The current owners of the Sacramento Kings are not about to let the NBA prevent them from getting top dollar for their sale of the franchise.
The Maloof family, who has been trying to sell the team to a Seattle consortium led by Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer, have informed their fellow NBA owners that if that sale is not approved, they will not sell the franchise to a Sacramento-based group that will keep the team from relocating, ESPN.com is reporting.
The Maloofs have made what ESPN called a "backup" agreement with the Seattle investors, stipulating that it will sell 20 percent of the team for $125 million and that the family will continue to run the organization.
According to ESPN, Hansen also will pay a $115 million relocation fee to the league's other 29 owners, which would amount to nearly $4 million per team.
The NBA relocation committee, which last month voted 7-0 to recommend that the sale of the Kings go to a Sacramento contingent led by Vivek Ranadive, currently a part-owner of the Golden State Warriors, now will re-evaluate the Seattle offer ahead of next week's full owners meetings that will take place in Dallas, sources told ESPN.
The Sacramento group has offered to match the original Seattle offer of $341 million for 65 percent of the team.
Saturday's events are the latest in a power struggle between Sacramento and Seattle over the Kings that began in January.
"It would seem the Maloofs are daring the NBA to reject the relocation and sale by saying they won't cooperate with the Sacramento group," Michael McCann, an on-air legal analyst for NBA-TV, told The Seattle Times. "This seems to be a strategy to encourage owners to vote in favor of Seattle and Hansen."
A day earlier, the Seattle group raised its offer for the Kings by $51 million to a total of $409 million. The total valuation of the bid is $625 million.
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