from Brent Stecker of MyNorthwest,

Oak View Group CEO Tim Leiweke has a theory on why the proposal to renovate KeyArena hasn’t been as popular with some members of the general public as Chris Hansen’s proposal to build a new arena in Sodo.

“There is no NBA team,” Leiweke said on “Brock and Salk” Thursday morning, the day after Seattle Mayor Ed Murray chose OVG to head up the rebuild of KeyArena. “The majority of people who shoot at KeyArena and our vision are shooting at me for one reason, because I’m telling them something they don’t want to hear. So let me repeat this one last time: There is no expansion coming in the NBA.”

At least not any time soon....

That doesn’t mean OVG is heading into this venture without a plan to have an anchor tenant from one of the top four sports leagues in North America, though. The group announced Wednesday that Boston Celtics minority owner David Bonderman and Hollywood movie and TV producer Jerry Bruckheimer have partnered up to make a run at acquiring an NHL franchise, which Leiweke said is a much more realistic goal in the short-term.

“It’s gonna be the NHL that comes first,” he said, adding that the group hasn’t given up on the NBA and has strong ties within that community that will come in handy down the road.

read on and notice in the story, no mention of an expansion team for the NHL, instead the words "make a run at acquiring an NHL franchise". Could be something, could be just a choice of words.