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Atlanta ready to offer concessions to new Hawks owners, would like Wilkins involved

As city officials in Atlanta begin the process of courting new owners for the Atlanta Hawks, the name of Dominique Wilkins continues to come up.

Of course, part of that is because the city has also announced that Wilkins will be getting a statue outside of Philips Arena this season, but Wilkins is also said to be interested in getting involved with a new ownership group.

Any interested group would be well-served to make Wilkins a part of their team, considering the city would "look favorably" on Wilkins being involved. He's stayed close to the franchise in recent years and is the team's most notable public figure, after all, and new owners have reason to play nice with the fanbase and the city given the situation they're inheriting.

That situation, as a refresher, is one that has controlling owner Bruce Levenson selling his share of the team along with partner Ed Peskowitz, meaning that 50.1 percent of the Hawks are for sale. Levenson has decided to sell after self-reporting a racially offensive email, one that was uncovered after then-general manager Danny Ferry made racially offensive remarks about free agent Luol Deng on a conference call.

At present, Micahel Gearon Jr. and Ruherford Seydel, other owners in the group, do not plan to sell their share, according to ESPN. Some had speculated that Gearon may be trying to force a sale to "cash in" during a seller's market, though it's also possible he wants a new ownership group with whom he can yield more power, a reported sticking point with he and Levenson.

When new owners are found, they're set to have substantial support from the city of Atlanta. Mayor Kasim Reed had previously spoke about the city having a "pretty good capacity" to help keep the team in Atlanta, and he's since followed up by saying the city could have in the ballpark of $150 million for that purpose once the city sells Turner Field...whenever the Atlanta Braves firm up a moving date.

There has been no timetable established for the sale of Levenson's group's share of the team. While every party has incentive to move expeditiously, the sale of a franchise is a complicated matter, especially with multiple interested groups. It could move slowly, until it doesn't.

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