For starters I want to point out this article by Jim Brunner. The quotes by Carr and Ceis are consistent with what I have been told.
I wonder whether I would have made the same type of justification had this been a straight cash buyout with no terms or incentives for them to explain to me? Would I haves still bought the whole "this gives us the best chance in the long term" rationale?
Food for thought
I spoke to a number of players in the last couple of days and they are good guys. Suprisingly resigned to this and saying "It was going to happen all along." I find myself today wondering what Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis would have said this past week had we kept the long term guys on the roster? More than a year ago I had a chance to catch up with Ray and he told me "Its hard to go against an owner when he says he's trying to stay here, but I won't play in Oklahoma. The day he actually files for relocation I'll be helping you guys, on the ground, on a campaign level."
Two weeks later he was traded.
Rashard once offered to let us use his recently vacated house for a fundraiser before insurance and realtor objections prevented it. Again he faced maddening opposition by the league.
I wonder if these guys would have said something. If they would have stood up or whether they would have put on their professional smiles and simply said they were going to make the best of it. We'll never know because Clay Bennet, for all the criticism I have given him, took an extremely methodical approach to this move. Any hope we had was always based on the fact that we could get him to change course but he had the money to fight through and was really determined. He traded away our stars and left us with no attachements to this city.
What would Ray and Rashard have said? My guess is they would have said "We will miss Seattle but we're thrilled with the fans of Oklahoma." They're too professional to do otherwise.
Brian Robinson (I think) wrote this.