There haven't been many concrete updates on the status of the Kings sale lately, as a Sacramento group appears to still be putting together a counter-offer. But rumors, rumblings, and speculation continue to trickle in, so we'll round up today's links related to Sacramento, Seattle, and the Kings right here:
- If a Ron Burkle/Mark Mastrov-led group can finalize an ownership group whose bid for the Kings values the franchise at over $525MM, Sacramento should have a fighting chance to keep the team, writes Steve Kyler of Hoops World.
- According to Kyler, Sacramento's counter-offer would have to include more than just a big-money bid — the group would have to present a concrete plan for ways to increase team revenues in Sacramento, since a move to Seattle is expected to yield major corporate advertisers and a big TV deal.
- Tom Ziller of SBNation.com looks back at the SuperSonics' move to Oklahoma City, noting that Clay Bennett had more time and fewer roadblocks than Chris Hansen does, and was still tied up in legal proceedings for a few months. If the "right of first refusal" issue becomes a real factor, things could get messy, says Ziller.
- Ziller argues that David Stern's best move is to open up a discussion about keeping the Kings in Sacramento and creating a new expansion team in Seattle.