After 16 months as a ward of the NBA, the New Orleans Hornets finally have a new owner. NBA Commissioner David Stern has said over and over again in recent months (and most recently, about two weeks ago ) that the league was "close" to finding a long-term owner for the Hornets. After entertaining multiple potential local owners last fall, it appears that the league has found its man — Tom Benson, the owner of the NFL's New Orleans Saints. Benson reportedly reached a tentative agreement to buy the team on Friday morning and could be officially announced as the Hornets' new owner on Friday afternoon following his approval by the NBA's Board of Governors, now in its second day of meetings at the St. Regis Hotel in New York City. UPDATE: The Saints just confirmed on Twitter that Benson is officially the Hornets' new owner. In addition to Benson's bid for the team, according to Jimmy Smith of the New Orleans Times-Picayune , the board was also considering an offer from a prospective ownership group "headed by California swimwear manufacturer Raj Bhathal and former [Hornets] minority owner Gary Chouest." That group also included Larry Benson, Tom Benson's brother, according to WVUE-TV , which Tom Benson also owns. [ Related: NBA decides it won't prevent Kings from leaving Sacramento ] "All signs are pointing to Benson becoming the owner, and he will own 100 percent of the team," Smith wrote. "He won't be part of an ownership group." David Aldridge of NBA.com reported Friday that Benson will pay $338 million for the Hornets. That's in the ballpark of the $340 million that the NBA's been asking for the franchise from its bidders, representing a modest profit over the $318 million the league reportedly paid when it took the team over from George Shinn back in December 2010. As Smith noted in the Times-Picayune, it's also "well in excess of the $285 million" valuation that Forbes magazine recently placed on the Hornets , a figure ranking it as the seventh-least valuable franchise in the NBA.
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