New Seattle Franchise May Target Phil Jackson and Larry Bird

With the sale of the Sacramento Kings to a Seattle group well underway, the born-again Sonics are said to be interested in some some heavy-hitters to fill out their front office roster. Phil Jackson, Larry Bird and R.C. Buford will reportedly get serious consideration for some of the top jobs in Seattle. Per Yahoo! Sports and Peter Vecsey: “The new Seattle NBA ownership group has begun discussing possible candidates to run its franchise and has deliberated whether to target San Antonio Spurs general manager R.C. Buford and former Indiana Pacers president Larry Bird, sources said. The ownership group led by Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer has finalized an agreement to purchase the Sacramento Kings and plans to move the team to Seattle for the 2013-14 season. The pending owners want to completely redo the franchise’s basketball infrastructure, sources said. The Seattle group believes it will need to completely rebuild the franchise, and that means hiring an executive with a strong history of drafting, player evaluation and organization building. Kings GM Geoff Petrie, who is in the final year of his contract, will not be retained, sources said. Petrie is expected to retire at season’s end, league sources said. […] Source says almost living lock Phil Jackson will become front office face of Seattle-bound Kings’ franchise. Won’t coach. Will mentor choice.”