Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! is reporting that the Maloof family is finalizing a deal to sell the Sacramento Kings to a group that will relocate them to Seattle starting next season.
The new ownership group includes Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and hedge-fund manager Chris Hansen, Yahoo! reports. It's unclear if Erik and Peter Nordstrom— who were believed to be part of a group with Hansen and Ballmer that has been trying to build a new NBA arena in Seattle since last summer, according to the Seattle Times— are also involved.
They plan to call the team the Sonics and use the old logo, according to Yahoo!.
Wojnarowski described the deal nearly complete, calling it, "1st and goal at the 1." Here's everything he has reported so far:
The Maloofs are finalizing an agreement to sell the Sacramento Kings to the Hansen-Ballmer led Seattle group, sources tell Yahoo! Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) January 9, 2013
The deal will sell the Kings for approximately $500 million, with the Seattle group seeking relocation to Key Arena for the 2013-'14 season.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) January 9, 2013
The Seattle group's plans, with support of the NBA, is to play two seasons in Key Arena before moving into a new Seattle arena, sources say.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) January 9, 2013
No agreement signed, but one source describes deal as "1st and goal at 1." Maloofs history of changing course late still makes many uneasy.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) January 9, 2013
The Maloofs are expected to keep an extremely small percentage of team, but will have no real input or say in franchise, sources say.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) January 9, 2013
The Maloofs have been trying to either sell the team or get a deal to build a new arena in Sacramento for more than a year. Forbesvalued the franchise at $300 million last year.
Seattle last had an NBA team in 2008, when the SuperSonics were sold and moved to Oklahoma City to become the Thunder.
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