Seattle ? The Seattle SuperSonics’ new owner told the NBA on Friday he plans to move the team to Oklahoma City.

Clay Bennett had set a Wednesday deadline for having a plan to replace KeyArena, which he says is outdated. He and the city are in a dispute about the arena lease.

He has until March 1 to file for relocation with the NBA if he wants the team to play the 2008-09 season anywhere besides Seattle. The Sonics are the city’s oldest major professional sports franchise.

Bennett briefly backed off his deadline, not wanting to distract from the start of the season. He watched Thursday night’s home opener against Phoenix from his suite, spending most of the second half chatting with Hall of Famer Bill Russell while fans chanted “Save our Sonics!” during the game.

“Today we notified commissioner (David) Stern that we intend to relocate the Sonics to Oklahoma City if we succeed in the pending litigation with the city, or are able to negotiate an early lease termination, or at the end of the lease term,” Bennett said.

Washington governor Chris Gregoire said the latest development was “no surprise,” and the state will “continue to work with others on the arduous process” of keeping the Sonics and the WNBA’s Storm.

Oklahoma City mayor Mick Cornett called the news a “significant step” but urged caution.

Bennett bought the Sonics from a local group led Howard Schultz for $350 million. Schultz, also unhappy with KeyArena, and his group paid $200 million for the team in 2001. Bennett is trying to void the final two years of the lease.