City of Seattle

Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com argues that while the city of Sacramento faces an uphill battle to keep the Kings, there's also a fair amount of pressure on the group of prospective owners from Seattle. The Kings are the only NBA team on the market for the foreseeable future, and though an NHL team may be obtained for a cheaper price, the Seattle investors, led by Chris Hansen and Howard Ballmer, would prefer a basketball team as the anchor tenant for their arena. That gives the Maloofs leverage to inflate their asking price as Sacramento prepares its counteroffer, Howard-Cooper surmises.

We've got more on Sacramento's bid right here:

• Ron Burkle, the supermarket mogul whose involvement in a push for the Kings two years ago angered the Maloof brothers, is one of two significant investors in the plan Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson is organizing to keep the team in town, reports Sam Amick of USA Today. Fitness company founder Mark Mastrov is the other money man involved.
• In the same piece, Amick passes along commissioner David Stern's acknowledgement that he's been in contact with the Seattle group, even though he's unaware of any sale agreement between those investors and the Maloofs.
• Ryan Lillis of the Sacramento Bee notes that Johnson is also trying to get local business leaders to join a bid for the team as minority partners.

The Kings have been rumored to be Seattle-bound for some time now, but the deal still has a ways to go before it is 100% finalized.  Here's the latest on the Kings..

• Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson will appear in front of the NBA's board of governors to present a competing bid that would prevent the Maloof family from selling the Kings to a group from Seattle, write Ryan Lillis, Dale Kasler, and Tony Bizjak of the Sacramento Bee.  Johnson acknowledges that any plan he brings forth has to include a new arena for the Kings.
• Meanwhile, a new lawsuit has been filed in Seattle attempting to block construction of an arena that could house the Kings, writes Lillis.  The suit cites a 2006 voter-approved initiative that requires the city of Seattle to profit from public investments in sports facilities.
• The NBA needs to take the long view when it comes to relocating teams from good basketball markets, opines Tom Ziller of SB Nation.  Ziller instead suggests that the league should look into an expansion team for Seattle, but that seems far-fetched to me given the current economic climate.
• The Maloofs could save their legacy in Sacramento by selling the team to a local group interested in keeping the team where they are instead of owners who want to move them up the west coast, writes Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee.

A pair of columns yesterday from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports and TNT's David Aldridge featured plenty of details on the Chris Hansen/Steve Ballmer group's bid for the Kings. But the sale of the franchise to the Seattle investment group still appears to be far from a done deal. Here are Tuesday's updates on Sacramento, Seattle, and the Kings:

• Ken Armstrong of the Seattle Times tracks the rise and fall of the Maloof family's ownership of the Kings, saying that should the team move north, Seattle would be the beneficiary of their downfall.
• The goal of Sacramento-based investors hoping to buy the Kings is to force the NBA's hand, writes Sam Amick of USA Today. While virtually all the factors fall in favor of the Seattle group, Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson and local investors hope to come up with the sort of capital that would make it hard for David Stern and the NBA to turn them away.
• According to Amick, John Kehriotis, who currently owns 12% of the Kings, has been in talks with one of the local groups organizing an offer for the franchise. Mark Mastrov is also involved in local efforts, though the interest of Ron Burkle has been overstated, says Amick.
• Wojnarowski's report, which indicated that the Seattle group intended to buy 65% of the franchise, actually gave some hope to Sacramento groups, according to Amick. A 65% portion of $525MM would only be about $341MM, which is much lower than the $425-450MM that Johnson estimated he'd need to raise to make a local bid for the team.
• Johnson said this morning that he has received approval from Stern to present an offer for the Kings directly to the league's Board of Governors, reports Ryan Lillis of the Sacramento Bee. A potential deal must include a new arena and local partners, according to Johnson, who says he wants this "to be the final act of a saga that's gone on for far too long."
• AEG, the entertainment company that was involved in last year's bid for a new Sacramento arena, is still interested in a partnership, according to Tony Bizjak of the Sacramento Bee. "We remain committed to the mayor and the city, and we would be more than happy to meet with a potential new owner," an AEG spokesman said.

We kept tabs over the weekend on the rumors surrounding a potential sale of the Sacramento Kings, with separate posts detailing Saturday's and Sunday's updates. It's possible that rumblings about Seattle's pursuit of the franchise could heat up even more this week, as TNT's David Aldridge suggests that Chris Hansen wanted to avoid upstaging the NFL's Seattle Seahawks by making his pursuit of the Kings public before the Seahawks' season ended. With Seattle having been eliminated by the Falcons yesterday in Atlanta, updates could start coming more frequently. Here's what we've heard today:

• Aldridge's column at NBA.com is packed with updates about the Kings' potential move to Seattle, which he portrays as likely to happen. The entire piece is worth a read, but among the highlights: A source tells Aldridge that the Maloofs feel they have "exhausted" their options to keep the Kings in Sacramento and don't believe local investors could match the Seattle group's offer.
• Ron Burkle is one potential buyer who probably has the money, but the Maloof family remains angry with Burkle for publicly declaring his interest in buying the Kings in 2011 when the Maloofs had repeatedly said the team wasn't for sale, according to Aldridge.
• The NBA held a conference call last Tuesday with its relocation committee to outline "a non-binding set of deal points" on a potential sale of the Kings to Hansen's group, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. According to Wojnarowski, the call informed several league owners that the Seattle group would purchase 65% of the Kings — the Maloofs' 53% share, and 12% held by minority owner Bob Hernreich.
• Discussions have continued within the past week to move the sale to the Seattle group forward and ultimately clear the way for the Kings to move to Seattle, says Wojnarowski.
• If the Maloofs do sell to the Seattle group, Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson could try to sway the NBA's Board of Governors to vote against the deal, writes Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. However, Howard-Cooper admits that would be a real uphill battle for Johnson.

There has been no shortage of rumors over the past week about the future of the Sacramento Kings, whose owners the Maloof family are deciding whether or not to sell the team, and whether to do so with a Seattle group or one that will keep the team in Sacramento. Here's our post on all of the rumors on the subject from yesterday, which will continue to pour in today.

• Aaron Bruski of NBCSports.com writes that the Kings' arena proposal is “a model offer of public funds,” citing sources. He adds that if Sacramento's offer to buy the team from the Maloofs is comparable to that of the Seattle group, David Stern would have considerable power to force their hand in taking the former.
• Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com breaks down the Kings' chances to stay in Sacramento in a Sulia post. He writes that, contrary to previous reports, the Maloofs do not have a handshake agreement in place with the Chris Hansen-led group that would move the team to Seattle.
• Howard-Cooper writes that the Maloofs have not closed off talks with potential buyers outside of the Hansen group, an encouraging sign for those hoping to keep the Kings in Sacramento. Sacramento officials are still mobilizing, but there is a sense that the city has a "legitimate shot" at keeping their team.
• Howard-Cooper cautions that the wild card in these negotiations is the family dynamic of the Maloofs, who would almost certainly be out of the NBA for good if they sold the Kings. He notes that previous rumors about the Maloofs wanting to retain some kind of say in the running of the team after selling their majority stake are "laughable."

Since Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported on Wednesday that the Maloof family was "finalizing an agreement" to sell the Kings to a Seattle-based investment group, plenty of reports have suggested it's premature to say that a deal is on the verge of completion. Still, talks definitely appear to be taking place. Here's the latest on the Kings and a potential move to Seattle:

• Sam Amick of USA Today tweets that Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson does not believe the city's window for keeping the Kings has closed.
• Amick adds that Johnson is rounding up sources of money to put together an offer comparable to the one the Maloofs have on the table from the Seattle group.

Earlier updates:

• Magic Johnson, who was part of Mark Mastrov's bid to buy the Warriors, won't be involved in Mastrov's play for the Kings, according to Scott-Howard Cooper of NBA.com (via Sulia).
• Besides Mastrov, Sleep Train CEO Dale Carlsen may also be interesting in bidding on the Kings to help keep them in Sacramento, tweets Dale Kasler of the Sacramento Bee.

• Mark Mastrov, who lost out to Joe Lacob and Peter Guber in the bidding for the Warriors, is interested in buying the Kings and keeping them in Sacramento, reports Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. "Definitely, there've been conversations," said Mastrov, the founder of 24-Hour Fitness. "Definitely there's interest in acquiring the team and keeping it in Sacramento."
• Berger hears from sources that Mastrov has made the Maloofs a formal offer, though the CBSSports.com scribe notes that Mastrov, who has a net worth estimated at $350MM, likely wouldn't be able to match the Seattle group dollar for dollar.
• Sam Amick of USA Today reports that Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson has spent much of the last month attempting to identify potential buyers that would keep the Kings in Sacramento. According to Amick, the only publicly-known interested party is Ron Burkle, supermarket magnate and part-owner of the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins. A Sacramento-based is very unlikely to beat the Seattle group in a bidding war, says Amick.
• The Kings aren't commenting on a report that suggests a sale to the Seattle group is a "done deal," according to the Sacramento Bee. The Bee report notes that Richard Benvenuti, a limited partner of the franchise, hasn't been informed of any sale — as we heard earlier this week, minority partners must be told before any agreement is finalized. It was Matt Steinmetz of CSNBayArea.com (via Sulia) that said the deal was "done" with a price tag of $525MM.
• According to Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times, the Maloofs still want to have a say in how the franchise is run, even if they sell it to Chris Hansen's Seattle group. Wojnarowski's initial report indicated that the Maloofs would likely retain a small percentage of the team in any sale, but Woj suggested it wouldn't be enough to allow them a say in how the club is run.
• Condotta's source tells him that a sale decision would go beyond pure dollars and cents for the Maloofs, since being involved in the NBA has been very important to the family.
• Ryan Lillis, Dale Kasler, and Tony Bizjak of the Sacramento Bee hear from a source close to the Maloofs that talks between Kings ownership and the Seattle group are in the "early stages." A formal offer has not yet been made, though the Bee's sources expect that one is forthcoming.
• Sacramento fans and players, including Aaron Brooks, Isaiah Thomas, and Jason Thompson weighed in on the possibility of the Kings leaving town in an Associated Press report (link via USA Today).

Earlier Thursday, Sacramento Kings co-owner George Maloof stated that the reported sale to Chris Hansen's Seattle-based group was not close. Aaron Bruski of NBCSports.com tweets that Wednesday's reports of an imminent sale continue to be premature, citing sources close to the negotiations.

Speaking at a public event on Thursday in Washington, D.C., NBA commissioner David Stern addressed the Kings' situation. Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today tweets that Stern does not plan to get personally involved in the negotiation or potential relocation process, leaving those responsibilities to the NBA's board of governors. Zillgitt adds that Stern believes an ownership group committed to keeping the Kings in Sacramento should be given a fair chance to match the offer made by the Seattle group.

Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com spoke to Kings head coach Keith Smart, who understands that the uncertainty of the team's ownership status could pose a distraction for the players and the coaching staff. However, Smart believes the players will be able to tune out the speculation.