John Bazemore/Associated Press

Lost amid the Atlanta Hawks' ascent to the Eastern Conference's No. 1 seed is the fact that their ownership group has been actively looking to sell the franchise all season. Some clarity, it appears, may be coming as the NBA playoffs commence.

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Ressler Reportedly Finalizing Agreement to Purchase Hawks

Wednesday, April 22

Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Antony Ressler is close to coming to an agreement to purchase the Hawks:

Kevin Arnovitz and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com provided additional details:

On April 7, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today reported that a group led by Grant Hill and Junior Bridgeman had decided to move on from the bidding process as other front-runners emerged. Zillgitt's report indicated groups led by investment managers Steve Kaplan and Mark Rachesky were ahead of the pack.



No price point was given, but it's possible the team could sell for upwards of $1 billion given the Hawks' recent success and the surging worth of sports franchises. Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer paid $2 billion for the Clippers last year, and the Kings and Bucks franchises have gone well above their valuations in recent sales.

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Forbes currently values the Hawks at $825 million, 22nd among the NBA's 30 franchises. Their media market is the ninth-largest in the United States, and their longevity in Atlanta could make them an undervalued resource.

Hawks majority owner Bruce Levenson agreed to sell his shares of the team in September following the leak of racially charged emails. Levenson and his ownership group later agreed to sell their entire share of the team rather than parcel out Levenson's portion. The controversy also involved general manager Danny Ferry, who has been on a leave of absence all season.

Atlanta raced out to a 57-19 record and will have home-court advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs.



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