Sacramento Kings Blog – Page 54 – NBA Blog

Ticket waitlist in Seattle for Kings announced

The prospective owner of the Sacramento Kings is calling on fans in Seattle to sign up for a “priority ticket waitlist” as a way to show the NBA how much interest there is in bringing pro basketball back to the area.

Chris Hansen made the announcement on his SonicsArena.com website on Monday. It was his first statement since the announcement of the sale of the Kings from the Maloof family to Hansen and Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer on Jan. 21. Hansen and Ballmer have a signed agreement to acquire a 65 percent stake in the Kings for $341 million from the Maloofs. That sale is pending league approval.

“In addition to helping us understand and prioritize the demand for tickets, registering your interest will be a critical step in demonstrating to the NBA and basketball fans around the country the unbelievable passion that exists in the Emerald City to BRING BACK OUR SONICS!” Hansen wrote.

— Reported by the Associated Press

David Stern thinks Seattle offer for Kings is better than new Sacramento offer

Last week, a triumphant Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson announced a potential Kings purchase group had submitted a fair and competitive offer to keep the team in town. Friday night, NBA Commissioner David Stern said no, not quite.

Speaking to the news media before a Golden State Warriors game in Oakland, the commissioner delivered a bombshell, saying a Sacramento group’s counteroffer to buy the team does not measure up in dollars to a tentative deal the Kings recently signed with a group that hopes to move the team to Seattle.

“The counter bid has got very strong financial people behind it, but it is not quite there in comparison to the Seattle bid,” Stern said. “There is a substantial variance.”

The commissioner declined to say how far short the Sacramento bid fell of the reported $341 million Seattle offer for a 65 percent share of the team.

— Reported by Tony Bizjak, Dale Kasler and Ryan Lillis of the Sacramento Bee

Campaign to keep Kings in Sacramento continues

The public relations campaign to keep the Kings in town continued today with a blast from the franchise’s past.

Former Kings star Mitch Richmond greeted a few dozen fans at midtown’s Firestone Public House, signing posters and hats. Richmond has pledged $1 million to be part of a local ownership contingent seeking to block the Kings’ move to Seattle.

“It would be a sad day if the Kings leave this community,” Richmond said. “I know Seattle is a good place, I think Seattle’s team (the Sonics) should have never left. But we want our team here.”

— Reported by Ryan Lillis of the Sacramento Bee

Longshore union to appeal Seattle arena lawsuit

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union says it intends to appeal a judge’s ruling that threw out their lawsuit aimed at undoing a deal to build a new professional basketball and hockey arena in Seattle – a key part of plans to bring the NBA back to town.

The ILWU says it will announce appeal plans during a news conference on Tuesday. The ILWU Local 19, representing workers at the Port of Seattle, says they believe the court failed to acknowledge that the memorandum of understanding between investor Chris Hansen, the city of Seattle and King County is in violation of the state environmental protection act.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Mayor Kevin Johnson reveals bid to keep Kings in Sacramento

For more than a year, Southern California grocery tycoon Ron Burkle and his business associates have pursued a plan to build a new arena in Downtown Plaza to cement the Kings’ future in Sacramento.

On Thursday, that interest finally burst into the open. Standing on a stage at the Memorial Auditorium in front of 3,000 cheering Sacramentans gathered for his State of the City address, Mayor Kevin Johnson announced that Burkle and 24 Hour Fitness founder Mark Mastrov were teaming up on a bid to buy the Kings and construct an arena at the site of downtown’s lagging open-air mall.

The bid for the team, which will be filed with the National Basketball Association today, will serve as Sacramento’s counteroffer should the NBA board of governors next month reject the Kings’ deal to move the franchise to Seattle.

While the amount of the Burkle and Mastrov bid was not revealed Thursday, the mayor said it would be “very strong and competitive.” Seattle hedge-fund manager Chris Hansen and Microsoft executive Steve Ballmer have a binding agreement with the Maloof family to buy the Kings in a deal that values the franchise at $525 million, or about $341 million for the 65 percent they control.

A source familiar with the Mastrov offer said it’s expected that the NBA will look over the proposal and forward it to the Maloofs, who have the right to “entertain” other offers as backups in case the NBA rejects the Seattle bid. Beyond that, the process isn’t quite clear.

— Reported by Ryan Lillis, Dale Kasler and Tony Bizjak of the Sacramento Bee

Heat win 12th straight game, outlast Kings in 2OT

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra summed up the efforts of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in three words: ”Video game numbers,” he said.

Both put up monster stat lines.

And the Miami Heat needed them.

James scored 40 points and added a career-high 16 assists, Wade had 39 points, and the Heat pushed their winning streak to 12 games by outlasting the Sacramento Kings 141-129 in double overtime on Tuesday night.

”Some great stat lines tonight,” James said. ”But I’m happy I was able to do what I did and help our team win.”

Great stat lines might be calling it an understatement. Consider:

– A season high in scoring for James, who capped off the best shooting month of his career.

– A season high in scoring for Wade, who tied a career best with 19 field goals.

– A 36-point night for the Kings’ Marcus Thornton, the most by any non-starter in the NBA this season.

– The 141 points tied a Heat franchise record, set in 1991.

– Add James’ assists to the mix, and he put up the NBA’s first night of at least 40 points and 16 assists since April 1994. The man who did it then? None other than Phoenix guard Kevin Johnson, now, ironically enough, the mayor of Sacramento. And for February, James finished 139 for 217 from the floor, that 64.1 percent clip the best of his career for any month.

”It was a great atmosphere,” said Thornton, who made 11 of 18 shots, including 8 of 12 from 3-point range.

— Reported by Tim Reyolds of the Associated Press

Sacramento City Council to consider different deal on Kings arena than last time

Sacramento’s new plan to finance a downtown sports arena may wind up being vastly different than the deal reached last year between the city and the owners of the Sacramento Kings.

City officials said Monday they aren’t starting from scratch in their quest to develop a financing plan for an arena, but acknowledged in a staff report to the City Council that last year’s plan “and all its detail will likely change in this scenario.”

The City Council will be asked tonight to give top city officials the go-ahead to begin formal arena negotiations with a private investment group interested in buying the Kings and keeping them in Sacramento. The council is also being asked to commit $150,000 to pay consultants and attorneys to represent the city.

At the moment, the council still hasn’t officially been briefed on whom the city will be negotiating with. It’s widely known, however, that Mayor Kevin Johnson has been talking to Southern California billionaire Ron Burkle and 24-Hour Fitness founder Mark Mastrov.

Reported by Ryan Lillis, Tony Bizjak and Dale Kasler of the Sacramento Bee

Davis, Gordon lead Hornets past Kings 110-95

Anthony Davis had 20 points and eight rebounds, and Eric Gordon added 17 points and eight assists to lead the New Orleans Hornets to a 110-95 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Sunday.

Ryan Anderson scored 17 points, Roger Mason had 13, and Robin Lopez and Greivis Vasquez 12 apiece for New Orleans, which won its first game since an 0-3 start following the All-Star break.

The Hornets also improved to 18-12 when holding opponents below 100 points.

John Salmons scored all 18 of his points in the second half for the Kings. Jason Thompson, DeMarcus Cousins and Isaiah Thomas each added 16 as Sacramento lost its fifth consecutive overall and eight straight on the road.

Tyreke Evans and Marcus Thornton had 12 points each for Sacramento…

Newly acquired C Cole Aldrich was not with the Kings on Sunday, Sacramento coach Keith Smart said before the game. Smart said Aldrich was in Sacramento for additional medical tests. Aldrich, along with Toney Douglas and Patrick Patterson were acquired in a trade with the Houston Rockets this past week in exchange for Thomas Robinson. Douglas and Patterson were with the team and Patterson scored 2 points. Douglas did not play.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Seattle judge rejects lawsuit to block Kings arena

A judge tossed out a lawsuit that could have seriously disrupted Seattle’s plan for a new NBA-ready arena.

Sacramento officials weren’t putting much stock in the lawsuit and are relying instead on their own proposal to secure the Kings.

Hours after the judge’s decision, Sacramento City Manager John Shirey said he was encouraged by preliminary talks last week on arena financing with a group of wealthy investors who want to keep the Kings in town.

In a potential stumbling block for Sacramento, the investors at first asked if the city could contribute more than the $255 million it pledged to an arena deal last spring, Shirey said. City officials didn’t present a counteroffer but, at a second meeting two days later, explained the details of the arena package approved by the City Council in March.

That second meeting “went well,” Shirey said. “They had a greater appreciation for what had been offered last year.”

— Reported by Dale Kasler, Ryan Lillis and Tony Bizjak of the Sacramento Bee

Hawks pull away late, beat Kings 122-108

When Josh Smith took the challenge of defending DeMarcus Cousins, the Atlanta Hawks finally took control against the Sacramento Kings.

Smith, who remained in Atlanta after being discussed in talks leading up to Thursday’s trade deadline, came through with his defense one day later.

Al Horford led Atlanta’s balanced scoring with 24 points and the Hawks overcame a slow start to beat Sacramento 122-108 on Friday night.

Jeff Teague had 20 points and 12 assists, Smith added 18 points and DeShawn Stevenson had 17 for Atlanta, which had six players in double figures.

Smith also had six rebounds and four assists, but coach Larry Drew talked the most about the decision made by the 6-foot-9 power forward to defend the 6-foot-11, 270-pound Cousins, the Kings’ high-scoring center…

Smith said Thursday he didn’t sleep well Wednesday night as the trade deadline neared. He said he ”slept too good, actually” on Thursday night and had the energy to hold Cousins, who had 26 points and 13 rebounds, to only four points in the final quarter…

Isaiah Thomas scored 30 points with nine assists to lead the Kings, who have lost four straight and eight of 10.

— Reported by Charles Odum of the Associated Press