The Houston Rockets ownership group led by Tillman Fertitta has been in discussions with the ownership of the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun to potentially purchase the team and relocate them Houston, according to reports.
Houston has been without a WNBA franchise since 2008, when the Comets were disbanded despite being one the league’s premier teams, winning four consecutive WNBA titles and featuring all-time greats like Sheryl Swoopes, Cynthia Cooper, and Tina Thompson.
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Now the Mohegan Tribe, who currently own the Sun, are looking to sell, and the WNBA would love to have it head into the hands of an already NBA owner. The Rockets group have reportedly already offered $250 million, with Suns ownership looking for closer to the $325 million that was offered by former Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca that would’ve moved the team to Beantown. The WNBA blocked that deal, and now the Rockets have supposedly upped their offer, though a final figure has yet to be made public.
The WNBA also tried to buy the Sun, with designs on flipping the franchise to the Rockets themselves, but that deal never went through either. But with the Houston group now doing their best to meet the expectations of the Sun, it appears as though a sale is imminent, although the report did stress that a deal is not final.
The Sun also explored ways to keep the franchise in Connecticut, including even partenering with the state of Connecticut as a minor stake owner, but those talks ended up fizzling also.
The WNBA and all sides involved are shooting to have something finalized before WNBA Free Agency hits, which is still up in the air due to the league still negotiating a collective bargaining agreement with the Player’s Association. We should know more after the New Year, when a resolution to the WNBA contract is supposed to be negotiated.
The WNBA just might be coming back to H-town, and that’s a good thing. Houston was a WNBA OG, and it’s a shame they haven’t had a team going on 17 years now.
