((ht: espn.com))The seemingly never ending story of the Maloof brothers trying to sell the Sacramento Kings and move them to Seattle keeps continuing with more and more chapters.
In the latest move, ESPN.com reporter Brian Windhorst reports that Joe and Gavin Maloof have a plan B in the event the NBA Board of Governors reject the proposed sale to Seattle financier Chris Hansen and Microsoft mogul Steve Ballmer. If rejected, the Board wants to recommend the team be sold to a group headed by billionaire Vivek Ranadive.
If the league says no, the Maloof's reportedly would sell a minority stake in the team (2-% for $120 million) to Mr's Ballmer and Hansen. And that has the potential for a major mess.
Read the entire ESPN.com story RIGHT HERE
What is fairly obvious here is the Maloof's want to get the Kings out of Sacramento no matter what. But the other nugget in the story is this: The NBA appears to have concerns the Ranadive Group may not have the backing to be sustainable.
The league is trying to bend over backwards to prevent a franchise from relocating and that stance is in many ways admirable. With the reports over the past two days that Hansen and Ballmer continue sweetening the deal and the new nugget that they are will to pay a substantial ($115 million) relocation fee, we could have an issue here.
Windhorst reports the NBA's relocation committee wants to revisit the proposed sale to each party before the Board of Governors vote on it next week. It's beginning to sound a bit like they are having second thoughts. If those thoughts come to fruition, Seattle may eventually end up landing the Kings before this is all said and done.
Though we fully expect several more back and forth stories on it.
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