The worst kept secret in sports was that Seattle Supersonics owner Clay Bennett purchased the Sonics from former owner Howard Schultz for the purpose of moving the team to Oklahoma City. The city where Bennett and the other Sonics investors reside. Not one of the current Sonics owners lives in the Pacific Northwest.

Bennett let the cat out of the bag recently when he applied to relocate the Sonics to Oklahoma City officially. If it were up to Bennett, the team would make the move ASAP. But the Sonics have a lease agreement with the city of Seattle and the city fully intends to hold the Sonics owners to the agreement. Bennett says he should be able to get out of the agreement by paying off the balance of the lease.

The two sides will meet in court to decide whether or not the lease will be enforced or whether Bennett and his Sonics can move following this season.

U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman yesterday set a June 16 trial date to settle the KeyArena lease spat. The NBA's owners convene in April (17-18) to vote on the Sonics relocation to Oklahoma City. An interesting sidebar is that the  that the NBA owners who approve the move could find themselves named in a lawsuit. Will that sway some of the owners to vote down the move?

The June trial is expected to last 6 days. The NBA has until August to set its schedule for the 2008-09 season. Thus, if the Sonics win this court battle, they could be on their way to Oklahoma City in time for the October season start. If there are any delays to the trial or if the court finds in favor of the city of Seattle in regards to the enforcement of the Key Arena lease, then the Sonics are stuck in Seattle until the end of the 2009-10 season when the lease expires.

The hope by some Sonics faithful is that if the city of Seattle wins this court battle, Bennett and his fellow owners will lose patience and not want to wait until the end of the 2009-10 season for their desired outcome. Bennett, who has been opposed to selling the Sonics to local owners, might re-think things if he knows he has to do business in unfriendly confines for the next two seasons. After all, Bennett has essentially thrown up his middle finger at the fans and politicians in Seattle and has told them in no uncertain terms that he wants to leave the city. I discussed this scenario in detail with Save Our Sonics founder Steve Pyeatt in November on Sports Business Radio.

This will continue to get interesting, but circle the NBA Board of Governors meeting on April 17-18 and then the June 16th trial in Seattle on your calendar. If you're a Sonics fan, those dates will determine the future fate of your basketball team.

Additional insight on this topic can be found at TrueHoop.