Seattle’s NBA dream is still a long way from becoming a reality

It has been more than a week now since the president of an NBA team mentioned Seattle as a potential destination for his franchise.

The fact you may not be aware that it was the Milwaukee Bucks – let alone who’s even on the Bucks – says everything you need to know about the local reaction to the possibility that Seattle may be getting an NBA team back. Namely, there wasn’t one.

Some of that indifference is due to the memory of being burned in the pursuit of the Sacramento Kings two years ago. Some is also because former Microsoft exec Steve Ballmer now owns the Los Angeles Clippers. And some is also because the idea of NHL expansion is now more exciting to some in the Seattle area than getting back in the NBA game.

So when Peter Feigin, the president of the Bucks, told his state’s legislature earlier this month that his franchise would wind up in Seattle (or Las Vegas) if it didn’t get some $290 million for an arena, our city paused briefly to consider the possibility. Then it yawned.

I’m not sure who that reaction should frighten more: The league that has alienated one of the top 15 markets in the country or people like me who want to see the NBA back in Seattle.

The reality is that Seattle is farther away from getting an NBA team than it was two years ago.

Chris Hansen, who spearheaded the push to acquire the Kings, is still around. He was at the opening game of Seattle’s Pro-Am basketball league on Friday night at KeyArena, but when Ballmer bought the Clippers, Hansen lost the deepest pockets of his ownership group as well as the guy the NBA has wanted involved in its league for decades.

Not only that, but there’s the small matter of Hansen’s exit from the pursuit of the Kings when he violated California campaign finance laws to donate to a group that would oppose the construction of the arena that was arranged to keep the franchise in the city.

It was an action that was at least a little spiteful, one he apologized for and something the league’s leaders haven’t entirely forgotten, either. Hansen violated the primary rule of the rich-guy cooperative that is the NBA ownership council: Thou shalt not impede another team’s visit to the public trough for arena financing.

At the very least, there are bridges Hansen must rebuild to the league and its new commissioner and financials that must be verified now that Ballmer is no longer part of Seattle’s equation.

After mentioning all that, we haven’t even gotten to the issue of that SoDo arena that was generally agreed to by the city council years ago but has a number of steps left before construction can begin.

Seattle doesn’t seem quite the NBA threat it was more than two years ago when Hansen arranged for the purchase of the Kings.

In fact, surveying the situation right now, an NHL reintroduction seems more of a possibility than the return of the NBA.

Think about that for a second. The possibility of an East Coast investment banker named Ray Bartoszek ponying up $500 million to buy an NHL expansion team and building a privately financed arena in Tukwila seems more likely than getting a team back in the basketball league where Seattle held a place for 40 years.

The Bucks might become available. Might. But that’s only if the state of Wisconsin fails to come up with the money to help finance a new arena.

And if the Bucks do become available, maybe Seattle will get excited. Maybe.

But after this city’s history with the NBA, it’s going to take more than the mere hint of an team’s availability to get everyone excited.

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