A new week and other news, rumors, etc.

[HndsmCelt]

I favor a rule that an owner can not move a team until after the second year of ownership.

 

[Gary]

They got where they are because the owners would not negotiate with the city and it might be that something could be added to the by-laws that gives the city first shot at retaining a team. Unfortunately that's for the future. The by-laws didn't anticipate what could have been a bidding war nor did they anticipate slimey owners who seem hell bent on screwing a city that has done nothing wrong.

To make a long story short, no city that has supported its team well should be left to the whims of owners who don't value that.

Remember the whole selling point with the Maloofs was "customer service"? Makes you wonder.

 

[Gary]

And I hope that, as I stated in a post a while ago, this means that the NBA will put out some FIRM guidelines as to how an owner needs to go about "exiting" the league. I know owners won't want to be told what they can and cannot do, but what happened here with the Clowns going behind the city and the league cannot be allowed to happen again. If nothing else, the league should require that a formal intent to sell (and target price?) be issued to the league BEFORE the owners engage on any discussions with interested parties. A "match" clause that helps protect an existing market would be nice too... maybe even with a "local" dicount ;-)

I think the owners should be able to sell to who they want (for the most part), but selling and moving a team from a good market should be a major no-no.