Actually, I think the performance of Seattle's counsel is more of a reflection of strategy and motivation than of competence. This action has been heavily motivated by publicity and probably spite. Their strategy is designed more around politics than law. They wanted their stuff leaked, because what they really want from all of this is to make themselves look good to the Sonics supporters, keep themselves from looking impotent, and make the PBC look like a bunch of pirates, so the city of Seattle doesn't look like it lost a pro team on its own merit. An actual win for them would just be a bonus.

On the other hand, the PBC needs the win or they risk losing a lot of money for two years, before they even have a chance at seeing positive cash flow. So, they actually had no motivation to release any of their arguments or evidence before it was legally required of them. Doing so would just be tipping their hand. What we're really seeing is not a match up of good versus bad lawyers, but politicians versus businessmen and the differences in capital between their two fields.