It wasn’t long ago that the Kings appeared to be Seattle-bound, but owner Vivek Ranadive‘s group brought that talk to a definitive end. This weekend it was reported that the Kings finalized a 35-year lease agreement to build a new arena in Sacramento. The measure still needs to be approved by the city council, but there’s no indication that it won’t go through. Here’s tonight’s glance at the Pacific Division..
- Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News feels that Stan Van Gundy is the current frontrunner for the Warriors‘ head coaching job among the known candidates out there. However, he adds that there could be under-the-radar names who are currently employed and therefore cannot publicly discuss their interest in the gig.
- Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com rounds up the Lakers‘ quest for a new coach, and surmises that the candidate they decide to pursue will be heavily affected by their position in the lottery.
- Shelly Sterling‘s resistance to surrender ownership of the Clippers means she’ll likely be in control of the team for the foreseeable future, opines Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. Any ousting process could take over a year, says Mannix, who also adds the NBA isn’t buying her claimed outrage at her husband’s comments (all Twitter links).
- LeBron James, meanwhile, doesn’t want to see anyone with the Sterling surname involved in the Clippers, writes Brian Mahoney of The Associated Press.
- At this point, the over/under on the number of years it will take the NBA to excise the Sterlings from the Clippers is around two, tweets Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated.
- Yesterday, we rounded up news on the Lakers and Clippers.
Charlie Adams contributed to this post.