McDavid now faces approval procedure

David McDavid, the Hawks' and Thrashers' owner-to-be, has been in New York the past two days. On his schedule: preliminary visits with NBA commissioner David Stern and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.

McDavid will be hearing a lot from the commissioners and their offices in the coming weeks.

There is no reason to think the NBA and NHL won't approve the Texas businessman as the next owner of the Hawks and Thrashers. (The NBA, after all, approved him seven years ago --- as a minority owner of the Dallas Mavericks.) But the process will be thorough and methodical, NBA and NHL officials said Wednesday.