SuperSonics almost ready to consider finding new city

SuperSonics CEO Wally Walker said for the first time Wednesday that if the team does not get some response from the city of Seattle and the state by the end of the 2006 legislative session, it will begin accepting inquiries from other cities about the possibility of the Sonics moving.

After a City Council meeting Monday that led Walker to believe nothing is going to get done in the next legislative session, which begins in less than a month, he said the team is being forced to look at alternatives, including playing elsewhere.

“The Seattle SuperSonics want to stay here, and we will look at other local options,” Walker said. “But if people from other cities call, we will pick up the phone for the first time.”

Walker said the team has received inquiries from other cities “through back channels.” He declined to say which cities were interested, but Kansas City, Mo., Oklahoma City, Anaheim, Calif., and Las Vegas have arenas and have made it known they would like to an NBA franchise.

“We have said, both back channel and directly, that we are pursuing ‘Option A,’ ” Walker said, referring to the possibility renovating KeyArena. “But if the city can’t make up its mind whether they want us here past 2010, then we have to look at all our options.”

Walker made his latest comments after a City Council meeting he said virtually nullified the team’s chances of approaching the state legislature in January and seeking public funds for a renovated KeyArena. The City Council says it will not complete its information-gathering process until sometime in February, which leaves little time for the Sonics to put together a package to present in Olympia.

Last season the Sonics went to Olympia in February to ask for public funding and were told they had come too late in the session and to come back next year.

“It means that our next chance for any resolution is 2007,” Walker said.