And The Winner Is...Sacramento...Kings Are Staying...

((HT: News10.net/USAToday Sports))

After voting and going behind closed doors at the Hilton Anatole hotel in Dallas, the NBA relocation committee and owners have decided to stay in town with the future with the Sacramento Kings, according to USA Today Sports and their Twitter. The more interesting reaction will be from the Hansen-Ballmer group now as the league and its members move forward.

Will they pack up or will they stay in the fight to bring another team/expansion franchise to the Hansen-Ballmer project...???

There were some other ideas on the table going into their closed door sessions after 4:00 eastern time. Outgoing commissioner David Stern was animated in some talks, even removing his jacket while talking things out with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Lakers owner Jeanie Buss, and Wyc Grousbeck of the Boston Celtics in the hall outside the conference room assigned to the league.

Last week, the board's relocation committee voted unanimously, 7-0, to recommend not to approve the relocation of the SacKings to Seattle. The board of governors is expected to vote along the committee's recommendation. And the owners themselves need only a majority to keep the SacKings in town...

The vote for ownership changing is 60-percent approval...

Here's the early morning ideas from Sacramento...
On Tuesday, current owner George Maloof claimed if a minority share of the team was sold to the Chris Hansen-Steve Ballmer group in Seattle, the new partners would work in good faith to try to build a new arena in Sacramento. But, at the same time, a lot of people thought that idea was only a backdoor approach to get a team in Seattle. Hansen-Ballmer would, then, leverage their dollars and be in place if and when the current Sacramento arena idea/talks would not come to fruition. Maloof said Tuesday he has only met prospective SacKings Lead owner Vivek Ranadive once, and still hasn't talked to Sacramento ownership group that Mayor Kevin Johnson has assembled. "If it's only a matter of a few million, that's one thing," Maloof said to News 10. "But if the offers are far apart, it's a different story." Perhaps, that's another reason that Hansen-Ballmer raised their kitty as high as they did and put the whole amount in escrow immediately to show the NBA that they were serious- regardless of dollar figure. But there is a prevailing thought that the lack of interaction between the Hansen-Ballmer group and the league itself is a negative while the city of Sacramento has kept everyone abreast of the situation WITH league interaction... And the HQ knows just how much the league likes to have people jump through their hoops and not go rogue... More when we know more... 1800 UPDATE: Sources, including one owner, are telling the Sacramento Bee's Ailene Voisin and the Seattle Times Bob Condotta