NBA Commissioner David Stern acknowledged last month that he expected news on the sale of the Pistons in November and it looks like that definitive news on the sale could be given any day now. This is according to Chris Iott of Mlive.com.
Commenting on the speculation from Toronto where his longtime executive for the Detroit Red Wings Jimmy Devellano was being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, Mike Ilitch had this to say…
“We’re getting close,” Ilitch told the Detroit Free Press. “We’re getting close.”
Ilitch was asked whether the Red Wings could move to The Palace of Auburn Hills while he attempts to get a new arena built to house the Red Wings and Pistons.
“I don’t want to get into all that,” he said. “We’re going to build a stadium in Detroit. … I want two teams in one building, so that’s all I can tell you.”
Iott mentions that the Ilitch’s entered a 30 day exclusive negotiating agreement with Karen Davidson, the current owner of the Pistons back in the first week of October. It was anticipated that a deal would be worked out by November. Right now it seems like its all but certain that a deal with Ilitch will be completed very soon. However once a deal is worked out it will have to be approved by the rest of the 29 owners in the NBA but I really cannot see any hold ups on that end.