Seattle Reportedly on Track to Have NBA Team by Fall 2013

Seattle is on track to have an NBA franchise by fall 2013 according to a report in the Seattle Times on Saturday.

According to the report, a Seattle native named Christopher Hansen, who became a multimillionaire through the private investment world, reached out to his hometown officials last June in an attempt to discuss ways of bringing an NBA team back to the city.

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Thanks for spending the time today guys, I really appreciate it and look forward to making this happen in Seattle, I genuinely mean that and am confident that with a little effort and creativity we can find a solution that meets our needs and the City's/State's desire to get a team back to Seattle without a large public outlay.

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Seattle has not had an NBA team since 2008, when the SuperSonics were still in town. The franchise moved to Oklahoma City and changed its nickname to the Thunder upon arrival before the start of the 2008-09 NBA season.

According to Saturday's Seattle Times report, the Sacramento Kings look like the most likely of options for the city at this point in time, considering that the Kings have a March 1 deadline to propose financial and arena plans to the league.

The Kings are just 8-15 this season and currently sit at 14th out of 15 teams in the Western Conference standings. A move to Seattle would be a fresh start for a franchise that has not won an NBA title since 1951 and has not made the playoffs since 2005-06.

Plummeting attendance is a direct reflection of the lack of success on the court for the Kings this season and for the past few years now.

Seattle is as deserving of an NBA team as any major city in America, so this news serves as hope to thousands of NBA fans in the Pacific Northwest who had their hearts broken just seasons ago when their SuperSonics, who played 41 seasons in Seattle and won a title in 1979, fled for OKC.