An agreement has been in place for a few weeks now that would see longtime Milwaukee Bucks owner Herb Kohl sell the team to Marc Lasry and Wes Edens for a reported $550 million, but the process can be a lengthy one when considering all that goes into it, along with the league’s approval process.
This particular sale, however, seems to be moving along a bit more expeditiously.
From Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:A source with knowledge of the sale process said Monday the sale of the Milwaukee Bucks to New York investors Marc Lasry and Wesley Edens “is moving quickly.”
“It’s possible there will be news later this week,” the source said. ...
Assuming the sale goes through this week, Lasry and Edens are expected to take control of the team quickly. While they obviously have no control over it, the NBA draft lottery is May 20. That will determine the draft order on June 26.
This is good news for Bucks fans, because a new ownership group may be more actively engaged in trying to turn the fortune of the franchise around, and getting things finalized before important dates like the draft and the beginning of free agency will only help matters if indeed that’s the case.
The key component in the sale will be the push to get a new arena built in Milwaukee in order to make it stick. The new owners will have until November of 2017 to have a deal in place, otherwise the NBA has the right to buy back the franchise -- a strategic move made to ensure the Bucks stay in Milwaukee, which is commissioner Adam Silver’s preference.
The Bucks are coming off a season in which they managed to finish with the worst record in the league, despite the Sixers at one point losing 26 straight games. That’ll give Milwaukee the most ping pong balls in the upcoming Draft Lottery, and with them the best mathematical chance of landing the number one overall pick in this summer’s NBA Draft.