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.