The Seattle Times reports: The Sonics steadfastly denied an earlier ESPN report that they would send their fourth pick to the Los Angeles Clippers for the No. 7 pick and a first-round pick in 2009. And now ESPN has backed off, saying the deal is off.

The AP reports: Turns out, Seattle leaders have some issues with e-mail, too. After months of enduring bombshell releases of incriminating messages that seemed to doom their case, the SuperSonics have produced damning e-mail from Seattle power brokers in the trial that will determine whether the team will move to Oklahoma City or be forced to play the final two years of its lease at Seattle’s KeyArena. Federal judge Marsha Pechman will hear closing arguments Thursday to end this six-day trial. The Sonics lawyers introduced evidence last week showing the former U.S. senator whom the city hired to lead its effort to keep the team was involved in a “poisoned well” plan to force Sonics owner Clay Bennett - the supposed villain in this civic drama - into losing so much money he would sell the team to local buyers. But how much will that matter?

The Tacoma News Tribune (Eric D. Williams) reports: “Although he remains unpopular with fans, former Seattle SuperSonics player and executive Wally Walker’s commitment to keeping professional basketball in his adopted hometown is undeniable. Walker was part of an effort to keep the Sonics, with whom he has been involved for more than 30 years, in Seattle for the long term, even after the ownership group he was part of – led by Howard Schultz – sold the team to Clay Bennett’s group. Attorneys for the Sonics have the documents to prove it. Walker’s role as a consultant for the City of Seattle, and his relationship with a private investment group led by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, served as the focus Friday during the trial between the city and the Sonics over terms of the KeyArena lease.”

The AP reports: A deal is a deal, and the SuperSonics should stay. That was the message from city of Seattle lawyers as a federal trial began Monday to determine whether the NBA franchise will be forced to stay at KeyArena until its lease expires in 2010. SuperSonics owner Clay Bennett is trying to move the team — Seattle’s oldest professional sports franchise — to his hometown of Oklahoma City, two years before the lease expires. Bennett, who sat expressionless at the defense table, is hoping to pay Seattle no more than $10 million in lost rent for the next two seasons.

The Seattle Times (Percy Allen) reports: UCLA forward/center Kevin Love highlighted a quartet of draft hopefuls that began workouts for the Sonics on Thursday. Love was joined at the Furtado Center by Ohio State 7-foot center Kostas Koufos, North Carolina State 6-9 forward J.J. Hickson and 6-10 Australian Nathan Jawai. Today the Sonics will bring in Georgetown center Roy Hibbert, UCLA 6-4 guard Russell Westbrook, Illinois 6-9 forward Shaun Pruitt and George Hill, a 6-2 guard out of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Gary Washburn) reports: For months, a Boston-area woman thought she was dating a Sonics front-office employee and former NBA player named Jeff Turner, a handsome, 6-foot-8 40-something who was polite, compassionate and respectful. She thought she had scored a figurative slam-dunk in the Internet dating game. But when the man she was falling for suddenly left his Somerville, Mass., home and stayed away for three weeks, the woman became suspicious. A Google search helped her discover that this man was not Jeff Turner, but a habitual impostor who had been posing as a Sonics employee for the past several months. Just when it appeared matters couldn’t become any more bizarre for Seattle’s downtrodden basketball franchise, the Sonics have emerged as victims in a case of identity fraud perpetrated by a smooth-talking con man.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Greg Johns) reports: With less than two weeks remaining until the start of the city’s trial against the Sonics, an attorney unaffiliated with either party says this could turn into the legal equivalent of a barroom brawl if the case gets to court. The looming question now is whether the struggle over the Sonics’ lease issue at KeyArena will reach Judge Marsha Pechman’s courtroom for the opening gavel on June 16 or if the sides will come to some sort of pretrial agreement. Longtime Seattle attorney Randy Aliment said he’s surprised the situation has gone this far without resolution and notes that more than 90 percent of cases are resolved out of court. From Aliment’s perspective, both parties in this particular battle have significant motivation to find a tenable solution, as does the NBA.