updated 10:41 p.m. ET July 18, 2006

OKLAHOMA CITY - Mayor Mick Cornett cautioned Tuesday that the purchase of the Seattle SuperSonics by an Oklahoma City businessman does not necessarily mean that the NBA franchise will relocate to the city.

“I think it’s presumptuous to assume that Clay Bennett and his ownership group won’t own that Seattle team for a long, long time in Seattle or somewhere else. It’s presumptuous to assume they’re going to move that franchise to Oklahoma City,” Cornett said. “I understand that people are going to say that seems to be a likely scenario, but that’s just speculation.”

Bennett was the leader of a group that sought to buy a minority stake in the New Orleans Hornets, who temporarily relocated to Oklahoma City after Hurricane Katrina.

Upon the formation of his investor group in February, Bennett said: “The bottom line is, we want a team for this market.”

But on Tuesday, he had a different message. He told a Seattle news conference that he would keep the team in Seattle if an agreement could be reached for a new arena. In a news release, Bennett said he hoped the Sonics would succeed in Seattle for “decades to come.”

Bennett, the president of Oklahoma City investment firm Dorchester Capital, was vital to the city’s effort to bring the Hornets to the city. He led a group of investors who provided one-third of a $10 million promise to the Hornets if they did not meet surpass their revenue from 2004-05 by at least 5 percent last season.

Instead, the Hornets easily exceeded their revenue benchmark, and the city will share some of the profits.

“Clay is smart. He’s got the means to make things happen, he’s got good connections, he’s trustworthy,” Cornett said. “I have high expectations of him and he meets them.”

The Hornets, who will play 35 games in Oklahoma City this season before returning to New Orleans in 2007-08, don’t anticipate the announcement having any impact on the team.

“It doesn’t change anything,” said Michael Thompson, the Hornets’ director of corporate communications. “Our goal, our plan from Day One has been to return to New Orleans.”

Thompson said season-ticket sales in Oklahoma City are projected to exceed last year’s totals, when the team sold out half of its 36 games at the Ford Center, and the Hornets are working on extending agreements with sponsors in the city.

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“One of my concerns about what’s happening today is that it will take our focus off of the Hornets and all of the great things that have been going on here, and it shouldn’t,” Cornett said.

The Hornets provided the city’s first chance to prove it could succeed as the host of a major league franchise and now “we have proven that we are an NBA city,” Cornett said.

“We need to continue to support the Hornets franchise with everything we’ve got,” he added. “That hasn’t changed.”

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