Bennett Press Conference

I'm late getting to this, but Clay Bennett had a press conference scheduled at 11 am today to speak on a number of issues. Whenever I get some info on what happened, I'll pass it along.

UPDATE:

And here you go. According to the Times, Clay Bennett has filed for a demand for arbitration in order to void the final two years of his lease for Key Arena. More to come later as I get more info.

CLOSER LOOK:

At first blush, the easy way to look at this situation is to say that Bennett is attempting to get out of his lease with the City, and is crossing his t's legally by filing for arbitration. Casual fans (such as ourselves) could easily paint this in a negative light as yet another log being tossed onto the bonfire by Bennett.

And, honestly, I can sympathize with that sentiment. But after everything that has happened, this doesn't really change anything. I'm sure the city had to anticipate Bennett wouldn't just go along with their demands for him to honor his lease; not after the way he and his partners have acted since purchasing the team less than twelve months ago.

So, before we get all of our knickers in a twist about today's press conference, just remember that nothing has changed. Bennett and McClendon & Co. still want to move to Oklahoma City, numerous folks are fighting them, and now an arbitrator will decide if the Sonics' ownership is legally obligated to fulfill the terms of the lease, or if they can vacate the premises at the end of the upcoming season.

UPDATE NO. 2: Courtesy of The Seattle Times, here's the demand for arbitration document. It's a PDF file.

Fantasy

Fantasy basketball time is nearly upon us, and nba.com has a position-by-position article up at the moment, detailing who to avoid and who to select (number one is Kevin Garnett; number 366 is David Wesley; sadly, Gary Payton is number 360).

Here's a quick peak at how they ranked the Sonics (note that the rankings are for the respective position, not overall):

Point Guard: Delonte West (#32), Luke Ridnour (36), Earl Watson (39). Surprising that West would rank above the other two. I think I would go Ridnour-West-Watson, but it's a total guess regardless, and until pre-season draws to a close, we won't have any idea who's going to get the minutes this year.

Shooting Guard: Damien Wilkins (36). Wally Szczerbiak's agent is on the phone now. If only they had separate categories for "Ankle Sprains " or "Hair Gel Used/40 minutes" ...

Small Forward: Kevin Durant (10), Jeff Green (29). How sad is it that two guys that haven't played a minute in the NBA are ranked higher than any of the half-dozen guys we've got playing the two guard positions?

Power Forward: Chris Wilcox (21). I have nothing funny to say about this one.

Center: Nick Collison (22). No love for Bob Swift here (yeah, I'm calling him Bob this year, I think he deserves a fresh start; it was either that or 'Bobby', and Bobby Swift sounds like a small bird). Johan Petro and Mo Sene failed to qualify as well, although Mo will definitely be a top 10 pick in the NBDL fantasy draft.

Durant

After reading this article the other day which painted Kevin Durant is less than a stellar light, you can see another, more optimistic, opinion here. Suffice it to say that "Durant" and "Jordan" appear in a comparison, and the comparison isn't negative.