The NBA owners who met with Laurie in New York this week were concerned he would not give Vancouver fans an opportunity to keep the team in their city. Said NBA Commissioner David Stern: ?I think it's fair to say that the deal as structured seemed to have certain incentives to see the team moved without an adequate opportunity for Vancouver to prove that it is a place that an NBA franchise should stay.?
Laurie, who also owns the St. Louis Blues hockey franchise and an arena in that city, is believed to have agreed to pay McCaw $150 million, but details of the deal have not been released since it was announced in September.
Although Laurie has not said he will move the team, he has done little to stem the speculation and is known to want an NBA team in St. Louis.
Under the league's rules, the Grizzlies have to remain in Vancouver for at least the two more seasons, and several team owners have said they wanted Laurie to promise he would keep the team in the city longer if it continued to generate fan support.
A vote scheduled by NBA team owners on the sale of the Vancouver Grizzlies to billionaire Bill Laurie was postponed at the request of the team's current owner John McCaw.
