Thanks birthday boy, let the celebration begin

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Why is it when I try to come off as a smart ass, the opposite happens? :-(

On Northwest Sports tonight, Paul Silvi talked about how the deal has hit another snag. I guess some lawyers found that before the Maloofs are technically allowed to sell to Hansen's group, the Maloofs must first allow the minority owners a chance to buy their, the Maloof's, share or something related to that.

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Yeah, that's actually been news for a couple weeks now I think.

Anyone heard anything new (past few days) about this? I wonder what has happened to that $30 million non-refundable check that Hansen was supposed to make out to the Maloofs on Feb 1st.

ROFR has been called a nonissue by both Hansen's lawyers and supposedly NBA lawyers who have all seen the contracts.

The $30m was placed in escrow, so assuming Hansen hasn't pulled out of the deal quietly before the Feb 1st deadline, the money was transferred to the Maloofs.

Paul Silvi is CRAZY late!

How is he that late with the story?

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Official Tharold Simon Fan Club Member

The most up to date explanation of the Right of First refusal is here:
http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/ ... r-seattle/

Note that one of the writers is from Sacramento.

I think it is absolutely ridiculous to suggest that this contract clause is a "snag" or "surprise". I am certain that the Seattle group and the Maloofs had their attorneys spend tons of hours reviewing this contract, and the decision was made that the sale would be legal, so they proceeded. I guarantee that no one in the Seattle group is being surprised with this news.

All that matters is NBA approval at this point.

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That article really doesn't make things look very good for us at this point

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Only if you assume that Hansen and Ballmer's team of lawyers + the NBA lawyers who looked at it either completely missed these clauses or completely misinterpreted them.

How likely do you think that is?

Let's also keep in mind that the only minority owner saying that he received no notice of sale or was offered his ROFR is Cook, who is completely bankrupt and his share is now in the hands of the bankruptcy court, not him. He's got nothing. The other minority owners have indicated that they are not at liberty to speak at all, which makes me think they're in a loop that Cook is out of.

What date will we know one way or the other if there will be a team in Seattle next season? Is it all down to the NBA approving the move or could there still be issues after that?

March 1st I believe. That's the deadline to file for relocation for the following season.

Sounds like April 17-18 are the dates the NBA Board of Governors will likely vote to approve the sale and relocation.

Ok. So Hansen will file by the deadline and then we'll have to to wait for the BOG approval?

Well, technically the Maloofs still own the team right now, so they'd be filing(?) or the $30 million deposit established a business relationship and they'll all be filing? The NBA's inner workings and the actual sales agreement are both in the shadows right now, so it's hard to tell exactly how it's all going to go down.

I expect there to be a relocation filing of some sort by March 1st, though.

Ah I see...this whole thing is getting really confusing. Glad I have you guys on here to break it all down for me

Mayor Kevin Johnson seeks to have detailed plan to bid Kings and have a plan for a downtown arena by the end of the month.

http://www.sacbee.com/2013/02/06/516874 ... -plan.html

Why can't we have nice things?

It sounds like posturing. I think it's too little too late. Surely Sacramento would have unveiled their major investors by noe.

Yea, it seems awfully late in the game for that. My best guess is that they just won't have everything finalized in time. Hopefully Sacramento would go to the top of the list for expansion after that. If they have buyers ready to put down $500+ mil for a team, the NBA would be fools to ignore it, just like they would be fools to ignore the Seattle group.

Yeah, especially since they're looking at a different site than their previous arena deal potentially.

They had the city council support to vote for their last arena deal, but it'll likely be tougher if they try to fast track it. And who's to say their bid even includes a matching offer? I've heard KJ say numerous times they plan to make a "fair and competitive" offer. Anything less than a matching offer and an approved plan with full details for a state of the art arena and I'd say there is zero chance the Kings stay at this point, even with all that I'd say it's maybe 5%. There is a signed purchase agreement with owners the NBA wants with plans for an arena that is shaping up to be the class of the NBA in a better television market with a stronger economy.

Well there ya go.