The City of Seattle and the Oklahoma City-based owners of the Seattle SuperSonics National Basketball Association franchise made the announcement that they have reached a settlement that will allow the team to break their lease and play their games in Oklahoma starting in November.

PBC will first pay $45 million to the City of Seattle and possibly another $30 million in five years. The contingency will not be paid if another NBA team settles in Seattle.

Another element of the settlement is that the franchise will not use the name Sonics or SuperSonics, the team logo or colors. A new name, logo and colors is to be announced soon.

A day after Davis surprised the Golden State Warriors by getting out of the final season of his contract to become a free agent, the big-game point guard is on the brink of signing a long-term deal with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Though Davis would not directly confirm his agent’s declaration to The L.A. Times that they have agreed to sign a five-year, $65 million deal with Golden State’s Pacific Division rivals, he left no doubt about his upcoming move back to his homebase in Southern California.

Davis can’t sign with the Clippers until July 9, but he already was speaking about the Warriors in the past tense to the press on Tuesday night. Davis averaged 21.8 points, 7.6 assists and 4.7 rebounds while playing in all 82 games last season for the Warriors, who led the NBA in scoring and finished with 48 wins — the best record by a non-playoff team in recent league history.

The Milwaukee Bucks have agreed to trade Yi Jianlian to the New Jersey Nets for Richard Jefferson. They are also are sending Bobby Simmons to the Nets. He has $20.5 million left on a contract that expires in the summer of 2010, when LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh would become free agents.

This trade might be considered a sign that the Nets are looking to get involved in the LeBron sweepstakes, based in no small part on his close friendship with Nets minority owner Jay-Z. As a result of this trade, the Nets are no longer committed to paying Jefferson $15 million in 2010-11.

Yi’s camp was said to be thrilled about going to the re-structuring Nets and playing in a major market, which was one of the original concerns when he was drafted by the Bucks last year. Yi threatened to not sign with Milwaukee in hopes of forcing a trade to another team. The Bucks will keep their No. 8 pick in the draft to further spruce up their team. The Nets hold the No. 10 pick.

The Bucks, meanwhile, are providing new coach Scott Skiles with a veteran player who can help him win. Jefferson averaged 22.6 points a game last season.

MVP Kobe Bryant still has a shot to win a big prize after failing to nab the NBA championship, and he’ll have lots of help along the way. The next step is to bring home the gold, and the U.S. will send a deep, versatile team to China.

LeBron James. Dwyane Wade. Jason Kidd. Carmelo Anthony. Tayshaun Prince, Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, Michael Redd and Deron Williams.

They will lead a U.S. Olympic basketball team that was announced yesterday and hope to capture the gold medal in Beijing in August after a third-place showing in Athens four years ago. The team already has “re-established itself” on an international level, USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo said during a news conference.

After 22 years, the NBA has gone green again. The Celtics concluded a crazy rebound of a season with an amazing 131-92 blowout over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6 last night. The Celtics won their 17th NBA title and a first one for Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, a  Big Three for a new generation. Garnett scored 26 points with 14 rebounds, Allen scored 26 and Pierce, the finals MVP who shook off a sprained right knee sustained in game one. Boston’s 39-point win surpassed the NBA record for the biggest margin of victory in a championship clincher; the Celtics beat the Lakers 129-96 in Game 5 of the 1965 NBA finals.

The Boston Celtics so close to claiming the N.B.A. title on the Lakers’ home court. But the Lakers used the power of their veterans as the evening went on and pulled out a 103-98 victory that extended the finals for at least another two days and sent the series back to Boston.

The Celtics now have two chances to take the title at TD Banknorth Garden, starting with Game 6 on Tuesday, when the Lakers will try to delay their victory once more. The Celtics’ disappointment was offset by the security of a 3-2 lead in the series, and their 12-1 playoff record at home. The Celtics need one win for their 17th title. The Lakers need two wins for their 10th in Los Angeles, and 14th over all.

The Boston Celtics edged the Los Angeles Lakers 108-102 giving the Celtics a two games lead in the National Basketball Association Finals. The best-of-seven series now heads to Los Angeles, where the Lakers have won eight playoff games in a row, for games Tuesday and Thursday.

The Celtics will try to extend their all-time record of 16 NBA crowns while the Lakers, second on the all-time list with 14, look for their first title since winning three in a row from 2000 to 2002.

Boston defeated the Lakers in their first eight NBA Finals meetings before Los Angeles broke that roll in 1985 and repeated the feat in 1987, their most recent playoff matchup before this latest revival of the NBA’s most legendary rivalry.

Flip Saunders was fired as Detroit Pistons coach Tuesday, just four days after his team was eliminated by the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals. President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars said it’s “time for a new voice to lead our team.” Saunders had just one year left on a four-year deal he signed in 2005. The decision comes three years after Saunders took over for Larry Brown, who led the Pistons to two straight NBA Finals.

“Decisions like this are difficult to make, especially with the success we have had throughout the last three regular seasons,” Dumars said in a statement. “However, at this time, I feel it is necessary to make a change.”

Assistant coach Michael Curry could be the leading candidate to replace Saunders. Other possible candidates include Detroit assistant coach Terry Porter and former Dallas Mavericks coach Avery Johnson.

One of the most legendary rivalries in sports history will be revisited in the 2008 NBA Finals, as the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers go head to head in a best-of-seven series.
The first two games of the series will be played at TD Banknorth Garden, while Games 3, 4 and 5 (if necessary) will take place at the Staples Center. If the set goes to a sixth and seventh game, Boston would host those games.
This is the eleventh time these franchises will square off in the championship round. Boston has won eight of the 10 previous matchups in the finals. The Celtics defeated the Lakers in 1959, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969 and 1984. However, LA has won the last two meetings as it beat Boston in six games in 1985 and 1987.
Some of the greatest players of all time have participated in this rivalry. Larry Bird, Robert Parish, Bob Cousy, Dennis Johnson, John Havlicek, Sam Jones, Kevin McHale,  and Bill Russell are some of the great Boston players who have been part of the championship battles between these teams, while Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson,, Elgin Baylor, Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West,  and James Worthy were there for the Los Angeles.
Boston is appearing in the NBA Finals for the 20th time and has won 16 titles.
The Celtics had the biggest turnaround in NBA history during the regular season, as they finished a league-best 66-16, a 42-win turnaround from a season ago. They had to fight in rounds one and two, needing seven games to eliminate Atlanta in the quarterfinals and Cleveland in the semifinals.

The Los Angeles Lakers have made the NBA Finals for the very first time after beating the 2007 champs the San Antonio Spurs 100-92, winning a best-of-seven series 4-1. Kobe Bryant was the star of the night, scoring 36 points as the Lakers came back from a 17 point deficit to take home an eight point victory.
Pau Gasol contributed with a 12 points and 19 rebounds while Lamar Odom got 13 points and eight rebounds for the Lakers, who will play the winner of the Celtics/Pistons series, which currently has Boston leading 3-2. Game six is in Detroit tonight. Tony Parker was the top scorer for the Spurs with 23 points, while Tim Duncan added 19. However, these were the only scorers of note as the Spurs sputtered towards the end.