Kings & Hansen saga

[wiff]

This leaves no doubt that the owners are going to look really foolish if they force the Maloofs to take the lesser bid with less work done on their arena deal. How foolish are the owners going to look once the arena in Sacramento needs another 75 mil to be completed?

Right now Sacramento is shaking piggy banks, while Chris Hansen is wiping his butt with hundreds.

[Harper4Ferry?]

My question here is if the money in the offer is actually increasing, or if simply the valuation of the franchise is increasing because the Seattle group is buying less of the Kings(% wise) now for the same amount of money that they originally offered.

For example, the original deal was supposedly 65% for 341m dollars, which valued the team at 525m. So they recently added another 25m onto the bid, which means that they either added that much total cash, or now were only buying approx 62%. And now are they only buying 53% of the team or are they throwing in more money. Seems like it could be either way, but the insistence on the valuations being reported leads me to think they are just buying less of the team perhaps.

I believe, coincidentally, that the Maloofs own 53% of the team. Another guy supposedly owns 12%, I wonder if he's either backing out of the sale, or if the Maloofs will now hold 12% of the team.

[bennith13]

No, I think its fairly obvious that Hansen is buying the same amount of the team and is just throwing in more money.

[Supersonics41]

It just keeps getting better & better

The group trying to move the Sacramento Kings to Seattle is continuing to be relentless in its pursuit. That includes the current owners of the team, the Maloof family.



And the NBA could be listening.



Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer, the deep-pocketed Seattle-based investors trying to acquire the team, have struck a new deal with the Maloofs that may create more drama in Sacramento and the league office.



Two sources told ESPN.com the Maloofs have informed their fellow owners that if their deal to sell and relocate the Kings to Seattle is not approved by league owners next week, they will not sell the team to a Sacramento-based group that promises to keep the Kings in Sacramento.



Instead, the cash-strapped Maloofs have made a "backup" agreement with the Hansen-Ballmer group to sell them 20 percent of the team for $125 million to allow the Maloofs to continue to operate the franchise.



That new "backup" plan comes on the heels of Hansen's announcement on Friday that he had upped his offer to buy the Maloofs' 65 percent of the Kings to $409 million (from $358 million) for a total valuation of $625 million.



Sources said that new proposal also included a $115 million offer to owners as a relocation fee, which would amount to about $4 million per team. By comparison, in 2008 when the Oklahoma City Thunder moved from Seattle, they paid a $30 million fee to the other owners.



To consider these incredible new figures, the NBA relocation committee is planning to re-evaluate the Hansen-Ballmer offer and has scheduled another meeting ahead of next Tuesday's full owners' meeting in Dallas, sources said.



Two weeks ago that same committee voted unanimously to reject the relocation request to Seattle and the full body of owners was expected to follow that recommendation. It appeared a prospective ownership group based in Sacramento had won and the team would stay long term.



After three years of wrangling over the future of the Kings, it would not seem likely the owners would allow it to return to square one again. The Hansen-Baller's super aggressive, cash-laden increased offer is apparently causing at least some reconsideration.



A league spokesman did not reply to a request for comment.



Just as with relocation, teams cannot sell minority shares without approval from league owners. It's questionable whether the owners would approve of a group that clearly wants to team to end up in Seattle to buy a large stake in a team they vote to be kept in Sacramento. But they also cannot compel the Maloofs to sell the team.



Over the last three months, the NBA has negotiated its own backup plan for the Kings with a group led by Silicon Valley billionaire Vivek Ranadive. That group, which has changed its leadership several times, ultimately offered a valuation of $525 million for the Kings and brokered a deal with local governments to building a new arena with more than $250 million in public funds.



After studying the offers closely, the relocation committee ultimately decided that Ranadive and the city of Sacramento's offer was suitable. Ranadive, who has put 50 percent of the purchase into escrow, was hoping the owners will also green light his purchase when they settle the matter next week.



But the Maloofs' latest move with the Hansen-Ballmer group's new promises could throw all that into question again. The Maloofs have favored the Hansen deal the entire time and did not negotiate with Ranadive or the city involving the new arena.



The strategy is rather transparent. If the relocation bid is officially blocked, Hansen and Ballmer want a piece of the Kings so they could apply pressure on the city of Sacramento to execute an arena deal with them. The city and the Maloofs have failed to come to an agreement on a new arena several times in the past decade. If the Maloofs keep the team and an arena deal can't be reached, the franchise could apply for relocation again.



Several ownership sources told ESPN.com that there was some concern that Ranadive and the City of Sacramento could close and execute the deal for the new arena. Those concerns could be driving this last round of fighting by the Seattle group as they try to sway owners who may not have fully made up their minds.



Throughout this tedious process, the Maloofs and the Hansen-Ballmer group have worked without involving the league office and powerful NBA commissioner David Stern. Meanwhile, the Sacramento group and mayor Kevin Johnson have worked with Stern every step of the way. That partnership seems to have helped the city and Ranadive get into favorable position with other owners.



That trend has not stopped the Seattle group from pressing forward with these plans.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/92656 ... ento-kings

[206]

The Hansen Group Rises

[Supersonics41]

The Hansen Group Rises

[AI]

This is awesome for Seattle. At the moment, Maloofs are Seattle's biggest allies and Sac's greatest enemies. It will be interesting to see how this folds out. I really want to see basketball in Seattle again.

[Supersonics41]

We HAVE to get a team out of this, now!

[ADRajX]

It's going to be very interesting during the next meeting. Keep the pressure on the NBA.

[Supersonics41]

Chris Daniels ‏@ChrisDaniels5 39m
I can now confirm, according to a high level source, that the Hansen/Ballmer team had agreed to pay NBA $126 MILLION to relocate #NBAKings

WOW

Chris Daniels ‏@ChrisDaniels5 37m
Source tells me that Maloof family have unequivocally, three times, told NBA they will NOT accept back-up bid from Ranadive group. #NBAKings

[Mr_Perfect]

The Maloofs are trolling Sacramento. They definitely don't want the team there and Hasen REALLY wants a team in Seattle. The NBA needs to end this fiasco and give the team to Seattle.

[Sweezo]

Well, well...look at this fine mess the NBA created. This is your legacy, Stern. Regardless of what happens, this is ugly and it's the last big thing that will happen during Stern's tenure. What a fitting send off.

By the way, now is a good time to remind everyone to choose their battles wisely. I see 206 get himself suspended for posts made on boards other than this particular one. Please, be careful.

[FNQ]

The Maloofs are trolling Sacramento. They definitely don't want the team there and Hasen REALLY wants a team in Seattle. The NBA needs to end this fiasco and give the team to Seattle.

I'd wager that if the Sacto group was the one willing to overpay, the Maloofs would be singing their praises instead... its all about money to them. They liked the Seattle group initially because of the financial benefits, and then when Sacramento finally matched those requirements to a degree, Hansen raised the bar again, to the tune of a 120% valuation over his initial offer. The Maloofs are only businessmen who know where their big payday is.

Hilarious to see them roll over on Stern and make these deals. There are 2 options: The NBA re-does the vote and votes for Seattle, setting a new standard for moving teams and likely prohibiting the league from getting as involved in a relocation/sale ever again, or they force a sale and likely devalue teams across the board. And that's no small thing - the Kings are being valued well-over what experts though. Safe to say, if all teams in the future are valued like that, the end result could be BILLIONS in lost value.

But no matter what, the league will look foolish. They wanted to get involved to keep the Kings in Sacramento, and now they've got a dogfight where they can't possibly come out looking good. WTG Stern

[206]

By the way, now is a good time to remind everyone to choose their battles wisely. I see 206 get himself suspended for posts made on boards other than this particular one. Please, be careful.

It was actually for posting a gif of James Harden in a thread about James Harden vs Ibaka. It was deemed Derailing. But yeah, I agree, its probably best to be civil on the GB.

[FNQ]

its pretty hard to be civil there. Its turned into a fairy-tale with good guys, bad guys, knights in shining armor, dragons... Lord of the Kings over there

The one fact that shouldnt escape anyone: Kevin Johnson is a leader of men. He's got those fans going full-tilt and seemingly hanging on his every word. He might be governor once this is all said and done, especially if the Kings remain there AND get the increased valuation by Hansen.

And in case people want to venture over there, the tone isnt polite and the information is no different than anything I've seen here. Its just some people wishing to impose their wills on the conversation, and not accept the reality of the situation. Which is much, much uncertainty

[Supersonics41]

At this point, I think the most likely outcome is that Hansen will be owning the team in Sacramento. 1st-The owners will likely deny relocation-based on the committee recommendation. 2nd- Will Approve the original sale or approve the back up offer of Hansen owning 20%.

This avoids any legal action taken by the Maloof's or Hansen's side, in regards to the sale purchase & agreement. At the same time, the league will ultimately look bad, if they now approve relocation for next season. Hansen & or the Maloof's then will file for relocation again, a year from now.

[206]

:lol: its pretty hard to be civil there. Its turned into a fairy-tale with good guys, bad guys, knights in shining armor, dragons... Lord of the Kings over there

The one fact that shouldnt escape anyone: Kevin Johnson is a leader of men. He's got those fans going full-tilt and seemingly hanging on his every word. He might be governor once this is all said and done, especially if the Kings remain there AND get the increased valuation by Hansen.

And in case people want to venture over there, the tone isnt polite and the information is no different than anything I've seen here. Its just some people wishing to impose their wills on the conversation, and not accept the reality of the situation. Which is much, much uncertainty

Yeah they keep ignoring the fact that the Maloofs just want the most money. Its pretty understandable.

[OzSonic]

I'm still not overly confident. I mean before the relocation recommendation I was starting to think "How can they turn them down?" and then it happened. While reports are starting to leak out it was a 4 - 3 vote it's still in their favour. The Maloofs saying they won't sell to the Sac group (again) is the biggest news for us. I don't like the idea of doing a Bennett, never have, no fan deserves that but it could be a bit of leverage that gets it pointed our way so I'll take it right now.

I'm prepared for another let down on the 15th until it's officially said otherwise.

[SaveTheHens]

Hey I have a question, what exactly did happen with Seattle when they were being moved to OKC? Did they have the same opportunity as Sacramento did, as in given so much extra time/having favoritism to stay in Seattle rather than moving? How many years did the relocation talks go on for then?

I also don't understand why the Hansen group didn't show up then, I guess it was 6 years ago but if the Hansen group gathered then they would have saved hundreds of millions of dollars.

[AI]

I don't like the idea of doing a Bennett, never have, no fan deserves that but it could be a bit of leverage that gets it pointed our way so I'll take it right now.

I'm prepared for another let down on the 15th until it's officially said otherwise.

Hey, pulling a Bennett only exists because Stern allowed it to. If this is the only way to get basketball back in Seattle then this is what you are supposed to do. You don't play by the imaginary rules that declare that you should not benefit as the result of one's misfortune. It sucks for Sacramento, really, but they should be focusing their hatred toward Stern for allowing such a precedent to exist in the first place. This all leads back to Stern, for allowing Bennett to do his thing.