Rumors began swirling late Tuesday night about a possible sale of the Sacramento Kings to a Seattle ownership group led by Bay Area hedge fund manager Chris Hansen. Now, it appears the rumor are true. Multiple sources are reporting that that Maloofs are finalizing a deal with Hansen that would allow for the Kings to relocate to Seattle for the 2013-14 season, and play two seasons in KeyArena while a new arena is built.
The Maloofs are finalizing an agreement to sell the Sacramento Kings to the Hansen-Ballmer led Seattle group, sources tell Yahoo! Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) January 9, 2013
The deal will sell the Kings for approximately $500 million, with the Seattle group seeking relocation to Key Arena for the 2013-’14 season.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) January 9, 2013
The Seattle group’s plans, with support of the NBA, is to play two seasons in Key Arena before moving into a new Seattle arena, sources say.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) January 9, 2013
No agreement signed, but one source describes deal as “1st and goal at 1.” Maloofs history of changing course late still makes many uneasy.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) January 9, 2013
The Maloofs are expected to keep an extremely small percentage of team, but will have no real input or say in franchise, sources say.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) January 9, 2013
I am just going to say this – The Maloofs and Hansen’s Group have been talking for a while. Things have heated up in last 24 hours.
— Chris Daniels (@ChrisDaniels5) January 9, 2013
UPDATE: Conflicting reports are surfacing about the status of the negotiations between Maloofs and Hansen’s group. Almost needless to say, this could take awhile.
Source: Seattle groups offer was rejected by Maloofs. Hmmm. Plot thickening by the minute.
— stevelarge_cbs13 (@largesteven) January 9, 2013
It’s not looking good for Sacramento. Have not confirmed @wojyahoonba report, but here’s what I have – usatoday.com/story/sports/n…
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) January 9, 2013
UPDATE 2: KJR 950 AM (Seattle) morning host Mitch Levy denies report that Maloofs rejected offer.
This report is BS. RT @bcondotta: A Sacramento TV station reporting Maloofs rejected the Seattle deal
— mitch levy (@kjrmitch) January 9, 2013
[@WojYahooNBA, @ChrisDaniels5, @sam_amick, @largesteven, @kjrmitch]
