NBA Rumors: Inevitable Return of NBA to Seattle about to Come into Clear View

Thanks to what had, until recently, been a covert plan to get an arena built in downtown Seattle, the NBA is on an inevitable path of returning to the Emerald City.

There is still some heavy lifting that needs to be done to make this a reality, but the wheels are in motion, and they will get this accomplished. 

How this is going to happen is about to come into plain view. 

Steve Miletich and Lynn Thompson of the Seattle Times tell us why. 

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Christopher Hansen, the wealthy San Francisco mystery man who wants to build a sports arena in Seattle to lure NBA and NHL teams, will unveil his proposal at a news conference Thursday, according to two city sources.

"We're very close to announcing our offer to the city. That's why I'm here," the 44-year-old hedge-fund manager said in a Tuesday interview with The Seattle Times, though he declined to say when.

He met with three Seattle City Council members Wednesday to talk briefly about his desire to bring an NBA franchise to Seattle. ...The news conference is scheduled for 2 p.m. [PT].

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Through this entire process, Hansen has shied away from the spotlight, and he's quietly gone about crafting his proposal while in communication with city officials. 

Miletich and Thompson reported:

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Hansen told The Times he is only reluctantly stepping forward now because of the intense interest and speculation around his arena proposal.

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The revelation of this process has been a welcomed surprise to sports fans in Seattle. This is not a person coming in with big promises and few plans. This appears to be a determined individual that has put together a well-planned and feasible proposal. 

While Hansen has yet to reveal his proposal, the groundwork of this plan has been leaked out by the press. 

Nick Eaton of The Seattle PI reported the following: 

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Hansen already owns a chunk of land to the south of Safeco Field, and has a plan that could fund construction of a new stadium with “minimal impact on taxpayers.”

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Carl Hirsh, a New Jersey sports consultant—hired by Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn—met with Seattle officials and outlined a broad plan for the potential funding of the new arena. Miletich and Thompson reported that the following options were discussed. 

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Revenue to build a Seattle arena and to cover the costs of acquiring NBA and NHL teams could come from admission taxes from events at the new facility, as well as the development of a lucrative television network, council members said.

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With the plan in place that will place little burden on the public for funding, there will be next to nothing standing in the way of getting this arena done. And once there is an arena in place, the NBA will come back to this basketball-ready city. 

NBA's Inevitable Return

There is still a big question of which team it will be. The popular speculation has been with the Kings, but Sacramento is inching closer to scoring its own arena and keeping the Kings in town. 

The next logical target is the NBA-owned New Orleans Hornets. While efforts remain in place to keep that team in town, there is still no potential local buyer stepping up to the plate. They met with local buyers back in September, but nothing has come of it. 

And even if they do find a buyer, sooner or later a team will be relocating, and the first place they are going to look is Seattle. 

The city is ready to house a team now. They could use the Sonics' old home, the KeyArena, while the new arena is built. 

Steve Kelley of the Seattle Times has already relayed that the NBA approved of the KeyArena as a temporary home:

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The NBA already has told interests in Seattle the new Sonics could play in KeyArena for the next two years while the arena was under construction.

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This market makes way too much sense to be ignored. In 2009, Jeff Tolin stated the following in the New York Times while dissecting the move that stripped Seattle of the Sonics. 

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Seattle is the 13th- to 15th-largest media market in the country, depending on the ranking criterion (population, size of television market or size of radio market). It is comparable to Detroit, Miami, Phoenix and Minneapolis-St. Paul, all of which have proved capable of supporting three or four major sports franchises.

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Beyond market size, though, this city already has a built-in and established basketball fanbase. This is a city that dutifully supported the Sonics before 41-year owner Howard Schultz's integrity was bought out to the inflated tune of $350 million by an out-of-town owner. 

This is an extremely viable NBA market that will soon have a new arena. It is becoming clear that the return of the NBA to Seattle is not a matter of if, but when.