The latest major development in the Sacramento Kings saga came on Saturday, when ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst reported that the Maloof family had a backup plan in place if the NBA shot down its sale of the Kings to a Seattle investment group. According to Windhorst, the Maloofs intended to sell a smaller share of the franchise to Chris Hansen's and Steve Ballmer's group, with the Kings owners apparently uninterested in selling to the Sacramento group led by Vivek Ranadive.
According to Tony Bizjak, Dale Kasler, and Ryan Lillis of the Sacramento Bee, however, the Maloofs haven't entirely closed the door on the Sacramento possibility. The Bee reports that the Maloofs "still have that option" (of selling to the Sacramento group), noting that the family was receiving updates from the NBA on the group's efforts as recently as this weekend. Nonetheless, the current Kings owners would still prefer to complete their deal with the Seattle group.
The NBA's relocation committee is scheduled to have a conference call today, and it's uncertain whether the committee will reconsider its recommendation not to allow the Kings to relocate. As long as that stance remains the same, it's unlikely that the Seattle group's increased efforts to create a bidding war will make a difference, as Sam Amick of USA Today writes. All along, commissioner David Stern has refused to endorse a bidding war or to pit the two cities against one another.
With the NBA's Board of Governors set to meet later this week to discuss and vote on the Kings' potential sale and relocation, Tom Ziller of SBNation.com argues giving Seattle an expansion team remains the most fair and logical solution, though it doesn't appear to be an option the league is seriously considering at the moment.