At the NBA Board of Governors meeting today in New York, the league’s 30 owners approved the request for relocation of the SuperSonics to Oklahoma City, 28-2, with Mark Cuban of the Dallas Mavericks and Paul Allen of the Portland Trail Blazers voting against the move.

With the approval, Seattle can only hope that legal challenges will keep the team in place until at least 2010. Other lawsuits are pending, as well. As reported by The AP:

Seattle has filed suit trying to force the Sonics to remain in the city until the lease expires in 2010, while Bennett wants to buy out the remainder. The city already has rejected Bennett's $26 million to settle the lease dispute. A trial is set to begin in federal court June 16.

[…]

Bennett is also facing a class-action lawsuit brought by season-ticket holders who say they were duped into buying tickets under the premise the Sonics wouldn't leave.

And this week former team owner Howard Schultz announced plans to sue to get the team back, saying Bennett did not make a good-faith effort to secure a new arena deal as he promised when he bought the team in 2006.

The vote comes shortly after attorneys for the City of Seattle released emails from the Sonics ownership group which show that the group was working to move the team to Oklahoma City almost from the day the team was purchased.

The most likely outcome? A large cash settlement by the Sonics ownership group that would allow them to skate by the legal issues, even if the team is forced to stay in Seattle through the remainder of their lease agreement.

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• Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He is contributor to Baseball Prospectus, and is available as a freelance writer.

Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network.