Sonics get deal to move

The SuperSonics will move to Oklahoma City for the 2008-09 season as part of a settlement announced Wednesday with the city of Seattle.

The agreement ends a contentious relationship that culminated in a recent six-day federal trial over terms of the team’s KeyArena lease. The judge was scheduled to rule Wednesday afternoon.

The settlement calls for SuperSonics owner Clay Bennett and his Professional Basketball Club LLC to pay as much as $75 million to the city in exchange for the immediate termination of the lease. The team’s name and colors will stay in Seattle.

“We made it,” Bennett said after stepping to an Oklahoma City podium featuring the NBA logo and the letters OKC. “The NBA will be in Oklahoma City next season.”

Bennett said the move would start Thursday and the first focus would be on the SuperSonics’ players.

It’s a victory for Bennett, who purchased the team in 2006 from Starbucks Corp. Chairman Howard Schultz for $350 million, and will take the franchise to his hometown.

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Boston Celtics center Kendrick Perkins underwent surgery on his left shoulder for an injury that nagged him during the NBA Finals and forced him to sit out Game 5.

The Celtics said Perkins, 23, had arthroscopic surgery at New England Baptist Hospital, as did rookie Bill Walker, who had damage to his right knee repaired.

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The Dallas Mavericks had to give up DeSagana Diop to get Jason Kidd. Now, the 7-foot center is headed back to Dallas. Diop agreed to a $31-million, five-year contract with the Mavericks, according to a person close to the negotiations who requested anonymity because NBA rules prevent the deal from being signed until next week. Dallas also has agreed to a one-year, minimum-salary contract with Gerald Green, a 22-year-old former slam dunk champion who had been unemployed since March… . Michael Beasley’s first official practice with the Miami Heat ended quickly. Beasley was struck in the chest by an inadvertent elbow during a defensive drill about 45 minutes into Miami’s first summer-league workout session, and the No. 2 overall pick in last week’s NBA draft was taken to a doctor for observation.