Houston is still the league’s preferred landing spot for the Sun, according to sources familiar with the sale. Houston’s expansion bid, led by Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta—who is currently serving as the Trump Administration’s ambassador to Italy—was reportedly short of the $250 million expansion fee paid by Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia. However, if Fertitta is willing to pay the sale price—which now starts at $325 million after news of Pagliuca’s deal became public—plus a relocation fee to expedite the process of getting a team, the league would favor that deal, one source familiar with the sale told FOS. ...............Because there was no expansion bid from Pagliuca or any other Boston-based group in the most recent expansion process, the league has said it will prioritize the nine cities that lost out on expansion teams to Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia. One of those is Houston.