Frank Hughes of the Tacoma News Tribune reports: Despite rumors moving through the organization, Seattle SuperSonics CEO Wally Walker said The Basketball Club of Seattle, which owns the Sonics, is not pursuing building a new arena any time soon, though he did not rule out that possibility in the future.

But Walker cited the team's 15-year lease with the city of Seattle for its use of KeyArena as a reason that the Sonics are not pursuing a new arena immediately.

"How far in the future are you talking about?" said Walker, in Philadelphia for the Sonics' victory over the 76ers on Monday. "Our lease runs another eight years. We have a 15-year lease, and we are in our seventh year. We are trying to get profitable, we just did our media deal. We are trying to sell out our building, which we have made good progress on.

We are working on other issues. We have not begun to explore that yet."

Walker said the team's current lease with the city does not provide for an escape clause.

But Walker said to begin thinking about a new arena, the team must first consistently sell out its current home.

"It is a good NBA building; it has been great for our fans," he continued. "When we get 17,072 in there every time, then we will worry about a new building. Who knows what is going to happen when the lease is up in 81/2 years?"