City of Seattle

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. 

If the Sacramento investment group angling to buy the Kings is successful, business magnate Ron Burkle will no longer be a part of team ownership, but the group added another big name today. Sacramento developer Mark Friedman has joined the bid for the Kings, according to Dale Kasler and Ryan Lillis of the Sacramento Bee.

Friedman will be a part of the bid to buy the Kings and build a new arena, as well as participating in the non-arena development that has been proposed for the Downtown Plaza site. He indicated to the Bee that he has been considering joining the bid for some time, having talked to lead investors Mark Mastrov and Vivek Ranadive over the last "couple of months." While Friedman didn't specify how much he's investing in the project, he said his commitment would be "substantial."

We shared a few more of the latest updates on the Kings saga earlier today.

We're a little over a week away from this year's NBA's Board of Governors meetings, which will be crucial for the future of basketball in both Sacramento and Seattle, as the league's owners consider whether or not to approve the sale of the Kings to Chris Hansen's Seattle group. As a final decision continues to inch closer, let's check in on the latest developments in the saga:

• The removal of Ron Burkle from the potential Sacramento ownership group isn't viewed as a major factor, since his proposed contribution to the team and arena was relatively small, says Aaron Bruski of NBCSports.com (Twitter link). Burkle's contribution and participation have "barely changed," according to Bruski (Twitter link).
• Even in a smaller role, Burkle is considered a vital participant in the development around the proposed arena, according to Dale Kasler, Ryan Lillis, and Tony Bizjak of the Sacramento Bee.
• With Burkle taking a back seat, the Jacobs family's proposed stake in the team figures to increase. But since the NBA is confident that any of the potential investors could carry the bid on their own, shifting smaller amounts from one to another isn't a concern, says Bruski (Twitter links).
• Although it's not expected to be the deciding factor in the NBA's decision, Vivek Ranadive's presence in the Sacramento group, and his potential make an impact in India, makes him a "game-changer," one source tells Bruski (Twitter link).
• Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee has more on Ranadive and the NBA's interest in India.
• Tom Ziller of SBNation.com takes a look at how, in the future, the league can avoid another situation that pits two cities against one another in direct competition for an NBA franchise.

5:36pm: Per NBA.com's David Aldridge, Burkle will not be directly linked with the building of a downtown arena for the Kings, but rather will only be involved in the economic development of the surrounding area.  Aldridge adds that the "conflict" over Burkle's small stake came up at last week's meeting in New York City.  Despite Burkle's stake being minimal, this development will increase the chances of a successful sale to the Sacramento group if the league rejects the Seattle bid because the Maloof's were uninterested in selling to Burkle "in any form."  Aldridge speculates that Jacobs could step in and fill the void left by Burkle's departure from the group. (Aldridge Twitter links here)

Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today reminds us, via Twitter, that Burkle cannot be involved with the Kings for the same reason that Jay-Z would have to divest his ownership stake in the Nets if his newly formed agency began to represent NBA players.  Here is the statement from the NBA, courtesy of Sports Business Journal's Liz Mullen on Twitter:

"Ron Burkle is no longer part of the Sacramento group because his ownership interest in Relativity Media which has a division that represents NBA players – would violate NBA rules."

3:44pm: Ron Burkle, one of the investors in the Sacramento group trying to keep the Kings in the city, won't take an ownership stake in the franchise if Sacramento keeps the team, according to Dale Kasler and Ryan Lillis of the Sacramento Bee. Due to a conflict of interest, Burkle will instead focus exclusively on building a downtown arena for the team.

A source tells Kasler and Lillis that NBA officials expressed concern about a potential conflict of interest for Burkle last week, since he is a part-owner of Relativity Sports. Relativity, the home of prominent NBA agents Dan Fegan and Happy Walters, represents Dwight Howard, Amare Stoudemire, and John Wall, among other NBA stars.

With Burkle removed from the ownership picture, Mark Mastrov, Vivek Ranadive, and the Jacobs family (led by Paul Jacobs) will head the group. According to Sam Amick of USA Today (via Twitter), the development doesn't hurt Sacramento's pitch to the NBA; in fact, it could be a positive sign for Sacramento that the league went to "great lengths" to resolve the potential conflict.