Sources: Rockets owners expand talks to buy, move Sun

Houston Rockets the owner is in substantive negotiations with Connecticut Sun On the potential purchase and relocation of a WNBA franchise, sources told ESPN this week.

The discussions were described as “positive” and the Rockets owners improved their offer to a level the Sun would consider acceptable, a source close to the situation said.

The source said that although a formal proposal was discussed, the parties had not signed an exclusive agreement and no decision had been made on the future of the franchise.

The WNBA previously expressed strong interest in returning to Houston. At the announcement of the league's three-team expansion in June, commissioner Cathy Engelbert singled out Houston and Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta as “next” and “someone we're keeping a close eye on.”

The Sun has been owned by the Mohegan Tribe since 2003 when they purchased and moved the franchise from Orlando, Florida to Uncasville, Connecticut. The sale of the Rockets' ownership would be the latest example of the WNBA moving toward more teams with NBA ownership.

The Sun launched the process of exploring investment options more than a year ago, initially seeking to evaluate the sale of a limited partnership that would help finance infrastructure construction.

Earlier this year, Houston was among the groups that expressed interest in purchasing the Sun outright, eventually raising its offer to $250 million, the amount Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia paid as expansion fees earlier this year.

In early July, Sun owners reached an agreement to sell the team for a record $325 million to a group led by former Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca, who would move the franchise to Boston. The WNBA effectively blocked the deal from moving forward, firmly stating that “relocation decisions are made by the WNBA Board of Governors, not individual teams” and that cities that have already gone through the expansion process take precedence over Boston.

The WNBA then offered to buy the Sun for $250 million, which would allow it to facilitate a sale in its chosen market. At the time, it was believed that the league wanted to move the Sun to Houston after Houston did not receive an expansion team in June.

Sun's owners recently explored the potential of using funds associated with the state of Connecticut to purchase a minority stake in the franchise. But those talks have slowed, sources told ESPN.

The hope is that a decision on the franchise's future can be made before free agency, where all but two of the league's veterans are uncontracted. However, the exact timing of free agency is unclear as the league and players union continue to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement, the deadline of which is currently set for Jan. 9.

The Houston Comets were an iconic original team that won the league's first four championships (1997-2000) and were home to some of women's basketball's biggest stars such as Cheryl Swoopes, Cynthia Cooper and Tina Thompson before the team disbanded after the 2008 season.