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.