This just in from News10:

George Maloof tells News10 a deal to sell the Kings to Seattle group is not close.

— Bryan May (@BMayNews10) January 10, 2013

And we should all trust him, because he's a developer.

While it's nice to hear straight from the horse's mouth that a deal is not close, when the horse's mouth is George Maloof I'm going to be skeptical. George has been the foremost Maloof brother these past few years on the relocation/sale issues. He's the one who reportedly met with Virginia Beach, he was the one who wanted to move the team to Anaheim, and he's the one who killed the arena deal back in April.

Also, just because a deal is not close does not mean a deal is not being worked on or that a deal may not eventually be reached. I fully believe the Maloofs and Seattle are engaged in talks to sell the team. We can only hope that before the end, Sacramento is given a fair chance to keep the team in Sacramento if the team is sold.