Seattle's New Arena: Which NBA Team Has Best Chance of Relocating to Washington?

Mike McGinn and Dow Constantine, mayor of Seattle and King County executive respectively, unveiled a plan on Thursday for a “risk-free,” half-billion-dollar, state-of-the-art arena to be erected in the city.

However, Lynn Thompson, Steve Miletich and Emily Heffter at The Seattle Times reported that $290 million of the finances would not be in place and construction will not start until Chris Hansen’s investment group is able to secure an NBA and NHL team.

Here’s a look at some teams that have a chance to relocate to Seattle from their current market.

New Orleans Hornets

This team just makes sense to move.

It’s unfortunate the franchise that means so much to the city and has been through so many tough times over the past few years has fallen on such hard times recently. The league owns this team and has been looking for a prospective buyer for quite some time. Hansen just might be the guy to take the team off the league’s hands and move it to Seattle.

At just 6-23 with the fifth-worst attendance in the league, New Orleans just seems like a hopeless place to keep an NBA franchise without a star or future. Relocating may be best for all parties.

Sacramento Kings

The Sacramento Bee is reporting that their city is hoping to get a plan for a $387 million stadium approved by the NBA-mandated March 1 deadline.

If it doesn’t, it might just be a matter of time before the Kings are forced to relocate. John Hollinger called it an “either-or deal," meaning the team would have to leave Sactown if the arena deal doesn’t going through.

This is the franchise that will certainly go to Seattle if it can’t come up with funding within the next few weeks.