The Kings' arena deal appeared to hit a roadblock yesterday, with Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times reporting that Kings owners Joe, Gavin, and George Maloof were disputing that a firm agreement on the arena was in place. The Kings owners felt they shouldn't be responsible for contributing to the arena's pre-development fees, and their concerns resulted in a Maloof spokesman releasing a statement.
"If an arena project cannot be completed by the timeline set by the city," spokesman Eric Rose said. "Then the Kings would be forced to explore all of their options."
NBA commissioner David Stern moved quickly to resolve the issue, telling the Sacramento Bee that the league would step in to advance the initial pre-development payments. While the Kings' full share of those fees is expected to total about $3.26MM, the initial payment is reportedly worth around $200K. According to Stern, the issue of who will pick up the remaining tab will be discussed further at the league's Board of Governors meeting in April.
Over at Sactown Royalty, Tom Ziller has an excellent breakdown of the situation, noting that the $3.2MM+ the Kings owe in pre-development fees is "chump change" for the NBA, but that it would set a terrible precedent for the league to cover the Maloofs' share.