My Domino Theory about Seattle and the Bucks

Well, well, well. The Seattle Supersonics are not three days expired and already the first signs of a domino effect relocating the Bucks to Seattle have emerged.

Like most initial signs, this one came nonchalantly enough. It took the form of a little article tucked near the bottom of the sports section of yesterday's New York Times entitled "Seattle Hopes Team Is in its Future".

The article described Seattle's efforts to renovate Key Arena, and how, once that task is completed, the city intended to use the "new" arena as a "come hither" to some wayward NBA franchise. The three most likely targets mentioned in the article were Memphis, Sacramento, and your Milwaukee Bucks. Just as I feared.

If you recall, I dreaded the possibility of Seattle losing the Sonics to Oklahoma City because I feared the Bucks precarious financial status operating out of Milwaukee would make them an ideal candidate to replace the Sonics in Seattle. After all, Seattle is something like the 10th largest market in the United States, and I believe Milwaukee is down in the 50s, somewhere below Cincinnati.

I also secretly believe(d) the "Seattle Threat" was at least passively engineered by Commissioner Stern. After all, why would he have stood idly by and watched the Sonics relocate to a far lesser market unless he wanted the Seattle market as leverage for use in future stadium financing debates? Think about it. 15 years or so earlier he stood four square in the way of the Timberwolves move to New Orleans. It was a done deal until he stepped in. Yet this time he seemed to be head cheerleader for the Sonics move to Oklahoma. Curious.