City of Seattle Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Potential Kings Sale Could Impact Trades

January 10th, 2013 at 5:31pm CST by Sean Highkin

On Wednesday, Yahoo! Sports reported that the Maloof family was in talks to sell the Sacramento Kings to a Seattle-based ownership group led by investor Chris Hansen. While the status of the deal is still up in the air, Grantland's Zach Lowe examines how the potential sale could affect the Kings' willingness to make trades as the deadline approaches.

Lowe writes that executives around the league believe the Kings will still be willing trade partners, despite the complications that may arise in the event of an ownership transfer. He believes there is a unanimous belief within the organization that DeMarcus Cousins, despite his recent troubles, is considered off-limits in any trade discussions.

The three players beyond Cousins that Lowe points to as potential pieces the Kings could move are Tyreke Evans, Jason Thompson, and Francisco Garcia. Lowe suggests that these and other players could be turned into a package for Rudy Gay.

Lowe also speculates about the status of Evans, who is headed to restricted free agency after the 2012/13 season. He writes that Evans may have a similar experience in free agency to that of O.J. Mayo, who signed a two-year contract with the Mavericks when no long-term deal presented itself.

Maloof: Deal To Sell Kings “Not Close”

January 10th, 2013 at 3:32pm CST by Luke Adams

A deal to sell the Kings to a Seattle-based group led by Chris Hansen is "not close," Kings co-owner George Maloof tells Bryan May of ABC News10 in Sacramento (Twitter link). It's the first public comment made by a member of the Maloof family since Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported yesterday that the two sides were nearing an agreement.

While it's a little good news for Kings fans in Sacramento, it hardly means that a sale won't eventually be finalized, as Sactown Royalty notes. The Sactown Royalty piece points out that George was the Maloof brother at the forefront of relocation talks with Virginia Beach and Anaheim, and helped kill the Sacramento arena deal in the spring of 2012.

Multiple reports besides Wojnarowski's have indicated that Kings ownership is in talks with Hansen's group, but based on those reports and Maloof's comments, it appears that discussions may not come reach a resolution (one way or the other) in the immediate future.

Latest On Kings, Seattle

January 10th, 2013 at 10:32am CST by Luke Adams

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports dropped a bombshell yesterday, reporting that the Maloof family was close to selling the Sacramento Kings to a group of Seattle-based investors led by Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer. No agreement has been finalized yet, but Wojnarowski's story and subsequent reports have suggested that the two sides are in discussions. Here are the latest links related to the possible sale of the Kings:

A trio of Sacramento Bee reporters, Tony Bizjak, Dale Kasler and Ryan Lillis, hear from sources that the Maloofs are indeed engaged in talks with the Seattle investment group. However, no formal offer has been made yet, according to the Bee report. Now that Kings ownership seems willing to explore the idea of selling the team, Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson says he hopes to recruit local bidders in an effort to keep the franchise in Sacramento.
The Bee's sources described the talks with Hansen's group as "conceptual" and said that reports suggesting a deal was nearly done may be premature. However, if the Seattle group were to present the Maloofs with a "ridiculous" offer, that could change quickly.
The Maloofs, David Stern, and the NBA owe Sacramento a chance to try to put together a local investment group to keep the Kings, opines Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee.
If the Kings relocate, then it's the Maloofs, rather than the community, that would deserve the blame, says Marcos Breton of the Sacramento Bee.
Shaun Powell also calls out the Maloofs in his latest piece for Sports on Earth.
Kings players are trying to focus on basketball and not get wrapped up in the swirling rumors, writes Matt Kawahara of the Sacramento Bee.

Pacific Notes: Kings, Warriors, Barnes

January 9th, 2013 at 8:33pm CST by Zachary Links

Former Sonics coach George Karl is excited about the prospect of basketball returning to Seattle, but the Nuggets coach feels for the Kings fans in Sacramento, writes Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post. "There’s a part of me that’s disappointed because I think Sacramento, I’ve enjoyed my times in Sacramento. I think Sacramento is a great town. I’m not going to lie, I’m happy that Seattle is going to have a team…but I am disappointed that Sacramento can’t keep their team.” Here's more out of the Pacific Division, including notes on the Kings..

Matt Steinmetz of CSNBayArea (on Twitter) believes that the Warriors will have to ask themselves if parting with Harrison Barnes would be worth it in a trade for the Grizzlies' Rudy Gay. Barnes has tremendous upside and Steinmetz believes that he could possibly be even better than Gay in five years.
Sources say there are still a lot of unknowns and uncertainties before the deal putting the Kings in Seattle is finalized, tweets David Aldridge of TNT. The early returns on tonight's poll show that more than 88% of Hoops Rumors readers believe that the Kings will ultimately end up in Seattle.
Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com (on Twitter) has some criticisms of Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson and his handling of the newest developments on the Kings'.

Poll: Will The Kings Move To Seattle?

January 9th, 2013 at 7:34pm CST by Zachary Links

Earlier today, it was reported that the Maloofs were finalizing an agreement to sell the Kings to a Seattle-based group led by investor Chris Hansen. That's certainly cause for celebration for the basketball widows in Seattle, but the deal isn't as close to being completed as first thought.

We've been through this before with the Maloofs. There have been rumors of the team being sold over the years and in 2012 they were being courted by the city of Virginia Beach. Of course, all of that conjecture has yet to manifest itself in the form of a sale or a move. It seems that most NBA fans outside of Sacramento are on board with the Sonics 2.0, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the transaction will go through. When all is said and done, do you think we will see the Association return to the Emerald City?

Maloofs Close To Selling Kings To Seattle Group

January 9th, 2013 at 6:02pm CST by Luke Adams

6:02pm: The Seattle group has made significant progress in negotiations and is confident a deal will eventually get done, a person who was briefed on the status of the negotiations told Sam Amick of USA Today. If the deal is completed, the team would be called the Sonics.

3:12pm: The Kings' minority owners haven't been told about a sale, according to Amick, who says that minority owners must be told before a sale is completed. Additionally, Amick writes that the NBA has issued a memo to the league's owners warning them not to comment on the Kings' situation.

12:41pm: The Maloofs are finalizing an agreement to sell the Sacramento Kings to a Seattle-based group led by Chris Hansen, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. According to Wojnarowski, the Kings are expected to be sold for about $500MM, which would be a new record, topping the Warriors' 2010 sale price of $450MM. The Seattle group is seeking to relocate the team to the KeyArena for the 2013/14 season.

The deadline for NBA teams to file for relocation for the following season is March 1st, so there would be plenty of time to petition the league for a move to Seattle. Wojnarowski indicates that league officials would work diligently to help the franchise move to Seattle if the sale is finalized.

According to Wojnarowski, the Seattle group hopes to play two seasons in the KeyArena, starting in '13/14, before making the transition into the new arena — progress on that proposed arena has been approved so far by Seattle's City Council.

Daina Falk, the daughter of agent David Falk, had tweeted early this morning that the Kings were being sold to Hansen's group, which includes Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, but later deleted the tweet. A Kings official had since denied that there was any truth to the rumor, according to a Sacramento Bee report. While no agreement has been signed yet, a source describes the deal to Wojnarowski as "first and goal at the one."

Wojnarowski's report comes on the heels of news that the city of Virginia Beach and Comcast-Spectator were unable to reach an agreement with the Maloofs that would have proposed to relocate the Kings to Virginia. At the time, Bruce Rader of WAVY-TV noted that Kings ownerships figured to explore other options, while Tom Ziller of SBNation.com speculated that Seattle rumors were about to heat up.

Assuming the deal is finalized and approved by the NBA, the Maloofs are expected to retain an extremely small percentage of the franchise, says Wojnarowski. However, they wouldn't have any real input or say in the team anymore.

The city of Seattle has, of course, been without an NBA franchise since 2008, when the SuperSonics moved to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder. If the Kings move to Seattle for the 2013/14 season, it will be a victory in the northwest for commissioner David Stern, who was reportedly "determined" to return the NBA to Seattle before retiring in February of 2014.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

No Relocation Deal For Kings, Virginia Beach

January 8th, 2013 at 9:12am CST by Luke Adams

Virginia Beach mayor Will Sessoms announced last week that he was setting a January 7th deadline to reach an agreement with a professional sports team to move to the city. No announcement was made Monday, but Sessoms and Peter Lukko, the president of Comcast Spectacor, are expected to announce today that negotiations to bring a team to Virginia Beach are at a standstill, reports Bruce Rader of WAVY-TV (hat tip to Tom Ziller of Sactown Royalty). The Sacramento Kings were the team considered to be Virginia Beach's target.

With no agreement in hand, the city of Virginia Beach will not ask the state for $150MM to help finance an arena deal. While the proposal to build a professional sports arena in Virginia Beach isn't entirely dead, it appears it will be shelved for now.

Rader suggests that the Kings and their owners will likely explore other avenues now that Virginia Beach no longer seems to be a realistic option. That could mean simply staying put in Sacramento, or perhaps discussing relocation with another city. Ziller notes that the next big rumor figures to be the possibility of a sale to the Seattle group led by Chris Hansen.

Latest On Kings, Potential Move

December 2nd, 2012 at 9:57am CST by Chuck Myron

With an eye toward next spring's deadline to relocate for 2013/14, the Maloof family, who own the Kings, are studying their options, as Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee details. George Maloof, who has reportedly met with the Virginia governor and Virginia Beach mayor, is "particularly intrigued" with the proposed arena deal in Virginia Beach. Either the Maloofs or a family representative have spoken recently with officials in Seattle, San Diego, Kansas City and St. Louis, Voisin reports.

On the court, the team's dispirited play could cost basketball president Geoff Petrie his job "within weeks," Voisin writes. Petrie, the longest-tenured personnel chief in the league, is in the final season of his contract. Even if he's let go, coach Keith Smart is likely to stay, given his support from the Maloofs, Voisin notes.

While brothers Joe and Gavin cling to the belief that Sacramento can work, George Maloof is the leading voice within the family in favor of a move, according to Voisin. The family is united in its refusal to sell the team, which makes it somewhat more likely the team will stay, since investor Chris Hansen would likely outbid all other suitors and deliver the team to Seattle. The refusal of the Maloofs to sell could prompt Hansen and Seattle to look elsewhere for a team.

Voisin also provides detail on a local group trying to secure $120MM to $150MM in financing for a renovation of the existing Sleep Train Arena. The Bee scribe calls upon the Maloofs to overcome their fears of another public relations misstep and speak candidly about the future of the franchise, believing public trust and support of the Kings in Sacramento can't be rekindled until that happens.

Latest On Seattle Arena Plans

November 30th, 2012 at 6:42pm CST by Sean Highkin

The Associated Press reports (link via ESPN.com) that investor Chris Hansen has released a set of preliminary design plans for a new arena to be built in Seattle, which he hopes to have occupied by an NBA team.

According to the report, Hansen has offered three possible design plans for the arena. The city's design review board is expected to review the released plans on December 11.

Funding for a new multi-purpose arena capable of hosting NBA and NHL teams was approved by the city of Seattle on October 15. NBA commissioner David Stern is known to strongly desire an NBA return to Seattle, which has been without a team since the SuperSonics moved to Oklahoma City in 2008.

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Western Notes: Harden, Grizzlies, Mavs, Seattle

October 29th, 2012 at 2:02pm CST by Luke Adams

In dealing James Harden to the Rockets, the Thunder ensured that the gold medalist will likely remain in the Western Conference for years to come. In his weekly Morning Tip piece at NBA.com, TNT's David Aldridge notes that while that may come as a surprise, there weren't many logical fits with Eastern Conference clubs.

The Thunder liked Bradley Beal, but the Wizards weren't interested in dealing the third overall pick. Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel, meanwhile, tweets that the Magic had some pieces that could have enticed Oklahoma City, but Orlando probably wouldn't have given Harden the max. The Magic ended up not getting involved in the Harden sweepstakes, tweets Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel.

Here are a few more Monday afternoon updates from around the Western Conference, with just over 24 hours until the NBA regular season gets underway:

Within his NBA.com column, Aldridge reports that the final sale price of the Grizzlies to Robert Pera's ownership group was $377MM.
Wayne Ellington remains unlikely to be extended by the Grizzlies before Wednesday, according to Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal.
Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com wonders if carrying so many players in contract years could blow up for the Mavericks.
NBA.com's Scott Howard-Cooper spoke to Seattle mayor Mike McGinn about the possibility of the NBA returning to his city. McGinn said that he's rooting for Sacramento to keep the Kings, since he knows what it feels like to lose a team, but is still hopeful about professional basketball coming back to Seattle.
Nuggets center JaVale McGee is going to have to learn how to deal with the burden of having a big contract and the attention that brings, writes Adrian Dater of the Denver Post.
The Lakers and Clippers both head into the 2012/13 season hoping that revamped benches will help them contend for a title, says Jill Painter of the Los Angeles Daily News.
Sam Smith of Bulls.com believes that, even without Harden, the Thunder are the team to beat in the Western Conference.
Luke Zeller's contract includes a $50K guarantee, so if he opens the season with the Suns, that doesn't mean he'll be with the team all year, says Mark Deeks of ShamSports (Twitter links).