While many would prefer to be rooting for the Sonics rather than for NBA investment deals to fall through, some excitement seemed to be back in Seattle last week as news broke that the tentative deal reached in late February between the city of Sacramento and the Kings’ owners might be less of a sure thing than originally reported.

Fans may be enthused at the possibility of Sacramento’s arena deal potentially falling apart, but Brian Robinson, president of the Green and Gold Community Coalition, says Seattle shouldn’t be distracted from what’s really important: getting the Seattle City Council and King County Council to sign off on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) backing prospective owner Chris Hansen’s proposal to build an arena for the NBA and NHL in SoDo. An advisory panel has been examining Hansen’s proposal, and should deliver its findings within the next few weeks. If everything falls into place, Hansen could then take the MOU to the NBA ownership meeting in April to make the pitch for Seattle.

“Right now, you have a lot of the components in place,” says Robinson, referring to Hansen’s willingness and money and the proposed SoDo site for the arena. Robinson also cites the need for a willing local government and, obviously, eventual NBA and NHL franchises. “We can’t impact what other cities do. We need to stay focused and be ready.”