There has been speculation that Chris Hansen's contributions to an anti-Kings-arena movement in Sacramento could hurt Seattle's chances of eventually landing an NBA franchise. However, current commissioner David Stern and future commissioner Adam Silver both recently downplayed concerns about the league or its owners holding a grudge, according to Percy Allen of the Seattle Times. You can find more of this evening's miscellaneous news and notes below, including more from the above article:
- Allen also points out that Hansen still has around four years to secure an NBA team and finalize an agreement with Seattle and King County to build a $490MM arena in Sodo with $200MM in public subsidies.
- Given that there currently aren't any teams for sale, Silver had this to say about possible expansion within the near future: "I would never say it’s never going to happen. There’s nothing in the works at the moment…Obviously the league has grown over the years and there may come a point to look at it…But right now coming off of our new collective bargaining agreement, we really want to make sure we have 30 franchises that are all financially sound."
- RealGM's Jonathan Tjarks makes a case for why the Thunder's core still has enough time to win a title.
- Mark Willard and Arash Markazi of ESPN LA talk about what Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni has to accomplish in order to keep his job in Los Angeles.
- Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com discusses the ten players most likely to be dealt this season (Insiders only). Among the more notable names on the list include Luol Deng (who we recently heard is set to hit free agency next summer), Rajon Rondo, Omer Asik, and Danny Granger.