A group out of Seattle has reached a tentative agreement to purchase the Sacramento Kings franchise from the Maloof family, per Y!’s Adrian Wojnarowski:
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
The Maloofs have been trying to sell or relocate the Kings from Sacramento for a couple years now, and with Seattle desperate to replace the Sonics team that relocated to Oklahoma City the Maloofs were able to finally find a buyer willing to pay their lofty price tag. No word on whether the Seattle group plans to keep the current Kings nickname or revise the team name back to the traditional Seattle Sonics moniker. The Seattle group is rumored to want to move the franchise to Seattle as soon as the 2013-2014 season.
The Kings currently have a mix-matched roster that has some talent but not much chemistry. They still have former rookie of the year Tyreke Evans, and well as troubled big man Demarcus Cousins to build around, if the franchise sees fit. The Kings currenly have a record of 13-22 and are 13th in the Western Conference standings.
-ALR
