Sonics’ spokesman Tom Savage confirmed Thursday night that the club will not file paperwork to move to a different city with the NBA by the March 1st deadline.
Owner Clay Bennett has said that if state lawmakers do not agree to help fund a $500 million new arena in the south Seattle suburb of Renton, he would relocate the team, possibly to Oklahoma City, where he is a prominent businessman.
But it won’t happen until the 2008-09 season at the earliest.
“They have no intention on filing,” Savage said.
Bennett told The Oklahoman newspaper in Oklahoma City earlier Thursday that his focus is on getting a deal done in Washington state.
“We intend to be successful in Washington. I still think we’ve got a lot of life left in this deal,” Bennett told the newspaper.
