ESPN: NBA could buy back Bucks if arena deal not in place by 2017

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- The NBA could buy back the Milwaukee Bucks from new owners Wesley Edens and Mark Lasry if a deal to a bring a new arena to the city is not in place by November 2017 -- according to ESPN.

Sources told ESPN.com the sale agreement announced last week to transfer the Bucks from longtime owner Herb Kohl to Edens and Lasry for a purchase price of $550 million includes a provision that allows the league to buy back the team for $575 million if construction on a new building in Milwaukee is not underway by the deadline.

Kohl made it a condition of the sale that anyone buying the team had to keep it in Milwaukee.

But new NBA commissioner Adam Silver, even before formally succeeding David Stern, said coming into this season that the league was prepared to insist that Milwaukee had to have a modern arena by 2017 to keep the franchise where it's been since its inception in 1971 -- according to ESPN.

Kohl and the potential new Bucks owners have each pledged $100 million towards the new arena.

CLICK HERE for more on this story via ESPN.com.