The league is in the final stages of approving an expansion team for Atlanta. The owner will be J. Ronald Terwilliger, a real estate maven and philanthropist. He is very very rich.

The team will play in Phillips Arena, where both the Hawks and Thrashers also play, but it will have no affiliation with the Hawks. Bill Bolen, a partner at an Atlanta marketing boutique and a fellow HBS grad, will run operations for now.

Atlanta will get the 4th pick in the 2008 draft. No Parker or Fowles, but a better deal than Chicago got.

Official announcement should come in the middle of next week.