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Kings/Seattle Rumors: Saturday

January 12th, 2013 at 2:49pm CST by Chuck Myron

The fate of the Kings figures to be a hot topic between now and the March 1st deadline to file for relocation. We dedicated a post to all of yesterday's rumors on a potential Kings sale, and there's more where that came from today. Here's the latest.

Another set of local bidders has come forward with interest in buying the team, as Dale Kasler, Ryan Lillis and Tony Bizjak of the Sacramento Bee report. A group of investors, including the new owners of a troubled downtown Sacramento shopping center, say they want to purchase the team and build a $400MM arena on the site of the shopping center. The same architectural and engineering firm that designed the Barclays Center in Brooklyn has already drawn up plans for the arena, according to the Bee report.
Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times reported that the Maloofs would like to retain some decision-making role if they sell the team, as we passed along yesterday, and Ric Bucher of 95.7 The Game hears that the Kings owners are threatening to take a "sweetheart deal" to move the team to Anaheim if potential buyers won't give them the control they want (Sulia link). Bucher cautions that such a move could involve the Maloofs pursuing a messy antitrust suit if the Lakers try to prevent them from setting up shop in Southern California.
Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson thinks a Sacramento buyer would only have to pony up between $425MM and $450MM, as opposed to the rumored $500MM to $525MM asking price for the Seattle group. That's because there would be no relocation fee, and local ownership could assume a $77MM loan the city of Sacramento granted to the Maloofs, as Sam Amick of USA Today details.
Phil Jackson keeps saying he won't coach again, but his son Charlie is close friends with Chris Hansen, the investor at the forefront of Seattle's bid for the Kings, notes Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. Nonetheless, Jackson is ignoring questions about whether he would become a part of the team if Hansen's group bought it. "Some things are too premature to even talk about," Jackson said.
Answering a question about whether the Lakers would pursue Tyreke Evans, HoopsWorld's Steve Kyler said the Kings won't be taking on payroll during sale negotiations, which would limit their ability to swing a trade (Twitter link). Yesterday, Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors examined Evans' trade candidacy, surmising that it wouldn't be a surprise to see the fourth-year guard remain in Sacramento this season.

Latest On Kings, Potential Move

September 2nd, 2012 at 10:15am CST by Chuck Myron

SUNDAY, 10:15am: Mike Gruss of The Virginian-Pilot examines how five highly sought-after retail stores are an indicator of whether a market is likely to be suitable for the NBA. His research shows that the fewer Apple, Ikea, Anthropologie, Crate & Barrel and Brooks Brothers stores located in a market reflects an area less likely to be able to support an NBA franchise.

Simply put, these particular companies avoid areas where they believe consumers do not have enough money to spend at their stores. Gruss contends that if these stores won't come to a particular market due to financial concerns, then it is even less likely that a professional franchise would make such a move.

FRIDAY, 6:42pm: The Kings don't appear to be heading to Virginia Beach anytime soon, despite a local report last week that suggested otherwise. Still, an executive from another team told Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com that the general sentiment around the league is that chances are "more and more remote" that the Kings will remain in Sacramento (Twitter link). Howard-Cooper isn't sold on that idea, and says Sacramento may still win out in the end since the Maloof brothers, who own the Kings, face roadblocks between them and any new destination (Twitter link).

Josh Kerns of MyNorthwest.com yesterday passed along a report from Sacramento radio host Carmichael Dave that the Maloofs rejected a recent bid by investor Chris Hansen of upwards of $400MM to buy the Kings. Hansen, who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, has been the primary force behind an effort to attract an NBA team and build a new arena in Seattle. Earlier this week Hansen purchased an $8MM piece of land in Seattle that he plans to use for the arena. That gives him all the land he's said he'd need for the project, according to Nick Eaton of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Howard-Cooper believes Anaheim, where the Kings almost moved in 2011, is still in play, and says the 20-year local TV deal between the Lakers and Time Warner Cable that kicks in for the Lakers this season could help Anaheim's case. Former Lakers broadcasters Fox Sports West and KCAL-TV could use the Kings as replacement programming (Twitter links).