrey owns a bigger % of the team. He wouldn’t put up that much $ to not be in on exactly what is happening. The whole, “Clay is the only one who can officially and legally speak for the team” nonsenes is the bigger crock I’ve ever heard.
May 27th, 2008 at 11:58 am
“This path starts to lead back to the “unfavorable political climate” discussion which seems to support the Okies.”
I would agree with that statement in principle, but…
The OKC group never came forth with a solid $$ amount that they’d be willing to contribute to a new arena.
The OKC group refused to entertain a Key Arena renovation of any sort.
The OKC group made a pie-in-the-sky proposal and one could easily argue that they made it that outlandish because they wanted to ensure that the state legislature would want no part of it.
They had very brief (lip service) discussions with the Muckleshoots about their land and one could argue that little effort was made to explore that further.
They never talked (to my knowledge) to Dave Sabey about the land that he had available.
The list goes on and on…
May 27th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
McClendon and Bennett both own 20% of the team. NBA bylaws require that no owner have a greater share of the team than the managing partner. This was in the emails.
There were 58 partners in the Schultz group. He is suing for the constructive trust because his ownership group cannot be reconstructed to deal with distributing any cash settlement or the issues of managing the team. Additionally, you cannot put a price on the damage to his reputation caused by Bennett’s dishonest behavior. The NBA is not a good investment. Owners buy teams for the prestige.
May 27th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
If Mitch said that, then he’s really not as smart, and crafty as he thinks he is, and in fact he’s as out of tune as he pretends not to be. Hambone said it. Shultz doesn’t care about the money. He’s not upset that he didn’t get more from some other out of towners. His gripe is that the group he chose to sell to, bought the team with fraudulent intentions, and didn’t fulfill their contract. How does 75 mill that he could have made from someone else make up for that?
May 27th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
the Kings situation does not call for public tax money, did the Okies try that path? No, they traveled down the Schultz path but asked for twice the tax money with no know cash outlay from Bennett.
I hope this all hinges on that Renton boondoggle.
May 27th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
“There were 58 partners in the Schultz group. He is suing for the constructive trust because his ownership group cannot be reconstructed to deal with distributing any cash settlement or the issues of managing the team. ”
Very interesting.
But if put into ‘constructive trust’ what happens next? The team is sold to the highest bidder and the $$ from that bid gets awarded to the PBC?
May 27th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
The Boo Hoo article made it on RealGM
May 27th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
If the team is put into ‘constructive trust’ does that mean that the court would appoint a qualified steward to manage it?
If so, what are the chances that the steward would be Wally Walker or Rick Sund?
How many 7-foot French speakers of African descent are there?
May 27th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
If I was the judge, rather than forcing Clay to sell the team, or requiring a cash settlement, I would require the PBC to extend their efforts to build a new arena by lets say 6 more months. This may require a third party arbitrator that will evaluate whether or not the proposal passes a certain standard compared to other cities/arena deals (35% of funds from ownership group, under $300 mil total, etc.)
What this basically does is demand that the PBC honor the original agreement. Shultz himself did not specifically demand that the team never be moved, and he naively hoped that the outside ownership’s threat of moving the team would motivate the city to get the deal to happen. And ultimately, whoever the owner is, will need a renovated stadium, and so far the city/wa state has ducked the issue of getting that done effectively.
May 27th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
“But if put into ‘constructive trust’ what happens next? The team is sold to the highest bidder and the $$ from that bid gets awarded to the PBC?”
I’m surprised we are still talking about this. The team would go into a constructive trust and sold to the highest bidding Seattle ownership, I imagine as well under the same obligations as the PBC. In the end, hopefully that ends up being the Ballmer group and not B2. Either way they are staying in Seattle.
May 27th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
“The NBA is not a good investment. Owners buy teams for the prestige.”
Questions:
Didnt I read somewhere only 12 of 30 teams were profitable last year? I guess profit sharing would be a necessity to keep the league running.
Why would a group be so eager buy into a league with this franchise profitability % and immediately start complaining about profitability? Besides isnt profitsharing supposed to help the struggling?
How is Stern getting away with this crap anyway? The owners support his path he is leading the league down? 12 out of 30 profitable is good leadership?
More than odd.
May 27th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
“If so, what are the chances that the steward would be Wally Walker or Rick Sund?
How many 7-foot French speakers of African descent are there?”
That would be a nightmare. I highly doubt it would happen. I would have to imagine that it would be placed under the care of someone appointed by Schultz. Unless of course the court handled it like they do appointing guardians for children.
May 27th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
I said it 4 days ago.
“Watch the OJ mayo Chad Ford Video blog
This is our pick. *He loves to play D*, *he’s a workout freak.*
*He is a POINT GUARD* “
May 27th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
If Schultz didn’t really care about whether or not the team would move out of Seattle, he could have sold it to Larry Ellison (founder of Oracle) for about $50-$75 million more and Ellison would have moved the team to San Jose at his earliest opportunity.
there is no evidence to suggest that Ellison even made a bid..
May 27th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
“someone appointed by Schultz”
isn’t Shultz the one that hired(Sund) and promoted(Walker) nice..
May 27th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
It is nice to see some more seats on the OJ Mayo bandwagon are getting filled up.
The kid is good, however he’ll need a better coach than PJ to help him get to that next level.
May 27th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
I listened to the Mitch segment. I swear people here are so overly sensitive sometime to people who don’t think exactly like us. Mitch was actually being somewhat optimistic. For him at least. He was saying that while he’s always felt that the Schultz lawsuit didn’t have much a chance to get the team back, that the Okies are saying so many moronic and damaging things over and over and over, that maybe at some point we starting to think that maybe the slim chance might be something. Where the overt pessimism and negativity came from was that bitch Sandmeyer. He didn’t allow Mitch to even question whether it’s worth it to start wondering if this has a chance. I seriously loathe Shit Sandmeyer. Get him off the air. And it’s not just about the Sonics or the NBA. He’s a negative bitch about everthing.
May 27th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
I said it 4 days ago.
“Watch the OJ mayo Chad Ford Video blog
This is our pick. *He loves to play D*, *he’s a workout freak.*
*He is a POINT GUARD* ”
- He is going to look mighty fine in a Minnesota Timberwolves uniform.
May 27th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
“Not only that, but the Sonics team has limited the media exposure and access of the players (presumably in an effort to stifle fan interest in Seattle).”
Also, when we drafted Durant I didnt even see a single billboard stating “THE FUTURE AS ARRIVED” or “WELCOME KEVIN DURANT”
It’s obviously all part of Clay “Ugly Coward” Bennett’s “secret” plan.
May 27th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Anyone know if either of these 2 trials are going to be open to the public? Can we go in our Sonics jerseys and watch or are they going to be closed?
May 27th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
D_G
“But if put into ‘constructive trust’ what happens next? The team is sold to the highest bidder and the $$ from that bid gets awarded to the PBC? ”
Bennett would continue to manage the team during any interim period. He is called the express trustee. The constructive trust essentially creates a lien on the property and judicial oversight. He would be required to sell to ‘honest buyers’ who are committed to keeping the team in Seattle. If the judge approves the buyer then the constructive trust would be removed from the property title enabling him to transfer the title. The price is still negotiable between buyer and seller and any operating losses incurred during his ownership are his problem.
May 27th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
EJ-Note that I said “IF” Mitch said that…
May 27th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
“I said it 4 days ago.
“Watch the OJ mayo Chad Ford Video blog
This is our pick. *He loves to play D*, *he’s a workout freak.*
*He is a POINT GUARD* ”
- He is going to look mighty fine in a Minnesota Timberwolves uniform.”
Yeah, I’m getting worried about that. Bayless looks like a fine pick, but I’ve kind of sold myself on Mayo at this point.
May 27th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
“- He is going to look mighty fine in a Minnesota Timberwolves uniform.”
Yeah, I’m getting worried about that. Bayless looks like a fine pick, but I’ve kind of sold myself on Mayo at this point. ”
Not to worry, I’m sure that McHale has developed a clever ploy to package Mayo and Jefferson together to trade for a bundle of spare parts.
May 27th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
I have sold myself on him also. I don’t care if he is a PG or SG all I know is that he’s a player and from the reports he has a drive and mentality that winning is the only option. Draftexpress had an interview with him and he mentions winning and championships a lot. He’s not satisfied with being good or great, he wants to be the best.
I’m not so sure that he is not going to be better than Rose as an overall player.
Trade an extra pick to the TWolves to guarantee that you get him. Worry about where he plays later.
May 27th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
“- He is going to look mighty fine in a Minnesota Timberwolves uniform.”
Yeah, I’m getting worried about that. Bayless looks like a fine pick, but I’ve kind of sold myself on Mayo at this point.”
Well look at the bright side. All we heard the last month was that this was a 2-player draft. Now suddenly within a week that has become a 3-player draft. As these guys work out, get measured, etc., there is plenty of time for this to turn into a 4-player draft…
I’ve heard conflicting things on Bayless. Sometimes I hear he is the most NBA-ready of potential point guards (other than Rose) and other times I hear Mayo is closer to being a PG and Bayless needs to work on his ballhandling.
The next month will hopefully shed some light on Mr. Bayless…
May 27th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
“EJ-Note that I said “IF” Mitch said that…”
Noted. I was referring to the guy previous and the multitude of people who don’t listen to guys like Mitch who choose to be cautious with their hopes. Now feel free to dump on Sandmeyer. He is nothing more than an NBA hater who is enjoying the crap outta this.
And I don’t think there’s a shot in hell Mayo lasts past #3. Too many people are interested in him to either not have the TWolves take him or somebody to trade into the spot for him. Chad Ford has already altered his mock draft and now has Mayo going #3 to Minnesota.
May 27th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
One month from now……
1. The lease lawsuit is done - and the Sonics are locked up to stay in Seattle for 2 more years. Nickels is a SOS hero. Gordon and Ceis Rock on.
2. NBA owners around the country are surprised - scratching their heads and wondering… “Damm, Stern & clay told us those Seattle wimps would never turn down a huge cash settlement to keep the team for 2 years. I thought for sure when I voted for that move Clay would get those guys in Seattle to back off & take the money & let the team go.”
3. More embarrassing e-mails, conversations, memo’s etc. will have come out implicating Clay as a liar, fraud and idiot. Yarmuth will be smilling and billing monster hours at huge rates. He may even send Stern a memo reminding him he can be added as a defendent in the fraud case and tell David how excited he is to think about having a conversation with him under oath.
4. Clay & Stern will be getting phone calls from NBA owners who are not interested in risking - in taking any chance - of the league being involved in losing a fraud case in federal court. The owners will be saying…”Enough - clean it up - we cannot afford to lose this case so let’s not go down that road. And we don’t want to mess around with this for 2+ more years - and by the way …. I can’t even remember why it makes sense to leave the 12th largest market we’ve been in for 41 years for the 45th largest market anyway.”
4. Clay will be staring at a huge financial loses, co-owners who may be getting impatient & frustrated, a PR nightmare, hassles, hassles, hassles. And the fraud case that is ultimately unpredictable in both outcome and length.
5. Clay contacts Ballmer and starts to work out a sale.
May 27th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
And beyond that. In his comments about having the Sonics take Bayless, he said that from what he hears, the Sonics are enamored with Bayless, and would likely take him even if Mayo were still on the board.
May 27th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
“5. Clay contacts Ballmer and starts to work out a sale. ”
Just as long as that sale somehow covers the costs of breaking the lease agreement in OKC, I see no problems with that.
May 27th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
And beyond that. In his comments about having the Sonics take Bayless, he said that from what he hears, the Sonics are enamored with Bayless, and would likely take him even if Mayo were still on the board.
——————
Yep. I saw that.
I don’t trust the owners, but I trust Presti. If he is rock solid on Bayless, then the Mayo love by the rest of the League ensures that the Sonics get Bayless at #4.
At the end of the day, all you can ask for out of a draft is getting your guy. If Bayless is Presti’s guy, I’ll be happy that he gets him…
May 27th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
In a perfect world:
Sonics trade the #4, #24 and Jeff Green (Maybe throw in some of the 2nd rounders) for Al Jefferson and the #3. Then we draft Mayo, have KD slide to the SF and install Jefferson as your starting PF.
May 27th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
In a perfect world:
Sonics trade the #4, #24 and Jeff Green (Maybe throw in some of the 2nd rounders) for Al Jefferson and the #3. Then we draft Mayo, have KD slide to the SF and install Jefferson as your starting PF.
Not gonna happen. But wouldn’t it be nice?
May 27th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
JJ: I think that’s just about right. All the arrows are starting to point in one direction. The pressures in the league are going to ramp way up when a court rules the Sonics must stay in Seattle through 2010. Then the Schultz case risks all sorts of horrors for Bennett, Stern and the NBA.
You also mentioned something that I think is a bigger factor than we will ever know: the issues between the PBC partners. They can’t be happy, and we all know when that happens fingers start to point. Someone in that group is likely to crack first and, if it’s McClendon, it’s over.
I don’t know if it comes to a head with Bennett directly contacting Ballmer to sell. There are all sorts of intermediaries who will do some work. And there’s the issue of how to make resolution of the Schultz case part of the package. But we can start to see how this plays out now…and it’s looking less and less like the Sonics forming a wagon train to the Dust Bowl…
May 27th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
In a perfect world the Sonics would of taken Al Jefferson instead of Robert Swift in the first place.
May 27th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
NO way in hell we trade Jeff The Lean Machine.
I say our 4th,Watson and 32nd for Minnesota’s 3rd and Rashad McCAN’T do a damn thing but shoot.
May 27th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
I mentioned Clay winning the lawsuit and receiving a monetary settelement rather than the team back. Several people said it’s not possible because he’s asking for the team and not money, but it’s not up to Howard, it’s up to the judge.
Again, Howard cannot lose this situation….Seattle can lose big time, but Howie’s going to come out smelling like a rose (and perhaps with a little more $$$ in his pocket)
If that happens, it’s the worst possible scenario. If Howard wins but Clay retains the team, the NBA will never set foot in the city of Seattle again….
May 27th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
I remember the day we drafted Robert Swift with Al Jefferson on the board.
I remember I was at work and my brother called and told me the news..I dropped on my knee’s screaming,with both hands in the sky, “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
May 27th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
in a perfect world the Sonics would have taken a HOST of other players in place of Sene, Swift and Petro.
May 27th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
I agree glennpdx… If McClendon gets nervous and wants out that is huge and it would not surprise me.
If Clay decides he’s done as I suggest - working out the details will be complicated - but doable. The keys will be….
1. Do Ballmer & Co. still want in and will they demand arena funding assurance etc.
2. What will it take to please howard to drop the case? My guess - Howard will drop everything if Clay sells to Ballmer. Howard might insist on Clay paying some of his legal fees - could be interesting.
3. Price - that could be a tough one to negotiate - but doable if the core incredients are set… A) Clay wants out & B) Ballmer wants in
Other details abound. If Ballmer does not want in anymore for any reason…. stuff changes.
May 27th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
“In a perfect world the Sonics would of taken Al Jefferson instead of Robert Swift in the first place.”
No kidding. I remember hearing nothing but good things about Al Jefferson out of Prentiss HS. When i heard the Sonics drafted Robert Swift I thought “Who!?”
May 27th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
For all the good stuff we keep hearing and how damning it is for the Okies. I still can’t help but shake the dirty feeling of the judge deciding that the Okies are guilty, but the situation to be too complicated to rescind the sale, and therefore simply award damages. Yes, I know. Schultz isn’t asking for $. But at the end of the day, the judge can award whatever she decides.
To me, it isn’t even a case anymore of guilty or not guilty. It’s fairly obvious. Hell, even most OKC fans aren’t willing to argue this. Instead they main argument has become “Doesn’t matter what happens. No way the sale gets overturned. It’s been too long. It’s too complicated.” Even they know that their people were shady and duplicitous.
With both the lease and Schultz cases in the balance. This judge proves to either be the most popular or most hated person is Sonics land. No middle ground to be had.
May 27th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Guys,
Presti may be implying he wants Bayless purely as a smokescreen. I think Mayo is the player he’s really targeting. I’d be happy with either pick, but I still think Mayo will be the better pro. If Presti is even considering B. Lopez, someone should knock some sense into him. That guy has “bust” written all over him.
If in fact the Wolves do take Mayo at #3, I think Presti immediately calls McHale and plays “let’s make a deal.” I don’t think you give up pick #24 to swap picks. But I wouldn’t mind giving up one of our second rounders to make sure O.J. is a Sonic. This year’s draft will be a strong indication of the type of deal-maker Presti is.
Damn, I wish it was June 26th already.
May 27th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Al Jefferson
Josh Smith
Jason Maxiell
Ronnie Brewer
Rajon Rondo
Just a few of the players we have passed over for our wonderful 3 amigos at center.
May 27th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Here is an interesting question…if you could swing the #4 and some change (whether players or cash) for Rodney Stuckey do you do it. I personally would, but I doubt Detroit would budge.
May 27th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Not to worry, I’m sure that McHale has developed a clever ploy to package Mayo and Jefferson together to trade for a bundle of spare parts.
- Well maybe he wants to help another executive win the Executive of the Year Award next year. Gotta give Danny Ainge credit…he sure got a ton of praise for basically taking advantage of an idiot. That’d be like giving the nobel prize to the person who invented the Nigerian Royalty money scheme.
In a perfect world:
Sonics trade the #4, #24 and Jeff Green (Maybe throw in some of the 2nd rounders) for Al Jefferson and the #3. Then we draft Mayo, have KD slide to the SF and install Jefferson as your starting PF.
- If we are going to come up with highly unplausible trades in a perfect world I’d rather us focus on Dwight Howard, LeBron James or Chris Paul personally…
May 27th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
There is no way I would move the #4 for Stuckey.
He’s going to be a servicable NBA player as time goes on, but I don’t think he’s worthy of the #4 pick… If Mayo or Bayless become the players their capable of being at this level, I don’t think Stuckey is worth it….
Now if we could package the #24 and Ridnour, or Wilcox or someone like that, then I think the deal becomes a lot more interesting.
May 27th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
In a perfect world we would trade the #4, #24, Jeff Green and extra change for Dwight Howard, Lebron James and Chris Paul. Lebron would regularly appear on the new “Almost Live”, Dwight Howard/Superman would be making house calls for our childrens’ birthdays (I hear he makes a great at making a balloon bicycle), and Chris Paul would be dating Myk.
May 27th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
A New almost live staring LBJ… I like it.
KD could play Bill Kwan….. Be like Billy
May 27th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
“Gotta give Danny Ainge credit…he sure got a ton of praise for basically taking advantage of an idiot. That’d be like giving the nobel prize to the person who invented the Nigerian Royalty money scheme.”
That’s the quote of the week right there. HILARIOUS.
May 27th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
“Playing on this team and seeing what is happening around me, I feel that something is beginning to fall apart,” Ichiro said, through a translator. “But, if I was not in this situation, and I was objectively watching what just happened this week, I would probably be drinking a lot of beers and booing.”
- Ichiro begs to differ…
May 27th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
That Ichiro quote is classic. One of my favorite quotes was Craig Ehlo who, during the 05 season said, “The Sonics are 32-0 when leading after 4 quarters.”
May 27th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
“That’d be like giving the nobel prize to the person who invented the Nigerian Royalty money scheme.”
Or giving it to Al Gore….wait a minute……
May 27th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Bayless is an excellent athlete who can really shoot. Of all the combo guards in the draft, he also has shown the most ability, so far, to run the point. Luke Ridnour and Earl Watson have not taken excelled at the position in Seattle. So, of the first four picks in the draft, this one looks like the closest to a lock.
- Chad Ford chimes in
May 27th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
In a perfect world, the Sonics would have kept Pippen after drafting him, forming an unstoppable trio of Payton, Pippen, and Kemp. The Bulls and Sonics would be a great battle through the 90’s, the Bulls winning four rings, and the Sonics four as well. In a perfect world McIlvein would not have been considered in Free Agency, keeping Kemp happy and continuing Sonic domination throughout the late 90’s.
In a perfect world Ballmer would have stepped in before Shultz and solved the arena issue earlier.
But then again, maybe in a five years this will all be water under the bridge, and Durant, Bayless, Green, and co. will be making us remember the glory days of the 90’s and 70’s
May 27th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
D_G said: “If the team is put into ‘constructive trust’ does that mean that the court would appoint a qualified steward to manage it?
If so, what are the chances that the steward would be Wally Walker or Rick Sund?
How many 7-foot French speakers of African descent are there?”
LOL!
“… and with the fourth pick of the 2008 NBA Draft, the Seattle Supersonics choose Serge Ibaka!”
May 28th, 2008 at 6:42 am
“… and with the fourth pick of the 2008 NBA Draft, the Seattle Supersonics choose Serge Ibaka!”
I’m pretty sure I would call for a hit on the man at that point.
May 28th, 2008 at 8:13 am
Stuckey shows potential but has more bad games than good right now.
May 28th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Did anyone else see that Minnesota Is in love with Kevin Love? Saw it on Hoopshype, go to yesterdays news. I see them trading down if thats the case so someone can draft Mayo at number three. Although I would love it if that team trading up wanted Bayless, so no question we have to draft Mayo
May 28th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Also look on Draftexpress.com