The Connecticut Sun ownership intends to present multiple options to the WNBA as it looks to salvage what would have been a record-breaking $325 million franchise sale, sources with knowledge of the situation told ESPN.
The Mohegan tribe, which has owned the franchise since buying and relocating the Orlando Miracle in 2003, is seeking clarity on the league's desired path forward for the organization, sources said, after an agreement to sell the team to a group led by former Boston Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca was met with resistance from the league office.
After news broke of the deal's existence -- and Pagliuca's eventual plan to relocate the franchise to Boston -- a league statement emphasized that "relocation decisions are made by the WNBA Board of Governors and not by individual teams," and that cities already that have gone through the expansion process have priority over Boston, which did not submit an expansion bid in any of the three recent expansion rounds over the last three years.