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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.

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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.

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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. 

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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).
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David Stern Hoping To Return NBA To Seattle

October 26th, 2012 at 8:38am CST by Luke Adams

On the heels of yesterday's announcement that David Stern will be stepping down as NBA commissioner in February 2014, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports has penned a less than flattering retrospective on Stern's "three decades of totalitarian rule."

In addition to looking back on the tenure of the longtime commissioner, Wojnarowski's piece also includes a handful of interesting nuggets related to Sacramento and Seattle. According to the Yahoo! scribe, Stern is "determined" to return the NBA to Seattle in his last 15 months on the job. Wojnarowski also hears that pressure on the Maloofs from the league office to sell the Kings has been "growing."

The city of Seattle's quest to return an NBA franchise to the area has been well documented, with the Seattle City Council and King County Council approving the arena proposal put forth by Chris Hansen earlier this month. Stern said yesterday that he "wouldn't preclude" the possibility of expanding the league beyond 30 teams, but it's more likely that one of the league's current franchises would have to move to give Seattle a chance at a team.

Given their inability to date to secure a new arena, the Kings have long been considered the most logical candidate to relocate to another city. On a teleconference with reporters yesterday, Stern didn't commit too strongly to the team's future in Sacramento, simply encouraging the city to continue supporting the Kings and then hoping for the best.

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Update On Seattle Arena

October 15th, 2012 at 9:40pm CST by Michael Pina

The King County Council and the Seattle City Council have given a final approval on an agreement to build a $490 million basketball and hockey arena in the city, despite the threat of a lawsuit from longshore workers, according to a report by the Associated Press.

The County Council approved the agreement unanimously, and the City Council voted 7-2. Both groups had previously approved the deal, but it was a different version. Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn said the votes were an important step toward bringing professional men's basketball back to Seattle. He and King County Executive Dow Constantine were scheduled to sign the deal Tuesday.

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Odds & Ends: Bynum, Seattle, Suns, Beal

October 7th, 2012 at 4:40pm CST by Michael Pina

Here are a few pieces of news from around the league.

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Odds & Ends: Morrison, Turkoglu, Lin, Ginobili

October 1st, 2012 at 2:15pm CST by Luke Adams

Let's round up a few odds and ends from a busy day around the NBA….

  • Blazers coach Terry Stotts told the media today that summer signee Adam Morrison has a "legitimate" chance to make the team, according to Ben Golliver of Blazer's Edge (Twitter link).
  • Hedo Turkoglu says he'd like to finish his career with the Magic, tweets Joshua Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel.
  • Asked about the Knicks' decision to let Jeremy Lin walk in July, GM Glen Grunwald told the media that the Rockets made a commitment to Lin that New York wasn't prepared to make, and that Raymond Felton was a better fit for the Knicks. Marc Berman of the New York Post has the quotes.
  • Manu Ginobili expects to return to the Spurs if he continues playing when his contract expires at season's end, tweets Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News.
  • Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal poses five burning questions facing the Cavaliers heading into the 2012/13 season. Among Lloyd's five: Whether Dion Waiters was the right choice in June's draft, and whether Anderson Varejao will finish the year with the Cavs.
  • Ben Wallace won't be in camp with the Pistons, since the team doesn't want to put him a position where it may have to cut him, tweets Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News.
  • Appearing on KJR in Seattle, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said he didn't think any NBA owner would stand in the way of the city of Seattle getting another NBA franchise (link via Sports Radio Interviews).
  • Former NBA veteran Jayson Williams tells ESPN.com's Matt Wong that he's healthy and misses the NBA, but stopped short of saying he's interested in making a comeback.
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Seattle Approves New Arena Deal

September 24th, 2012 at 6:54pm CST by Michael Pina

Seattle's city council has officially approved a deal to build a new arena that would be home to an NBA and NHL team, according to an Associated Press report. Members of the council voted 6-2 to approve investor Chris Hansen's plan to construct a possible $490MM building just south of downtown.

Changes in the plan must still be approved by the King County Council, and it must pass an environmental review. The approval means that Hansen is now allowed to shop for an NBA team, eventually relocating it to Seattle.

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