Could local investor want the Pistons?

The Pistons might not officially be for sale, but already a hot rumor about the next owner has started buzzing.

And it isn't Red Wings/Tigers owner Mike Ilitch. Or Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos. Or a member of the Ford family.

Or even Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, in a wild franchise swap.

But there is a Cavaliers tie.

The person is David Katzman, a former business associate with Gilbert at Livonia-based Quicken Loans/Rock Financial and Fathead, and a former vice chairman of the Cavs.

Katzman is the founder and managing partner of Camelot Venture Group, a Farmington Hills-based private investment firm that, according to its Web site, deals primarily in online direct-to-consumer companies, technology and financial services. He is listed as a member of several companies' boards of directors. He attended Michigan State, earning a degree in accounting and finance, and Detroit College of Law.

In 2005, when Gilbert purchased the Cavs, Katzman acquired a 15% share for an estimated $50 million. He also took charge of the team's business operations, and, according to the Camelot site, revenues more than doubled the past four years. (That's a lot of LeBron James gear!)

Since at least the summer, Katzman has been trying to sell his share of the Cavs to a series of Chinese investors. In December, an agreement was announced -- with a price tag estimated as high as $70 million -- with Chinese investor Albert Hung. The deal, though, has not been finalized, NBA spokesman Tim Frank wrote in an e-mail Saturday.

Katzman could not purchase the Pistons if he still owned a part of the Cavs. If he did purchase the team, though, a sale could be approved by the NBA quicker than normal because he already has been vetted as a previous owner.

Phone calls and e-mails to Katzman's Camelot office were not returned Saturday. Palace Sports & Entertainment president Tom Wilson said at Saturday night's Pistons-Nets game at the Palace that if Katzman had been in contact with the team's owners, he was not aware of it.

Last month, Karen Davidson, the widow of longtime Pistons majority owner Bill Davidson, revealed that she was considering selling the Pistons and possibly Palace Sports & Entertainment, the umbrella arm that also owns the Palace and DTE Energy Music Theatre and operates Meadow Brook Music Festival.

Forbes magazine, which annually ranks the value of NBA franchises, places the Pistons' worth at $479 million, fourth-highest in the 30-team league. Next come the Cavaliers at $476 million.

Palace Sports & Entertainment received good news Friday when the Tampa Bay Lightning was sold to a Boston financier and minority owner of the Red Sox. Because of the tight economy, when PS&E sold the Lightning in 2008, it still held the note. Wilson said the Lightning's latest sale would take care of the issue.

This past week, NBA officials told the Free Press that the team had not been put up for sale.