City of Seattle

6:15pm: The earliest a decision will be made would be the first week in May, Stern told reporters, including Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times. The joint committees reviewing the bids will likely convene again next week after the Board of Governors meeting this weekend. Next week's meeting is likely when the committee recommendation will be made (All Twitter links). 

6:00pm: Despite commissioner David Stern's insistence that the league will not expand, that issue isn't off the table, says NBA Board of Governors chairman Peter Holt. The Spurs owner adds that there's been no down payment made by the Sacramento group, presumably referring to the $30MM non-refundable payment Seattle's group made to the Maloofs. Chris Daniels of KING-TV in Seattle tweets the news.

4:15pm: A source close to the situation tells Tony Bizjak of the Sacramento Bee that Sacramento's bid for the Kings is a "non-binding term sheet." The source tells the Bee that the bid would require the Maloofs to terminate its agreement with the Seattle group before the NBA's Board of Governors vote on it, at which point the Sacramento group would negotiate a final, binding offer for the franchise.

Predictably, the Maloof family doesn't sound entirely on board with that idea. The Bee reports that the Maloofs, in a letter to the NBA, expressed a desire to move forward with the Seattle agreement.

3:07pm: This week's NBA's ownership meetings have begun, which means discussions that will determine the fate of the Kings are underway. In advance of the meetings, the Vivek Ranadive-led group seeking to buy the team and keep it in Sacramento submitted its official bid to purchase the team, according to Ryan Lillis of the Sacramento Bee.

The Sacramento bid, along with the offer made by Chris Hansen's Seattle group, will be reviewed today by a handful of NBA owners that are members of the league's relocation and finance committees. The 12-owner committee will eventually forward a recommendation to the league's full Board of Governors, which includes all 30 team owners. As Ken Berger of CBSSports.com explains, the Board of Governors will meet tomorrow and Friday, although no formal vote is expected this week (Twitter links).

Here are a few more of today's notes and links related to Seattle, Sacramento, and the Kings:

• Lillis notes in his report that the amount of Sacramento's bid was not revealed. Based on yesterday's reports, it sounds as if it may not match Seattle's increased offer dollar for dollar.
• According to Ric Bucher of 95.7 The Game (Sulia link), one reason the vote is being delayed is because the committee will need more team to evaluate which group will have the ability to build a new arena more quickly. Other factors are being vetted as well, but the arena issue could be a big one, says Bucher.
• Hansen has completed deals to purchase all the land required for Seattle's proposed arena, according to Chris Daniels of KING-TV.
• Ken Benson of the New York Times explains how Ranadive's influence in India could be a boon for the NBA if Sacramento keeps the Kings.

Seattle mayor Mike McGinn said that he has been informed that there will be no vote regarding the fate of the Kings taken this week when the NBA Board of Governors meets in New York City, reports Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times.  A combination of the NBA's relocation and finance committees are meeting in New York tomorrow and the full Board of Governors (the owners of the 30 NBA teams) will be meeting on Thursday and Friday.

Tony Bizjak and Dale Kasler of the Sacramento Bee confirm Condotta's report, adding that while no reason was given for the postponement, David Stern did hint a few weeks back that a decision may not be made by this week.  Per the Bee, Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson indicated the city's bid is being finalized and will be ready by tomorrow's NBA meetings.  Johnson expressed confidence that the bid "can win favor with both the NBA and the Maloof family," but also implied that it will not match the increased offer Seattle's group announced Friday night. 

Votes on the approval of sale and relocation were expected to happen this week, but McGinn said he was told by Stern himself not to expect a decision by Friday. As we outlined yesterday, once it does happen, it will take the votes of 23 of 30 owners to approve the sale of the Kings to the group led by Seattle investor Chris Hansen and the votes of 16 of 30 owners to approve the request to relocate the team.

Despite this latest delay, Seattle continues to move forward with their plans.  According to King TV's Chris Daniels, McGinn also announced on Tuesday that a formal deal for Key Arena has been struck between the city and Hansen's group that calls for a minimum of $3MM in permanent investments and guarantees $2MM more annually, which will bump to $750,000 should the arena add an NHL team.  The investments will enable seating and technology upgrades along with locker room and club improvements.  (Twitter links located here) 

After months of back-and-forth jostling, it's finally time for the NBA owners to vote on the sale of the Kings to the group backed by Seattle investor Chris Hansen.  Hansen needs 23 of 30 votes to secure the sale and we know that he has at least one in the Maloofs.  The Sacramento side, meanwhile, needs eight no votes to block the transaction.  If the sale goes through, all Hansen needs is a simple majority of 16 votes to move the club to Seattle.  If Hansen gets denied the overall sale, however, it could create an opening for Sacramento, as detailed by NBA.com's David Aldridge.  

If the Seattle deal is rejected, Sacramento stands ready with a counteroffer to the Maloofs that may match the parameters of the Seattle offer. Some sources involved in the discussions say it does but others say it doesn't.  Regardless, a source indicated that the Maloofs would be willing to sign a backup offer with the Sacramento-led Vivek Ranadive group if the Hansen deal was rejected by the NBA.

Factors like television market size can come into play in the approval process, but there are three major factors that will influence the decision, according to Aldridge.  

• The key issue is the arena, as in, which side can get the building finished first and closest to the estimated price tag.  There are significant hurdles on both sides.  The new Seattle arena – which would be heavily financed by Hansen – might not be ready until 2017, which means that the team would have to play in Key Arena for longer than the previously estimated two year span.  The $448MM proposed arena in Sacramento would see $250MM from taxpayers, but there's still the matter of securing the land necessary and purchasing it, and that could cost more than estimated in total.
• There's also a matter of a $30MM non-refundable deposit that the Maloofs have secured from Hansen but have yet to receive from Ranadive's team.  It's still unknown whether the Sacramento group will take that plunge.  
• Finally, the league's new revenue sharing system will affect the franchise differently, depending on where it lands.  If the Kings stay in Sacramento, league sources believe the team will continue to take in money from the pool.  If the Kings move to Seattle, those sources believe the team will become a revenue payer, which obviously benefits the league more.

On the surface, it would appear that the cards are stacked against Sacramento.  However, there is always the wild card of commissioner David Stern, who is said to be helping the Sacramento group behind the scenes.  The Maloofs, who still want to make the deal happen with Hansen, believe that Stern has gone above and beyond in his efforts to keep the Kings where they are.  Stern has backed off and let franchises move in the past, like when the Sonics were moved to Oklahoma City, but has also prevented sales that would have lead to relocation, like the Hornets' proposed sale to Larry Ellison, who probably would have brought them to San Jose.  

As it stands, Hansen probably has the upper hand, but Stern could shift things to Sacramento's side in a hurry if he can help secure more financing for them.

In a few days, the NBA Board of Governors will meet to decide the fate of the Kings, though a decision may not come until a while after the meeting is finished. In the meantime, there's plenty of news as Sacramento and Seattle jockey for position.

• Christine Willmsen and Steve Miletich of The Seattle Times profile Chris Hansen, the lead investor in Seattle's effort to land the Kings. The story mentions Hansen's friendship with Celtics co-owner Irv Grousbeck, and Chris Daniels of KING-TV in Seattle points out that Irv's son, Wyc Grousbeck, sits on the joint committee currently weighing the competing Kings bids (Twitter links).
• If there's a difference in the size of the bids, the league doesn't necessarily have to go with the larger one, sports legal expert Michael McCann tells Times scribe Bob Condotta.
• Still, there's little doubt the Sacramento bidders for the Kings will match Seattle's $25MM addition to its bid, writes Marcos Breton of the Sacramento Bee, who argues that there's no compelling reason for the league to allow the team to leave a supportive market.
• Commissioner David Stern insists expansion isn't on the table, but it should be, opines Ailene Voisin of The Bee.

SATURDAY, 10:38pm: According to Tony Bizjak, Dale Kasler, and Ryan Lillis of the Sacramento Bee, the Sacramento group refrained from delivering a counter to the Seattle investors' increased offer, looking at it as a move of desperation that "isn't much money in the grand scheme of things" and downplaying the notion that it will do anything to ultimately sway the NBA's decision.   

FRIDAY, 11:21pm: Hansen has released a brief statement on the Seattle bidders' website.

"While we already have a binding purchase agreement to purchase the controlling interest in the team, the Seattle Ownership Group has elected to voluntarily raise its purchase price as a sign of our commitment to bring basketball back to our City and our high degree of confidence in our Arena plan, our financing plan, the economic strength of the Seattle market, individual and corporate support for the team and, most importantly, the future of the NBA," the statement reads in part.

11:09pm: Seattle's group has officially upped its offer by $25MM, a source tells Ian Thomsen of SI.com (Twitter link).

10:54pm: It's unlikely the NBA will allow a "bidding war," Bruski hears (Twitter link).

8:22pm: The Seattle investors are contemplating upping their bid by $25MM in reaction to the competition from Sacramento, tweets Tony Bizjak of the Sacramento Bee.

6:40pm: The Sacramento bidders have no plans of adhering to the Maloofs' deadline, according to Sam Amick of USA Today, who adds that the deadline primarily signals the Maloofs' acknowledgement that the league may block their move to Seattle. Meanwhile, the Sacramento group has withdrawn its claim to minority owner Bob Cook's 7% share of the team. The bidders were operating via minority owner Dave Luchetti, who had the right to exercise the right of first refusal to deny the share's sale to Hansen's group. Since the league will ultimately vote up or down on any sale of the 7% stake, this move simply shows the Sacramento group's desire to focus on the larger issue of the majority stake, Amick explains. 

5:20pm: The Maloofs still prefer to sell to Chris Hansen's group, and regard the Sacramento bid as a backup offer that they only intend to accept if the NBA rejects the Hansen sale, Aldridge writes. 

4:49pm: Both the NBA and the Sacramento group are operating on their own timelines at the moment, sources tell Aaron Bruski of NBCSports.com (Twitter link).

3:54pm: The Maloofs have agreed to give the Sacramento group additional time beyond today's 5:00pm deadline to submit a competing offer, reports TNT's David Aldridge (via Twitter). Of course, as noted below, the Maloofs' deadline may ultimately not matter a whole lot, since the NBA isn't adhering to it.

3:47pm: The Sacramento investment group attempting to buy the Kings has informed the NBA that it will match the offer made by Chris Hansen's Seattle group, according to Ryan Lillis of the Sacramento Bee (via Twitter). Sam Amick of USA Today first reported last night that the Sacramento group was expected to match the Seattle offer.

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7:41pm: Earlier, Tony Bizjak of the Sacramento Bee (via Twitter) said he doesn't expect any announcement to be made after Wednesday's meeting and thinks that the Board of Governors may vote on the Seattle bid on Thursday or Friday.

6:07pm: Chris Daniels of King5.com says that the NBA has extended the Board of Governors meeting by one day, with a special committee meeting regarding the Kings to be held this upcoming Wednesday. Daniels adds that both the Sacramento and Seattle investment groups have not been invited, and that the Kings situation will be addressed in a press conference scheduled for next Friday (All Twitter Links).

This news comes one day after several developments on the potential sale of the Kings, notably the decision by the Seattle investors to increase their offer by $25MM after the Sacramento investment group pledged to match their previous offer. We also heard yesterday of the unlikelihood that the NBA will allow a bidding war (Twitter link), so Wednesday's meeting appears to be the next definitive step toward determining the future of the Kings franchise.

The Maloofs' deadline for Sacramento's investment group to submit a formal offer for the Kings will arrive later this afternoon. While various reports have suggested that deadline is of no real consequence, it still appears as if the group will submit its final offer to the NBA and the Maloofs today. As we wait for news on Sacramento's offer, let's check in on the latest updates on the Kings saga….

• Sources close to the Maloof family indicated to Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee that if the Sacramento group submits a matching offer that satisfies the NBA's other owners, the Maloofs will "embrace" keeping the Kings in Sacramento.
• The Sacramento group has yet to deliver a formal bid to the Maloofs or the NBA, which must happen to give the league real cause to reject the sale to Chris Hansen's Seattle group. One source told Voisin: "We're giving Sacramento every opportunity to keep the team, but they keep blowing every deadline. We haven't seen anything in writing."
• Regardless of whether the Kings ultimately end up, the Maloofs are eager to move on, according to Voisin, who says the family is interested in pursuing an NHL or MLB franchise. Voisin reports that the Maloofs have met with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and have looked into buying an NHL franchise for months, with Las Vegas as one possible destination. We had heard previously that if the Seattle deal is shot down by the NBA's Board of Governors, the Maloofs could decide to regroup and not immediately sell to another group. However, Voisin's report seems to suggest the family wants some resolution one way or another.
• Former Facebook executive Chris Kelly has joined the Sacramento group bidding for the Kings, according to Ryan Lillis and Dale Kasler of the Sacramento Bee.
• A King County judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the Seattle investment group, saying the case is not yet ripe, tweets Chris Daniels of KING TV. The suit alleged that Seattle's arena proposal violated the terms of Initivate 91, which places restricitons on sports subsidies in the city. The suit figures to resurface if and when the arena comes closer to construction.
• Sacramento will publish its Notice of Preparation for the arena today, which will start 30 days of public review, tweets Aaron Bruski of NBCSports.com.

It's difficult to get a sense of who the frontrunner is in the tug of war over the Kings between Sacramento and Seattle. Yesterday's updates seemed to indicate that momentum was in Seattle's corner, but there's conflicting news today, as we detail: 

• Sacramento's bidders will fully match Seattle's $341MM price for the Maloofs' 65% stake in the team, USA Today's Sam Amick hears. The bidders initially tried to come in $30MM short, based on the non-refundable payment Seattle investors made as part of their agreement to buy the team, but when the league told them that strategy wouldn't work, Sacramento's group agreed to add the $30MM.
• The Maloofs are concerned that Chris Hansen, the primary investor in Seattle's bid, may sue them if their purchase agreement falls through and Hansen winds up losing money in the ordeal, Amick adds in the same piece, which points to David Stern's influence behind Sacramento's effort.

Earlier updates:

• A group of 27 millionaires will join Sacramento's bid, but they're not going to be major investors in the effort, reports Nick Monacelli of News10 in Sacramento (Twitterlinks).
• The Sacramento bidders, as a whole, are more focused on the NBA's protocol for the process than the Maloofs' deadline, though they're not ignoring it, Monacelli tweets.
• The league committee weighing the competing bids for the Kings will recommend keeping the team in Sacramento as long as that city's investors match "the essential elements" of Seattle's offer, according to Ric Bucher of 95.7 The Game (Sulia link). Vivek Ranadive, who took over last month as the principal financial backer of the Sacramento effort, has been a "game changer," Bucher writes.
• Ranadive's impressiveness is second only to the one Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson has made on owners, many of whom want Johnson to work in the league office, as Bucher also notes.
• Speaking to reporters last night in Sacramento, Johnson reiterated multiple times that money isn't expected to be a problem when it comes to Sacramento's offer for the Kings (video link via News10).
• The NBA has asked the Sacramento group to cover the $30MM non-refundable payment that Seattle investors made as part of their deal to buy the controlling interest in the Kings from the Maloof family, reports Daniel Kaplan of Sports Business Daily. Ranadive and company are expected to submit their final offer to the NBA tomorrow, presumably ahead of the Maloofs' deadline, and announce additional investors as well, according to Kaplan.
• A pair of attorneys threatening to sue the city of Sacramento over its contribution to a new arena say the city has understated the amount of money it's putting into the project, report Ryan Lillis and Dale Kasler of The Sacramento Bee.

The Maloof family, principal owners of the Kings, made headlines earlier today when they set a Friday deadline for the Sacramento bidders, and there's plenty more on the tug-of-war over the Kings this evening. Here's what we know:

• Commissioner David Stern is pushing Sacramento's bid along and personally seeking new investors, sources tell Chris Daniels of King 5 News in Seattle. That puts him at odds with several owners who have expressed their willingness to approve the team's proposed move to Seattle, according to Daniels.
• Ron Burkle pulled out of Sacramento's bidding group this week presumably because of the conflict regarding his stake in the Relativity Sports agency, but Daniels hears Burkle wasn't that excited about the effort to begin with.
• Daniels also hears the second half of Sacramento's presentation before NBA owners last week fell flat, and that it was based largely on vision rather than facts. A source tells Daniels that Sacramento's offer is still "way off" the $341MM price set when the Seattle group agreed to purchase the team earlier this year.
• Chris Hansen, the point man in Seattle's bid, used his presentation to outline an agreement with the city of Seattle to operate Key Arena while a new building is under construction, Daniels reports. That new arena could open as soon as 2015, Hansen claimed, while also revealing a potential regional televsion deal worth in excess of $40MM a year, much more than a similar deal would be worth in the Sacramento market.
• The Maloofs' deadline for Sacramento is of no real consequence, writes Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com (Sulia link).

6:25pm: The Maloofs want the Sacramento bidders to include a $30MM non-refundable down payment in their bid, just like the one the Seattle investors paid, according to Sean Cunningham of News10 KXTV in Sacramento (Twitter link). Sources tell fellow News10 reporter Nick Monacelli that Ranadive is willing to cover that payment if necessary (Twitter link).

5:11pm: The current principal owners of the Kings have informed a group of investors seeking to keep the team in Sacramento that they want a binding offer in writing for the team by 5:00pm Pacific Time on Friday, report Tony Bizjak, Ryan Lillis and Dale Kasler of The Sacramento Bee. If the offer doesn't arrive in time or match the $341MM price that the Maloof family has agreed upon for its share of the team with Seattle-based bidders, the Maloofs say they won't have any more talks with the Sacramento group.

Aaron Bruski of NBCSports.com cautions that the league, and not the Maloofs, is in charge of deciding the Kings' next move, and a source downplayed talk of a deadline, characterizing it as a publicity stunt (All four Twitter links). According to The Bee report, the NBA forwarded a statement of interest from the Sacramento bidders to the Maloofs a few weeks ago, but commissioner David Stern said the amount of that offer was well short of the money the Seattle group has ponied up. Yet, more recently, at last week's presentations from both bidding groups, Stern said the size of the offers was no longer an issue. California State Senate President Darrell Steinberg, who spoke in support of Sacramento during its presentation, assured The Bee that the city's offer is equivalent to Seattle's.

While the deadline may have no bearing on whether or not the league approves the sale of the team to the Chris Hansen-led Seattle group and a subsequent move up the coast, it seems as though it may complicate the matter of what happens to the Kings if the league blocks the Hansen sale. Since the NBA is deciding whether to allow that sale, and not simply choosing between the two competing bidders, there's no compulsion for the Maloofs to sell to the Sacramento group. Indeed, there have been whispers that the Maloofs may hold on to the team if they can't sell to Hansen and company.