Ted S. Warren / AP

Oklahoma City businessman Clay Bennett smiles as he holds up a Seattle SuperSonics jersey presented to him by fomer owner Howard Schultz in Seattle on Tuesday.

A group of five "homegrown" Oklahoma businessmen who made their fortunes in banking, energy and telecommunications had worked over the years to bring a major sports franchise to their hometown. When they finally landed a team, it was an NBA franchise 2,000 miles away.

The Oklahoma-based investors say they intend to keep the Sonics and Storm in Seattle, but their deep ties to the civic and business life of Oklahoma City -- and the city's hunger for a major franchise -- suggest otherwise.

Clay Bennett, former part-owner of the San Antonio Spurs and chairman of a private investment company, heads Professional Basketball Club LLC, the new ownership group whose roster reads like a who's who of the Oklahoma City business elite.

"They're all homegrown Oklahoma City businessmen," said Mayor Mick Cornett, who added that his "head was still spinning" with the news. "They're among our largest civic leaders."

Bennett, 46, was instrumental in helping to lure the New Orleans Hornets to Oklahoma City last season when the basketball franchise was searching for a place to play following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. The Hornets will play 35 games there in the 2006-2007 season.

The success of the Hornets at the 19,599-seat Ford Center with sellout crowds and average attendance that ranked in the NBA's top 10 raised hopes that the Sonics could end up there.

"People are starting to connect the dots," Cornett said, as rumors swirled before the announcement Tuesday afternoon. But he later said it's presumptuous to assume that the Sonics were coming to Oklahoma City.

"This city loves the NBA and we could support the NBA," said Roy Williams, president and CEO of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce. "We're now an NBA city. Whether or not the Sonics end up here, no one can really answer that question yet."

For now, the city remains pro Hornets, he said.

"We've all bought tickets to the game, engaged in the draft process," Williams said. "We know all the players. Until someone tells us differently, that's where our allegiance is."

Bennett repeatedly insisted Tuesday that the owners will make every effort to negotiate a deal that would allow them to stay in Seattle.

"Clay Bennett is a guy who can get things done," Cornett said.

"He's so highly respected and so well-connected and he's so savvy. And you combine all of that, and you've got a person who can really have an impact."

Bennett, chairman of the investment firm Dorchester Capital, was the lead negotiator in trying to figure out how to make the Hornets deal happen, Williams said.

He came up with the idea of "pioneer partners" -- rallying support from major corporations to cover up to a $10 million revenue gap if the Hornets didn't make enough money while playing in Oklahoma City last season. The Hornets did, and the investors didn't have to cover the gap, Williams said.

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