Kings Will Stay in Sacramento

Too bad, Maloof bros. Despite your desperate attempts to move the Kings to Seattle, thanks to a 22-8 vote today by the NBA’s Board of Governors, Sacramento will retain its basketball team. Per the Sac Bee: “While the proposed move by the team to Seattle was turned down, the issue of who will own the team has not been settled. In a press conference following the meeting of the league’s 30 owners, NBA Commissioner David Stern said the league would encourage the Maloofs, who own the Kings, to sell to an investor group led by Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur Vivek Ranadive. ‘We will talk to the Maloofs and seek in the next 24 to 48 hours whether we can help facilities a deal between the Ranadive group and the Maloofs for the sale of the franchise in Sacramento,’ Stern said. The commissioner acknowledged that the Maloofs could refuse to sell, but added, ‘It is my expectation that we will be able to make a deal with the Maloofs and the Ranadive group to transfer title in Sacramento.’ The Ranadive group has offered the Maloofs $341 million for their controlling 65 percent stake in the Kings, far less than the $406 million that the Seattle group led by hedge fund manager Chris Hansen had offered. Of Seattle’s prospects for getting an NBA expansion team, Stern said there was nothing to announce. ‘We look forward to continuing a dialogue of some type with the citizens and the (Seattle) investors,’ he said. The Maloofs had said they would seek league approval for an alternative deal with the Hansen group if the NBA owners rejected the relocation — and with it — the sale of the team. Alternatively, the Maloofs proposed to sell 20 percent of the team to Hansen. Stern said that deal was not signed, however. ‘The big winner here was Sacramento,’ Stern said.”