Paul Robins and Bethany Crouch of Fox40 talk to Sacramento Bee columnist Marcos Breton about the latest on the fight to keep the Kings in Sacramento.

Marcos Breton column: No good reason for Kings to move from Sacramento

By Tony Bizjak, Dale Kasler and Ryan Lillis
tbizjak@sacbee.com

After weeks of private negotiations, the owners of the Sacramento Kings are on the verge of announcing that they're selling the team to a group that would move the Kings to Seattle.

The announcement could come as early as tomorrow morning. It follows two weeks of intense speculation and sets the stage for a climactic tug-of-war between Sacramento and Seattle over the team's future over the next few weeks.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson is planning to propose a counter-offer in which a rival group would buy the Kings and keep them in Sacramento.

Seattle and Sacramento sports fans and leaders had different reactions to reports that a group from Seattle is negotiating to buy the Sacramento Kings' NBA franchise.

Here is a compilation of news stories from around the nation regarding the deal, or no deal, depending on how you look at it.

Seattle Times: Kings' owners want to keep hand in running NBA team, source says

Seattle Times: Sacramento vows fight to prevent sale, move of Kings

Seattle Times poll question: Would you feel guilty about swiping the Kings?

ESPN: If the Kings move, then what?

Seattle Times editorial: Hey Sacramento, Seattle Sonics fans feel your pain

Virginian-Pilot: A loooong way to the NBA

Bleacher Report: Sacramento Kings to Seattle: A Bitter Love Story from a Jilted Sacramentan

The news and social-media fireball started with a single tweet earlier this morning from Daina Falk, daughter of NBA agent. The tweet was later deleted. It said: "So I hear that the Seattle Kings is officially a done deal! The Maloofs finally sold the ailing Sacramento team. #NBA"

Free agency has begun!!!!

The Kings aren't likely to land one of the big names in free agency (yes, end those fantasies of Deron Williams coming to Sacramento).

But there are some realistic options that fit the Kings' desire not to burden their payroll in the future but filling the need to add experienced players.

Here's a quick breakdown at who the Kings could look at. It's a very short list that's sure to have names added once the process begins:

The Kings and their fifth pick in Thursday's NBA Draft continue to be the subject of rumors.

So I'll try to separate fact from fiction (as I know it at this hour).

*There doesn't appear to be anything substantial or imminent involving the Houston Rockets. NBA.com's David Aldridge reported the Kings turned down an offer from Houston of the 16th overall pick and point guard Kyle Lowry for the fifth pick and Chuck Hayes.

There have also been the rumored offer of two first-round picks for Tyreke Evans and the fifth pick (which has been refuted by numerous sources).

The Rockets will likely come calling again. But at this hour there isn't a deal the Kings are close to doing with Houston.

*As impressive as Damian Lillard might have been, it doesn't appear likely the Kings would use the fifth pick on him.

*The Kings are still fielding calls about trading out of the fifth spot. Nothing imminent, but it wouldn't be a shock to see the Kings move back. At this stage, everything is still in play.

By time this is posted I'm sure something will have changed. Such is life in the world of rumors leading up to the NBA Draft.

The Kings certainly aren't acting like a team trying to trade Tyreke Evans.

Unlike last season when Evans spent much of the summer in Southern California working out, Evans has been in Sacramento working out with basketball president Geoff Petrie and other Kings staff.

Rumors persist involving Evans being traded, the latest being another proposed deal sending him to Houston that no one in our outside of the Kings has validated the proposed deal.

So, Evans is still a King that is working out with his boss.

Petrie is the man that would be trading Evans. Not that Petrie still couldn't decide to move Evans, but his personal involvement with Evans indicates he is invested in seeing Evans progress.

A lot of the work is on Evans' jump shot and working on the midrange game (jumpers, pull-up shots, floaters) that has been slow to develop in Evans' first three seasons.

I'm also told Evans is in good shape (no extended vacationing) and that he's making progress with his jump shot.

Of course, none of these developments matter in June, but it is progress.

Evans finished the season at small forward, but was never fully comfortable playing off the ball.

Privately, some within the Kings believe the move to small forward was a necessary step for Evans to reach his full potential.

The fact is Evans cannot play with the ball all the time. And in order to enhance Evans' view of the game, coach Keith Smart wanted Evans to see the game from a new perspective.

There were times where Evans was clearly unhappy about the move (almost always after he had a bad game).

How he handles it going forward will decide his future with the Kings, assuming he's not traded.

Evans is eligible for a contract extension but the Kings won't sign him to one, preferring to let this season play out.

And even after some struggles the last two seasons I'm told there are still as many as 11 teams that expressed interest in Evans, so he does have value.

For now, Evans will play his fourth season out as a King.

The mock drafts are out there ... everywhere. I even put one together for the lottery teams.

For the second year in a row I'm assuming the Kings try to fill their glaring need for a long-term small forward and select North Carolina sophomore Harrison Barnes.

There's no way to guarantee Barnes will be available when the Kings select with the fifth pick in next month's NBA Draft.

Now that I've enjoyed a little bit of time off, time to start looking forward.

The Kings (once again) will have plenty of room under the salary cap to make moves this offseason, with about $15 million to work with.

But it's also time for a free-agency reality check.

The Geoff Petrie rumors continue to swirl as Petrie insists he is focused on the Kings.

In March the Kings denied a report Petrie was set to sign a contract extension. Since Petrie's name has been linked to the general manager position in Portland, where Petrie was a player and executive.

Joe Maloof told SI.com Portland had not requested permission to speak to Petrie (which would be required because he is under contract through next season) but added the team would not "hold" Petrie back if there was another offer job he chose to pursue.

The Kings did not make any trades by today's noon trading deadline. So the team that finished last night's loss to the Detroit Pistons will be the team that finishes the season, barring a free agent pick up of some kind.

The Kings are focused on the NBA Draft and free agency to address their roster needs.

Point guard and small forward are areas the Kings will look to find veteran help. But after a coaching change this season, the Kings want to see how this group finishes and assess their development.

Forwards J.J. Hickson, John Salmons and Donte' Greene were rumored to be players the Kings were looking to deal.

The announcers doing tonight's Kings-Thunder national game on TNT - especially former Kings forward Chris Webber - seemed confused when talking during the broadcast about Tuesday's City Council vote, even though Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson explained the situation to announcer Cheryl Miller before the game at Power Balance Pavilion.

Several times during the first half, Webber made comments about the council's vote on the arena failing. In the second half, Webber said he had talked to Johnson and again attempted to clarify but he never really explained the vote accurately and what it meant.

Yes, the vote failed - but it wasn't a vote on the arena, as Webber implied. The council rejected by a 5-4 vote a request by Sandy Sheedy to put the plan to lease the city's parking to help finance the arena up for a public vote.

Here's one of The Bee's Ryan Lillis' stories that best explains the vote and what it means.

As reported several times in The Bee and on sacbee.com -- most recently in Ailene Voisin's column on Jan. 18 -- Kings basketball president Geoff Petrie's future with the team appears increasingly uncertain.

But a report that surfaced Monday night in a fan blog, Sactown Royalty, attributed only to sources - that Kings co-owners Joe and Gavin Maloof have considered relieving Petrie of his position and have contacted a management agent - has been denied forcefully by Joe Maloof.

"No, this is not true," Maloof texted The Bee. "I had heard about (the rumor). We will be fine. We have had the toughest schedule in the league by far."

By Bee Staff

DeMarcus Cousins is traveling with the Kings to Memphis today, Cousins' agent, John Greig, told The Bee's Jason Jones.

Cousins was sent home before the Kings' game against the New Orleans Hornets on Sunday. The Kings released a statement from coach Paul Westphal saying Cousins demanded a trade following the Kings' loss to the New York Knicks on Saturday -- a claim Cousins' agent has denied.

The Kings play at Memphis on Tuesday. Check back for more on this story as it develops.

Kings president of basketball operations Geoff Petrie said he has discussed Kirilienko with his agent, Marc Fleischer. The Kings have made an offer to Kirilenko, who could command as much as $9 million per season.

Kirilenko does not appear to be in a hurry to return to the NBA.

"He's still in Russia and he's playing for CSKA (Moscow) and he's under contract over there," Petrie said. "He's in a little bit of a different place in that he's making a significant amount of money right now and when and if he chooses to come back to the NBA at this point we'd still be more than interested in talking to him. But it's still from what I can tell in a holding pattern."

The Sacramento Kings are still waiting to hear if Jamal Crawford will spurn Portland and join the Kings this season.

The Kings reportedly have offered $6.5 million for this season.

As of this evening, Crawford was mulling the pros and cons of both teams.

The Kings continue to look to add to the talent on the team via free agency. The new target is Jamal Crawford, the high-scoring guard from the Atlanta Hawks.

Crawford, the 2009-10 NBA Sixth Man of the Year, is also being pursued by Portland and the New York Knicks. Crawford has reportedly turned down a two-year, $10 million deal from Indiana.

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