[LWC]

Not a done deal yet.

Remember, Larry Ellison was the HIGHEST bidder for the Golden State Warriors when they were sold. They had a deal in place and ready to go. However, Ellison made no bones about wanting to move the team to San Jose. The NBA Board of Governors (mostly current owners) chose to allow a lower bid from a buyer that wanted to KEEP THE TEAM IN PLACE. I suspect the same can happen here.

The Mayor of Sacramento, former NBA All-Star Kevin Johnson has been negotiating with David Stern for about 2-3 years because the NBA world has known how dirty the Maloof family has been and about their intentions to move the team, sell the team, or anything to get money. When an almost done deal was in place to move to Anaheim, major Johnson stepped up and got an arena deal done in Sacramento with AIG as the main sponsor.

David Stern personally asked AIG if they would still support an arena deal in Sacramento, to which they said yes. This has been since the Seattle news came out. Also, Mayor Johnson asked David Stern if he could present a local buyer to the Board of Governors because the Maloofs refuse to listen to him. David Stern said yes again.

Remember this, the Seattle deal is worth $525 million. $125 million is a relocation fee. $30 million is a non-refundable deposit to the Maloof family. $70 million is a loan that must be paid immediately back to the City of Sacramento. So, $225 of that $325 is fees that a local owner would NOT have to pay. (The $70 million to the city could be paid back, interest free for as many years as the Kings remain in the new arena that has already been agreed upon.)

Thus, a buyer that would keep the Kings in Sacramento could propose a $400-$425 million offer and give more money to the Maloof family, thus being a better offer with less dollars. Also, one HUGE difference in this sale and the Charlotte and Seattle sales is that Sacramento has agreed to a new arena deal.

What I believe would work best for everyone is for Sacramento to keep the Kings and for Seattle to be granted an expansion team. Sacramento deserves a team, Seattle deserves a team.