SEATTLE — As Penny Lane from "Almost Famous" would say — it's all happening.

One of the country's great financial whales now swims at Seattle Center.

Earlier in the week, it was announced that billionaire philanthropist Melinda French Gates was joining One Roof Sports and Entertainment, the umbrella company overseeing the Kraken, Climate Pledge Arena and related assets in the Pacific Northwest. And though most reports centered on her coming on as a Kraken minority owner, it's not hockey nets that people are thinking about. It's the ones that hang from orange rims.

The return of the Sonics is looking so imminent that, at this point, a denial would sting nearly as bad as their departure in 2008. After the NBA's Board of Governors approved a vote to explore expansion in Seattle and Las Vegas, the media consensus seemed to be "when, not if."

Don't blame Emerald City residents for being skeptical of such an assumption given all the teasing and torment they've endured on this issue throughout the years. But Gates' attachment to One Roof signals — and that's the operative word here — that cash flow won't be a problem.

The projected expansion fee for bringing on the Sonics, after all, is estimated to be in the $7-10 billion range. It might have been half that at the start of the decade, but the $6.1 billion sale of the Celtics last year, followed by the $10 billion sale of the Lakers this year skyrocketed valuations.

So now ownership groups tend to need more investors. But when one potential investor is worth $30 billion — as one Melinda French Gates is — hitting a price tag doesn't seem so daunting.

Keep in mind that this is an opinion piece, not a report. Not once has One Roof mentioned the NBA in regards to bringing Gates aboard, nor have those three letters come out of Melinda's mouth. Nobody is going to get ahead of the league on this matter — but this looks like a case of two plus two equals four(shadowing).

We know One Roof is interested in the NBA. The Kraken ownership groups — led by chair Samantha Holloway — launched the parent company in March to "support future ambitions." And last month, when Holloway hired JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Moelis & Co. as financial advisers, Bloomberg reported that she "has been preparing to make a bid in recent months" for an NBA expansion team and is "the first publicly known bidder to hire a banker."

So you'd have to think that if Gates is investing in One Roof, she wants to do whatever possible to help it meet its goals. And that primary goal seems to be 15 hoopers draped in green-and-gold jerseys. Again — not a report. Just informed speculation. But it’s speculation that a starved Sonics fanbase is more than ready to manifest into reality.

Even if One Roof now has the financial A-lister in Gates, there are still plenty of unknowns. Owners, remember, have approved the exploration into expansion, but that's a lot different from approving expansion itself. Yes, adding two teams could put around $16 billion (assuming an $8 billion expansion fee) in their pockets — which would equate to roughly $533 million per franchise. But what if that isn't enough for some who think keeping a larger share of all the league's media rights money would be more profitable long-term? Remember, the NBA needs 23 of the 30 owners to approve. These massive expansion fees are an incentive, but they're not a guarantee.

There might also be some owners who fear talent dilution. Going from 450 players to 480 isn't dramatic — but it poses a slight risk to quality of play. And despite the high ratings the Knicks and Spurs have produced through the first two games of the Finals, the NBA's current brand of basketball has come under question lately.

But these are modest concerns, not major ones. The sentiment seems to be that the league wants expansion … and it's getting closer.

Seattle has been handling its end of the business from the start. It built a state-of-the-art arena. It proved the city's desire for winter sports when Kraken season tickets sold out within 12 minutes in the team's inaugural year. And the bidding front-runner seemed to have just added a herculean financial partner.

This feels closer than ever. Seattle hasn't had an NBA team in 18 years, but the gates — perhaps with a capital "G" — appear to be opening.

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