NBA to Murray: No Seattle Team in the Near Future

As reported earlier, Mayor Ed Murray visited the league offices of both the NHL and the NBA on Monday. That is good.

What the NBA told the mayor during its meeting, however, is not so good.

Murray told Geoff Baker that the league doesn't foresee relocation or expansion to Seattle before the MOU expires in 2017.

"Their official line, and I think they're being straightforward with me, is, a city grabbing a team, or a new (expansion) franchise at this point, is not, in their mind, something they see happening,'' Murray said Thursday of his Monday meeting with Silver and other league officials at NBA headquarters in New York City. "They actually expressed to me that they felt expectations in Seattle had been raised that weren't consistent with what they had been sharing about a path to get there within the next few years.

"I worry that it may not happen,'' Murray said. "I worry that both councils will not go full way toward approving this (arena) if there is no team. If it's two or three years away, this will run out in 2017 and the whole thing will have to start over again.''

An NBA source, who asked not to be named, confirmed Murray's version of the meeting.

It's hard to sugar coat this development, so I won't try to.

I also won't give up on our dream.