Interesting note from the KJ press conference
At least this bit:

When a reporter asked KJ if the other investors were going to make up the difference, he did not say yes. He said the owners are committed and that they were aware this might be an issue, which implies that things will be fine, but he never comes out and states an unequivocal yes. Might mean nothing, might mean something when it comes from a politician whose job is to parse words.

Maybe it’s not an issue, but I am skeptical that you can take out the biggest investor in the group and have people ready to pony up a huge amount of cash.

So there was no confirmation that the Sac group would match, and the answer was just as political and dodgy about whether or not the amount Burkle was going to contribute is being completely replaced by the other investors.

http://www.king5.com/news/Sacramentos-w ... 55251.html

Also interesting
“A high level NBA league source says Burkle “wasn’t all that fired up about this deal.”"

Even more interesting?
“NBA Commissioner David Stern said last week, when prompted about whether the Sacramento offer needed to be improved, “That’s not one of the issues we’re currently researching for the Owners.””

Uh what? I kept seeing that quote as simply “That’s not one of the issues,” but that additional bit sure feels like it changes the connotation. Basically going from “it’s not an issue” to “it’s not an issue we are looking into any further”, which would fit the idea thrown out there that the Sac offer is in, it is what it is, and the NBA is moving on, not that the NBA is necessarily fine with the Sac offer or that the Sac group has matched give or take $30m.

Man, pinksheets, you should really have a Sonics blog. Good research and posts.

Haha, I actually copy and pasted posts I made on SonicsRising.

If you aren't already, I highly recommending being a member and following that blog. News is posted there almost immediately by members and is immediately disseminated and discussed. Lots of smart people analyzing the situation, etc.

pinksheets wrote:Haha, I actually copy and pasted posts I made on SonicsRising.

If you aren't already, I highly recommending being a member and following that blog. News is posted there almost immediately by members and is immediately disseminated and discussed. Lots of smart people analyzing the situation, etc.

I was reading through Brian McCann's twitter account and he had a conversation between himself and a Kings fan and the fan stated that they KJ/Mastrov/Renediv offer is/was rumored to be around 30 mil less than the Hasen/Ballmer/Nord offer. Do you have any info on that Pink?

Blitzer88 wrote:

pinksheets wrote:Haha, I actually copy and pasted posts I made on SonicsRising.

If you aren't already, I highly recommending being a member and following that blog. News is posted there almost immediately by members and is immediately disseminated and discussed. Lots of smart people analyzing the situation, etc.

I was reading through Brian McCann's twitter account and he had a conversation between himself and a Kings fan and the fan stated that they KJ/Mastrov/Renediv offer is/was rumored to be around 30 mil less than the Hasen/Ballmer/Nord offer. Do you have any info on that Pink?

That's just speculation.

I mean, I can't say for certain it isn't true, but from all I can tell that rumor sprung up in speculative conversation between Kings fans when talking about Stern's comments that the Sac offer was "not an issue" (which btw, if you look at the full quote from the Chris Daniels article, may not be a fair way to sum up waht he said). They assumed that it "not being an issue" meant they had either matched or had offered all but the $30m deposit basically saying Hansen had already paid it so the Maloofs had it no matter what (meaning they were basically counting Hansen's payment as part of their bid since it was non-refundable). I haven't seen that linked to any source, just talked about in back and forth convos. I don't believe it's true, and if it were, I think it'd be an awful play for them to make.

And when you look at Stern's quote, again, you can take a lot from that. It's "not an issue" that they are "researching for owners". Meaning, I think the offer portion of it is simply final for Sac, they've made their pitch for what has been commonly referred to as a "backup offer".

Also funny to note that in KJ's press conference today, he probably said, at least four times, that Sacramento should be the "final resting place for the Sacramento Kings".

I agree.

Lol you're one evil muhhh

Throwdown wrote:

pinksheets wrote:When Sacramento fans play this off as no big deal, that Burkle is not that important....

ask them or just yourself this...

who is KJ on the phone with celebrating an agreement on the arena?

Totally misconstrued, he's excited for the pizza he just ordered.

Can you blame the guy? Pizza is delicious!!!!

#herewebuy...dominoes

Anyone else on Sonicsrising?

Hawken-Dazs wrote:Anyone else on Sonicsrising?

Just went over there for the first time, and I see this as the first thread... lol

http://www.sonicsrising.com/2013/4/9/42 ... -classless

Sacramento developer Mark Friedman joins the Sacramento effort
http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/201 ... acramento/

There is just so much instability on Sacramento's side and yet almost a week until the owner's meeting.

twisted_steel2 wrote:

Hawken-Dazs wrote:Anyone else on Sonicsrising?

Just went over there for the first time, and I see this as the first thread... lol

http://www.sonicsrising.com/2013/4/9/42 ... -classless

One word.

Umadbro?

KJ long ago established himself as almost a flat-out liar - a total politician. Any celebrating he is doing or claims he is making are %90 BS. The Hanson group is the opposite - pragmatic, straightforward, phlegmatic with the press. It's real, real hard to translate anything KJ says into any kind of reality. He's the captain of the Titanic going down with the ship, grinning, nodding, giving the thumbs up: "We'll be just fine!"

When I look at this situation right now and try to pretend that I am neutral, I cannot see this going in Sacramento's favor. Seattle has a plan that is about as good as it gets while Sacramento is still trying to force pieces that don't quite fit. This is suppose to be a business decision after all...

TheLargentLine wrote:When I look at this situation right now and try to pretend that I am neutral, I cannot see this going in Sacramento's favor. Seattle has a plan that is about as good as it gets while Sacramento is still trying to force pieces that don't quite fit. This is suppose to be a business decision after all...

Yep. Seattle's ownership, arena plan, and market just seem so strong and stable at this point. Then the ticket reservation thing recently was brilliant, well timed.

It's not like attendance to Sonics games before they left was lacking. In 06-07, the average attendance was approximately 95% of KeyArena's capacity. So there's really no basis for an argument that an NBA team did not and would not have enough support in Seattle.

i just heard some zillionaire that was backing kings by the name of burkle just dropped off...things looking awful promising!!

You can smell the desperation coming from Sacramento, and yes its combining with the cows and it smells like victory for Seattle.

Say what you want about KJ but at least he isn't just laying down like Greg Nickels did; I hate him almost as much as I do Clay Bennett.

Killa Kam wrote:Say what you want about KJ but at least he isn't just laying down like Greg Nickels did; I hate him almost as much as I do Clay Bennett.

He's still a punk, only a desperate man would throw the fans of either town under the bus. KJ has stooped to that level, Hansen & other Seattle guys haven't made it about the fans, but they/we could if we really felt like being jerks and taking it there. But we've been pretty business like in our approach both on the home front from the fans and where it matters with Hansen.

Throwdown wrote:

Killa Kam wrote:Say what you want about KJ but at least he isn't just laying down like Greg Nickels did; I hate him almost as much as I do Clay Bennett.

He's still a punk, only a desperate man would throw the fans of either town under the bus. KJ has stooped to that level, Hansen & other Seattle guys haven't made it about the fans, but they/we could if we really felt like being jerks and taking it there. But we've been pretty business like in our approach both on the home front from the fans and where it matters with Hansen.

I haven't followed this as much so I didn't know he was throwing little shots at us, disregard my last post then. I think I read somewhere on twitter Hansen and the other guys on our side weren't allowed to publicly comment on the proceedings.

Killa Kam wrote:

Throwdown wrote:

Killa Kam wrote:Say what you want about KJ but at least he isn't just laying down like Greg Nickels did; I hate him almost as much as I do Clay Bennett.

He's still a punk, only a desperate man would throw the fans of either town under the bus. KJ has stooped to that level, Hansen & other Seattle guys haven't made it about the fans, but they/we could if we really felt like being jerks and taking it there. But we've been pretty business like in our approach both on the home front from the fans and where it matters with Hansen.

I haven't followed this as much so I didn't know he was throwing little shots at us, disregard my last post then. I think I read somewhere on twitter Hansen and the other guys on our side weren't allowed to publicly comment on the proceedings.

They're not, they're on gag order after the purchase was submitted and they were vetted. He did speak to the media a week ago, but it was just a bunch of "i can't really say anything on that" when it came to actually talking about the process, but when it came to talking about Seattle's support, he did a good job.

The only thing that gives me a bad feeling about this whole situation is that Sacramento is really putting a push forward for their case. They're doing far, far more than Seattle ever did back in the day. The NBA, I think, would rather not move franchises if it had a choice. And that scares me. Even a half-assed plan to save the Kings could be all they need to pull this off.

I agree Seahawk Sailor. The NBA really screwed this whole thing up. By holding Sacramento's hand they have painted themselves into a corner. The message will either be "it will be nearly impossible to keep your team if your owner wants to sell to outside bidders" or "you can have a perfect arena plan in place with all the necessary support and you won't get a team, and owners can't really choose who they sell to".

I'm not worried, but I'm very nervous. I really think that if Seattle doesn't get the Kings there won't be another chance until the NBA expands.

BillHawks wrote:I agree Seahawk Sailor. The NBA really screwed this whole thing up. By holding Sacramento's hand they have painted themselves into a corner. The message will either be "it will be nearly impossible to keep your team if your owner wants to sell to outside bidders" or "you can have a perfect arena plan in place with all the necessary support and you won't get a team, and owners can't really choose who they sell to".

I'm not worried, but I'm very nervous. I really think that if Seattle doesn't get the Kings there won't be another chance until the NBA expands.

Or I'm dead :-(

grizbob wrote:

BillHawks wrote:I agree Seahawk Sailor. The NBA really screwed this whole thing up. By holding Sacramento's hand they have painted themselves into a corner. The message will either be "it will be nearly impossible to keep your team if your owner wants to sell to outside bidders" or "you can have a perfect arena plan in place with all the necessary support and you won't get a team, and owners can't really choose who they sell to".

I'm not worried, but I'm very nervous. I really think that if Seattle doesn't get the Kings there won't be another chance until the NBA expands.

Or I'm dead :-(

I'm still pretty confident we'll get the Kings. It's just hard not to question yourself with all the PR stuff Sacramento is doing.

I honestly don't think the NBA wants to ever move franchises, look at New Orleans, they went out of their way last year to keep the team there. I think they're giving Sacramento a fair shot here, but I just don't think Sacramentos shot is good enough.

Funny to see this transparent propaganda blitz from Sac based media.

"90/10 they stay"
"The NBA will not leave with a bad taste in the mouth of Sacramento"
"The NBA is backing Sacramento"

etc. etc. etc.

Coincidentally this comes a day after they lose their biggest investor and replace him with some small time shady guy.

You change those Sacramentos to Seattles and it's 2008 all over again, lol. God those days friggin sucked, the team sucked and we were gonna lose em.

pinksheets wrote:

Coincidentally this comes a day after they lose their biggest investor and replace him with some small time shady guy.

Sachawk finally putting his money where his mouth is, huh?

JSeahawks wrote:

pinksheets wrote:

Coincidentally this comes a day after they lose their biggest investor and replace him with some small time shady guy.

Sachawk finally putting his money where his mouth is, huh?

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

@wchoops
THE LATEST: Some #NBA owners want Sacramento back and pushing hard for Seattle expansion team, big bucks to them if it happens

"Want Sacramento back" is an odd choice of words, isn't it?

Why would you need to bring "Sacramento back" if they already hold a team? Might just be poor wording there, but that could sound like BoG was leaning Seattle but is now considering expansion to please both sides. That wouldn't surprise me. Picking one? Seattle, obvious choice. Picking both? Get the big money from Seattle and the nice tax write off for charity by having a team in Sac.

As an outsider to the situation I hope they don't go the expansion route. I'd feel bad for the people of Sacramento if they lost the Kings, and I feel bad for the people of Seattle that they lost the Sonics. But as a fan of the NBA there are already too many crappy teams and not enough great players to go around. I'd rather cut a few teams from the NBA than add more.

JSeahawks wrote:As an outsider to the situation I hope they don't go the expansion route. I'd feel bad for the people of Sacramento if they lost the Kings, and I feel bad for the people of Seattle that they lost the Sonics. But as a fan of the NBA there are already too many crappy teams and not enough great players to go around. I'd rather cut a few teams from the NBA than add more.

Yeah, I agree. I don't think there's enough room for another team.

Pstark3 wrote:@wchoops
THE LATEST: Some #NBA owners want Sacramento back and pushing hard for Seattle expansion team, big bucks to them if it happens

Well if expansion is ultimately out of the question, which I think it is based on what Stern said. For those suspected owners that want to make both parties happy how do they vote on the 18th/19th?

Blitzer88 wrote:

Pstark3 wrote:@wchoops
THE LATEST: Some #NBA owners want Sacramento back and pushing hard for Seattle expansion team, big bucks to them if it happens

Well if expansion is ultimately out of the question, which I think it is based on what Stern said. For those suspected owners that want to make both parties happy how do they vote on the 18th/19th?

They have to put aside their feelings for Sacramento and vote for whichever side has the most solid financial situation and arena plan.

JSeahawks wrote:As an outsider to the situation I hope they don't go the expansion route. I'd feel bad for the people of Sacramento if they lost the Kings, and I feel bad for the people of Seattle that they lost the Sonics. But as a fan of the NBA there are already too many crappy teams and not enough great players to go around. I'd rather cut a few teams from the NBA than add more.

Can we cut Portland from the list of crappy teams?

You don't really want the NBA to cut the Blazers do you? I'm a Portland transplant and a Blazer fan. Most Blazer fans want to see the Sonics back. The team has good support, and a good owner.

There's definitely other teams I'd rather see cut before the Blazers. It's good to have a local rivalry

Zybot wrote:You don't really want the NBA to cut the Blazers do you? I'm a Portland transplant and a Blazer fan. Most Blazer fans want to see the Sonics back. The team has good support, and a good owner.

No, yeah. Like, hello? I think us Seattle folks know all about the Blazers' owner.

Zybot wrote:You don't really want the NBA to cut the Blazers do you? I'm a Portland transplant and a Blazer fan. Most Blazer fans want to see the Sonics back. The team has good support, and a good owner.

I think he was just messing with the local blazer fans a bit, nobody would want to see the blazers go anywhere for real.

The sonics/Blazers rivalry has always been more about a little fun trash talking and not about hate.

I'm a fan of no team until the Sonics come back but I would much rather see the blazer's succeed than others. (even though the nba is dead to me until we get another team)

Looks like the Kings have in deed matched the H/B/N's bid.

David Bienick ‏@kcrabienick 2m
Sen. Steinberg: “…Sacramento has made not only a fully competitive offer, but an offer that matches dollar-for-dollar the Seattle offer.”

Blitzer88 wrote:Looks like the Kings have in deed matched the H/B/N's bid.

David Bienick ‏@kcrabienick 2m
Sen. Steinberg: “…Sacramento has made not only a fully competitive offer, but an offer that matches dollar-for-dollar the Seattle offer.”

Aside from the fact that I'm calling shenanigans (seriously, nobody else is reporting it), its a good thing that Hansen and Co. can increase their offer if needs be.

@bcondotta Whether this is true or not, the big question is whether or not Chris Hansen can counter the counterbid. #Seattle #Sacramento

@mrtommygman I've been told he can.

And more...

Kelly Johnson ‏@KellyJohnsonBiz 2m
Steinberg did NOT say #Sacramento matched #Seattle’s bid for #Kings, only that Sac made a competitive bid, his spokesman says

JOz56 wrote:And more...

Kelly Johnson ‏@KellyJohnsonBiz 2m
Steinberg did NOT say #Sacramento matched #Seattle’s bid for #Kings, only that Sac made a competitive bid, his spokesman says

Heh. Yea.

Just when we get a little worried, this pops out of the clown car that is the Sacramento Kings cheerleading investment group.

Go to Chris Daniels twitter feed, it was all bull and the offers might not be close.

That was cute though, I bet blitzer just about lost it.

Throwdown wrote:Go to Chris Daniels twitter feed, it was all bull and the offers might not be close.

That was cute though, I bet blitzer just about lost it.

You have no idea..........I got into the fetal position and hid in my panic room............

Also, what does this mean?:
Chris Daniels‏@ChrisDaniels541m
RT @dakasler: Online now - Source: Maloof family sets deadline for Sacramento investors http://sacb.ee/XDReJR

I thought the Maloofs wanted to only deal with the Hansen/Ballmer group?