NBA returning to Seattle?

[Throwdown]

Ved, you have just reached hero status with Pinksheets. Thank you for clarifying this stuff for all of us...even if its not exactly what we want to hear right now
IN HANSEN WE TRUST

So what you're saying is that our entire thread could be summed up with: :cussing: followed by :white_flag:

Heh, sorry 'bout that - I get off on rants sometimes and get waaaay to wordy .... :lol:

Actually, I don't think Hansen needs to surrender at all - in fact, I think the NBA ****** up, tipped their hand AND pissed off the wrong guys. I think Hansen still has major leverage here

Stern gets away with his Machiavellian BS because other ownership groups are so desperate to join/stay in the club ... but Hansen/Ballmer are different. Ballmer doesn't need to join the NBA Boy's Club for validation - hell, for him it's slumming. As was said, he could buy & sell any of them with his pocket change. And for Hansen, this has always been personal. He wants to be the white knight. He wants the Sonics back. He's on a revenge mission. Combine Hansen's passion with Ballmer's temper and .... there will be blood.

H/B know the situation here in Seattle - they know the political winds and that there's only a limited opportunity for this arena. They also know the fanbase won't survive getting jerked around by the NBA a 2nd or 3rd time. Now they know the NBA's game. That's where Stern showed too many cards. If a lot of National pundits can see this is nothing but a public subsidy grab by the NBA and about sending a message to their other struggling markets then you know damn well Hansen & Ballmer see it.

IMO, there's a clear strategy to beat the NBA at their own game - do everything possible to enforce the sale agreement with the Maloofs. Argue it at the BoG, force the Finance Committee to either approve it or come up with some out-of-their-ass reason to reject it. If it is rejected, bankroll the Maloofs so they refuse to sell to Sacto. Bring in the lawyers and sue everything/everyone in sight. Threaten to drag things out as long as possible. If Hansen does any of that, the Sacto deal that the NBA cares so much about will collapse. Hansen only agrees to walk away from the Kings if the NBA grants an expansion team

I'm convinced it will work - Hansen & Ballmer have the motivation, deep pockets, and phalanx of Lawyers to fight the bully at their own game and punch them in the mouth. The NBA has more to lose in the fight than we do.

I'm going to love watching them do it.

:th2thumbs: :snack:

Annnnd you don't post more why? Lol

 

[Laloosh]

So what you're saying is that our entire thread could be summed up with: :cussing: followed by :white_flag:

Heh, sorry 'bout that - I get off on rants sometimes and get waaaay to wordy .... :lol:

:th2thumbs: :snack:

Not at all. Great post.

Maybe Blitzer will come in off of the ledge now.

 

[Throwdown]

Doubt it, lol

 

[dunceface]

So what you're saying is that our entire thread could be summed up with: :cussing: followed by :white_flag:

Heh, sorry 'bout that - I get off on rants sometimes and get waaaay to wordy .... :lol:

:th2thumbs: :snack:

Not at all. Great post.

Maybe Blitzer will come in off of the ledge now.

I already tried but he told me he wasn't moving his sleeping bag off the ledge til its official :thsnooty:

 

[rix98]

There seems to be rumblings that Ballmer wants to throw more money down. Make the offer's vastly different and give the Maloofs all the incentive to stick it out, not to mention give them a cut and dry lawsuit.

This makes sense, but Stern stated that he was not accepting higher bids and get into a bidding war. I don't know if Stern even has the authority to say bids are what they are and no others can be made, seems like a legal area that I know nothing about.

 

[The Outfield]

There seems to be rumblings that Ballmer wants to throw more money down. Make the offer's vastly different and give the Maloofs all the incentive to stick it out, not to mention give them a cut and dry lawsuit.

This makes sense, but Stern stated that he was not accepting higher bids and get into a bidding war. I don't know if Stern even has the authority to say bids are what they are and no others can be made, seems like a legal area that I know nothing about.

I agree, it doesn't seem like he'd have that authority.

 

[dunceface]

here's an article that outlines a some non-litigation options and details the existing case law that may help our side

"What I will say is Hansen at least has a good argument, backed by case law, IF he is denied the purchase of the Kings."

http://sportspressnw.com/2150714/2013/t ... re-welcome

 

[vedthree]

One other major Ace up Hansen's sleeve that I haven't seen much talk about:

The 7% of the Kings that he's already purchased through Bankruptcy Court. Obviously, it's just a minority share but still adds to his leverage. Look at the process - it means the NBA told the Federal Courts, "Hey, we've vetted this guy and approved him. We want to go through with this" and then Hansen was the only bidder. Despite loads of time, the Sacramento Group never made a bid for it. After Hansen bought it, Sacto had 15 days to match, and still couldn't come up with the $$$. If the BoG now tries to reject the sale of that 7%, they're going to look pretty stupid in front of a Federal Judge explaining why they did. Also, it's a major piece of evidence in Hansen's favor if he goes to Court to enforce sale of the remaining 65%.

Also, we've never got a clear answer if that minority share also comes with a Right of First Refusal to any sale offer. Sacramento originally claimed that it did, but the argument went away after Hansen bought it and appeared to be irrelevant. But now? It it's huge. If the ROFO exists, Hansen now has it.

1. Even if the BoG rejects the sale of the 65% from the Maloofs, they still have to separately reject the sale of the 7% from Bankruptcy (even harder to justify under their bylaws).
2. If the 7% is rejected, Hansen can fight that in Bankruptcy Court (the NBA would be the road team, so to speak). Evidence in his favor is that he was pre-approved & vetted by the NBA, was the only bidder for the shares, and no one else was able to match his offer within the court-appointed 15 day window (despite the rest of the sale obviously being in contention).
3. If Hansen maintains control of the 7% (IMO very likely) he now is a minority partner in the Kings and has ROFO to any sale of a controlling interest. That means that even if the NBA talks the Maloofs into accepting the Sacto offer, Hansen can exercise his ROFO to match the price and buy the controlling share for himself (this is how Jordan wound up with the Bobcats).

......

Maybe blind hope & fandom is clouding my judgement, but I seriously don't see how the NBA gets away with this a 2nd time. We're getting a team - whether it's by using this leverage to extract expansion or if Hansen has to take 2-3 years to pry the Kings out of Sacto, one way or another it's happening.

Stern's entire strategy seems based on little more than belief in his own power/influence and backdoor threats - "play along with our games or we'll never let you in the club." **** That. Stern is Lucy with the football and he thinks everyone else is Charlie Brown. Time for Seattle to kick Stern in the head, because I think Hansen has already legally out-manuvered him.

So it will make Stern "angry"? La-ti-frickin-da. He's gone after this year anyways, and will probably be dead in 5. What's he gonna do? I say we shove him out the door with a little going away present, and he can spend his retirement reflecting on how he shouldn't have screwed us in the first place.

You think Silver's going to carry on Stern's vendetta? Hell no. He'll be taking over an NBA where a franchise in Seattle is a reality, so he'll do his job and work with it.

We're going to piss off the other owners? Oh no - I'm shaking. Half of them are old-guard and will be gone/dead in a few years as well. Think Bennett will have half the influence he currently has after his buddy Stern is gone and his bankrolling partner Aubrey McClendon is fully bankrupt or in jail? Hell no. Money talks, and the other owners will accept Hansen/Ballmer just fine - I mean, they've put up with jerk-offs like Sterling & the Maloofs before. Even if some hate us, so what? You think guys like Cuban & Allen are popular in the meetings? Doesn't stop them from getting things done.

 

[TheRealDTM]

One other major Ace up Hansen's sleeve that I haven't seen much talk about:

The 7% of the Kings that he's already purchased through Bankruptcy Court. Obviously, it's just a minority share but still adds to his leverage. Look at the process - it means the NBA told the Federal Courts, "Hey, we've vetted this guy and approved him. We want to go through with this" and then Hansen was the only bidder. Despite loads of time, the Sacramento Group never made a bid for it. After Hansen bought it, Sacto had 15 days to match, and still couldn't come up with the $$$. If the BoG now tries to reject the sale of that 7%, they're going to look pretty stupid in front of a Federal Judge explaining why they did. Also, it's a major piece of evidence in Hansen's favor if he goes to Court to enforce sale of the remaining 65%.

Also, we've never got a clear answer if that minority share also comes with a Right of First Refusal to any sale offer. Sacramento originally claimed that it did, but the argument went away after Hansen bought it and appeared to be irrelevant. But now? It it's huge. If the ROFO exists, Hansen now has it.

1. Even if the BoG rejects the sale of the 65% from the Maloofs, they still have to separately reject the sale of the 7% from Bankruptcy (even harder to justify under their bylaws).
2. If the 7% is rejected, Hansen can fight that in Bankruptcy Court (the NBA would be the road team, so to speak). Evidence in his favor is that he was pre-approved & vetted by the NBA, was the only bidder for the shares, and no one else was able to match his offer within the court-appointed 15 day window (despite the rest of the sale obviously being in contention).
3. If Hansen maintains control of the 7% (IMO very likely) he now is a minority partner in the Kings and has ROFO to any sale of a controlling interest. That means that even if the NBA talks the Maloofs into accepting the Sacto offer, Hansen can exercise his ROFO to match the price and buy the controlling share for himself (this is how Jordan wound up with the Bobcats).

......

Maybe blind hope & fandom is clouding my judgement, but I seriously don't see how the NBA gets away with this a 2nd time. We're getting a team - whether it's by using this leverage to extract expansion or if Hansen has to take 2-3 years to pry the Kings out of Sacto, one way or another it's happening.

Stern's entire strategy seems based on little more than belief in his own power/influence and backdoor threats - "play along with our games or we'll never let you in the club." **** That. Stern is Lucy with the football and he thinks everyone else is Charlie Brown. Time for Seattle to kick Stern in the head, because I think Hansen has already legally out-manuvered him.

So it will make Stern "angry"? La-ti-frickin-da. He's gone after this year anyways, and will probably be dead in 5. What's he gonna do? I say we shove him out the door with a little going away present, and he can spend his retirement reflecting on how he shouldn't have screwed us in the first place.

You think Silver's going to carry on Stern's vendetta? Hell no. He'll be taking over an NBA where a franchise in Seattle is a reality, so he'll do his job and work with it.

We're going to piss off the other owners? Oh no - I'm shaking. Half of them are old-guard and will be gone/dead in a few years as well. Think Bennett will have half the influence he currently has after his buddy Stern is gone and his bankrolling partner Aubrey McClendon is fully bankrupt or in jail? Hell no. Money talks, and the other owners will accept Hansen/Ballmer just fine - I mean, they've put up with jerk-offs like Sterling & the Maloofs before. Even if some hate us, so what? You think guys like Cuban & Allen are popular in the meetings? Doesn't stop them from getting things done.

 

[salamander]

This from Danny Oneil
http://mynorthwest.com/422/2264433/King ... hould-stay

Try to read it with an open mind.

 

[Throwdown]

But they haven't? These boys are still scrounging up change to put up HALF in escrow, at what point is this 5000000000 man ownership group not viable?

 

[drdiags]

I am not well versed in this entire story. The 7% and 65% slice is well known now, but who comprises of the other 28% and why wouldn't they have Right Of First Offer? Are these other minority owners just 1-6% ownership type slices? I am going to assume so, since it would make sense with the current reports I see from time to time about the deal. Must be like those 20+ Million dollar offers KJ rounded up.

 

[dunceface]

One other major Ace up Hansen's sleeve that I haven't seen much talk about:

The 7% of the Kings that he's already purchased through Bankruptcy Court. Obviously, it's just a minority share but still adds to his leverage. Look at the process - it means the NBA told the Federal Courts, "Hey, we've vetted this guy and approved him. We want to go through with this" and then Hansen was the only bidder. Despite loads of time, the Sacramento Group never made a bid for it. After Hansen bought it, Sacto had 15 days to match, and still couldn't come up with the $$$. If the BoG now tries to reject the sale of that 7%, they're going to look pretty stupid in front of a Federal Judge explaining why they did. Also, it's a major piece of evidence in Hansen's favor if he goes to Court to enforce sale of the remaining 65%.

Also, we've never got a clear answer if that minority share also comes with a Right of First Refusal to any sale offer. Sacramento originally claimed that it did, but the argument went away after Hansen bought it and appeared to be irrelevant. But now? It it's huge. If the ROFO exists, Hansen now has it.

1. Even if the BoG rejects the sale of the 65% from the Maloofs, they still have to separately reject the sale of the 7% from Bankruptcy (even harder to justify under their bylaws).
2. If the 7% is rejected, Hansen can fight that in Bankruptcy Court (the NBA would be the road team, so to speak). Evidence in his favor is that he was pre-approved & vetted by the NBA, was the only bidder for the shares, and no one else was able to match his offer within the court-appointed 15 day window (despite the rest of the sale obviously being in contention).
3. If Hansen maintains control of the 7% (IMO very likely) he now is a minority partner in the Kings and has ROFO to any sale of a controlling interest. That means that even if the NBA talks the Maloofs into accepting the Sacto offer, Hansen can exercise his ROFO to match the price and buy the controlling share for himself (this is how Jordan wound up with the Bobcats).

......

Maybe blind hope & fandom is clouding my judgement, but I seriously don't see how the NBA gets away with this a 2nd time. We're getting a team - whether it's by using this leverage to extract expansion or if Hansen has to take 2-3 years to pry the Kings out of Sacto, one way or another it's happening.

Stern's entire strategy seems based on little more than belief in his own power/influence and backdoor threats - "play along with our games or we'll never let you in the club." **** That. Stern is Lucy with the football and he thinks everyone else is Charlie Brown. Time for Seattle to kick Stern in the head, because I think Hansen has already legally out-manuvered him.

So it will make Stern "angry"? La-ti-frickin-da. He's gone after this year anyways, and will probably be dead in 5. What's he gonna do? I say we shove him out the door with a little going away present, and he can spend his retirement reflecting on how he shouldn't have screwed us in the first place.

You think Silver's going to carry on Stern's vendetta? Hell no. He'll be taking over an NBA where a franchise in Seattle is a reality, so he'll do his job and work with it.

We're going to piss off the other owners? Oh no - I'm shaking. Half of them are old-guard and will be gone/dead in a few years as well. Think Bennett will have half the influence he currently has after his buddy Stern is gone and his bankrolling partner Aubrey McClendon is fully bankrupt or in jail? Hell no. Money talks, and the other owners will accept Hansen/Ballmer just fine - I mean, they've put up with jerk-offs like Sterling & the Maloofs before. Even if some hate us, so what? You think guys like Cuban & Allen are popular in the meetings? Doesn't stop them from getting things done.

:bow:

 

[Throwdown]

I don't know how plugged in Brock Huard is but he's dropped a few tweets here.

Brock Huard ‏@BrockESPN 2h
Let me be unequivocally clear with #sonics : Work is going on behind the scenes in NYC as we tweet.

Brock Huard ‏@BrockESPN 1h
This is no gut feeling, or speculation. Work is ongoing in NYC. The billion dollar question is what does it mean and what is the remedy? TBD

Whats the work? make an excuse to Seattle so we don't burn the bridge?

 

[Subzero717]

The Kings aren't coming. Just stop already. They did what they had to to retain the team. Its over.

 

[The Outfield]

I'm not sure whether to like or hate such minimal-information tweets -_-

 

[Blitzer88]

I don't know how plugged in Brock Huard is but he's dropped a few tweets here.

Brock Huard ‏@BrockESPN 2h
Let me be unequivocally clear with #sonics : Work is going on behind the scenes in NYC as we tweet.

Brock Huard ‏@BrockESPN 1h
This is no gut feeling, or speculation. Work is ongoing in NYC. The billion dollar question is what does it mean and what is the remedy? TBD

Whats the work? make an excuse to Seattle so we don't burn the bridge?

Can we please have some actual info and not vague tweets! Come on Brock!

 

[Subzero717]

I don't know how plugged in Brock Huard is but he's dropped a few tweets here.

Brock Huard ‏@BrockESPN 2h
Let me be unequivocally clear with #sonics : Work is going on behind the scenes in NYC as we tweet.

Brock Huard ‏@BrockESPN 1h
This is no gut feeling, or speculation. Work is ongoing in NYC. The billion dollar question is what does it mean and what is the remedy? TBD

Whats the work? make an excuse to Seattle so we don't burn the bridge?

Can we please have some actual info and not vague tweets! Come on Brock!

There is no info.

 

[Spounge84]

The Kings aren't coming. Just stop already. They did what they had to to retain the team. Its over.

Far from over. There's still the matter of the sale, which I can't see going against Hansen. Like many have said before, if the sale to Hansen gets rejected it opens grounds for a lawsuit which could threaten the entire league.

And as far as the team actually moving, I'm not so sure the the League has legal grounds to stop the team from moving even if they voted against it. I know this was brought up before when Bennet was looking to move the Sonics to OKC.

 

[vedthree]

I am not well versed in this entire story. The 7% and 65% slice is well known now, but who comprises of the other 28% and why wouldn't they have Right Of First Offer? Are these other minority owners just 1-6% ownership type slices? I am going to assume so, since it would make sense with the current reports I see from time to time about the deal. Must be like those 20+ Million dollar offers KJ rounded up.

I don't know for sure either, Dr. I've been trying to google what I can.

The ROFO is in the Kings' main Franchise Agreement, basically says that whenever a controlling interest is sold any minority owner can use the ROFO to step in and match, and in the case of matching offers the minority owner wins.

So I would assume that everyone involved with that remaining 28% each has their own ROFO. Which probably explains why Sacto wasn't completely motivated to grab the 7% in Bankruptcy (plus they simply couldn't front the cash at the time) - so figured they could still use a ROFO from that remaining 28% as their own, and figured the NBA's ability to reject Hansen's purchase of the 7% was all the protection they needed.

But, IMO that was a big tactical error on their part. If Hansen can keep control of even just his minority share, he can counter any Sacto ROFO with his own and turn it into another bidding war that he's going to win.