This is a matter of "who do you trust?" Artestify! shared a SbB post in the FanShots. Here are the relevant quotes, which come from John Ireland, who is a sportscaster in Los Angeles.

"The people I have talked to in the NBA have told me that the Kings are going to be forced to move. They are not, especially in that political climate, going to get a new arena. No matter what the mayor says, no matter what the Maloofs say. Most of the people close to the team have told me they will try everything humanly possible to stay in Sacramento but that it’s not in the cards.

I don’t know if Anaheim would happen, that would put three teams within 50 miles of each other, highly unlikely. But Kansas City has a new Anschutz (managed) arena, that’s a very likely possibility ... and Seattle would like to get the Sonics back. You’re looking at maybe 3-5 more seasons in Sacramento and then after they’re going to have to find a place to play."

Forget the fact that the local media has been on top of the arena issue, and that any number of reporters at The Bee, KHTK or one of the TV news stations (Jim Crandell at Fox 40, specifically) would have had this stuff before Ireland gets it. And forget how flimsy -- "the people I have talked to in the NBA" -- the sourcing here is. Forget all that. Just look at the argument.

If there is no arena solution in three years, the NBA won't have to force the Kings to move. The Kings will move. This was the fear for next season ... until the Maloofs promised they will not file for relocation this season. If there is no progress by next summer, this will again be a major fear. Not because the NBA will demand that the Kings fill Phil Anschutz's coffers somewhere. But because the Maloofs will no longer be able to lose money (or put out 20-win teams trying to avoid losing money) with no arena light in sight. At some point sooner than 3-5 years from now, the Maloofs will get the hint.

Further, this has nothing to do with politics. This is to do with finances. As in, financing an arena from the private sector, or using a public entity (Cal Expo) to help speed up the construction of the gym. I sincerely doubt Mayor Johnson will trot out a tax measure for the arena, even if circumstances take the plan back to the railyards. As such, the NBA, the Maloofs -- no one is relying on a tax measure, or the political climate.

This is not reporting. This is rumor-mongering. It's clear Ireland -- even if he is hearing these things from legit voices -- has no feel for the actual situation up here. At least that's my opinion, and it's why I'm filing this crap in the "parse and ignore" pile.

There's lots of great material from Ailene Voisin's Sacramento Bee column on L'Affair San Jose. She talks to Gavin Maloof, who makes some more emphatic commitments to the Sacramento market. The most important note to me is the revelation that the Kings "are operating in the black and are projected to break even throughout the season, the result of reducing operational costs and more prudent salary cap management."

In other words:

LAYOFFS + PAUL WESTPHAL - EDDIE JORDAN - BRAD MILLER - PRESEASON TV - HOUSE PARTY LIVE = PROFIT

There was one other note which particularly piqued my interest: that Gavin Maloof is "dictating the new ticket packaging and marketing plans, and in general, pressing hard for the organization to reconnect with the community."

Continue reading this post »

Sam Amick of The Bee pushes today's Kings in San Jose story a step further by relaying an unreported rumor from last February.

The story indicates that there have been discussions in 'recent months' between the Kings and the HP Pavilion folks about a move. None of this shocked me, as I spent a good amount of time in February trying to verify this very information.

It's the reason I took this shot at team president John Thomas, who wouldn't call me back to confirm or deny whether he had been the one making a 'scouting' trip to San Jose to investigate the arena situation down there. I had numerous people telling me that was the case, but didn't go with it because I couldn't get it confirmed on the other end.

So basically, Kings president John Thomas likely participated in a fact-finding mission in San Jose as the team was at its most vulnerable, hemorrhaging money and selling off veterans amid the worst season in team history. Amick goes on to say he believe that considering nothing has moved forward in S.J. or anywhere, Gavin Maloof's assertion that there will be no relocation for 2010-11 was honest.

And while the reasons for the team's attempt to keep the S.J. visit quiet are obvious, boos to Thomas for sneaking around the media when presented with questions. No doubt a February revelation that the team had been talking to San Jose would have been painful, but now the Kings face these questions again heading into a new season, making the owners look like liars for the Sacramento fans. Not the best strategy there, boss.

And the roller coaster begins another descent. The San Jose Mercury News's Tracy Seipel has an in-depth story today on the plot of the operators of San Jose's HP Pavilion to bring an NBA team to town. Seipel quotes the CEO of the company that owns the NHL's Sharks and runs the Pavilion as saying he has talked to several NBA teams about relocation. And then there's this:

[A] source familiar with the situation said Jamison in recent months has met with the owners of the Sacramento Kings, who are looking for an alternative to aging Arco Arena.

Though it's far from certain that the Kings will ever play a game in San Jose, things have apparently moved far enough ahead that the San Jose City Council as early as month's end will vote on a "memorandum of understanding" that would guide negotiations with any National Basketball Association team.

In case you missed it, this is what Gavin Maloof told The Bee last week in Sacramento regarding the chance the team could relocate:

"No, no, no. There's no way," Maloof told The Bee Wednesday, waving his arms emphatically. "We love the market. We love our fans. This is the only place we want to be."

Someone is not telling the truth here. You be the judge on who that would be.

There has been concern about a supposed timeline for arena progress. Last February, when the NBA's John Moag -- who represents the basketball interests in these proceedings -- unveiled the plan for Cal Expo, the Maloofs tossed out a quote that they needed to see real progress within a year. The one-year mark happened to line up with the NBA's deadline for 2010-11 relocation.

But Gavin Maloof told the Sacramento Bee Wednesday that the team will not file for relocation this spring, and will be in Sacramento for the 2010-11 season.

The specific quote Maloof gave is pretty heartening.

Continue reading this post »

Mayor Kevin Johnson obviously touched a nerve Tuesday in his blog post bemoaning Sacramento's loss of hosting privileges for the NCAA Tournament and questioning the pace of the Cal Expo arena plan development. Bee reporters Tony Bizjak and Ryan Lillis found NBA rep John Moag, the leader of the Cal Expo effort, and synced him up to the mayor's concerns.

The result is not particularly ebullient.

"I think the mayor is expressing a sense of where we all are," Moag said. "We are in a bad economy in a state that doesn't have any money. Lending has dried up. We can't force developers to borrow money they can't get." [...]

Moag said he and the NBA have not given up hope, however, of getting an arena built at Cal Expo. "We are committed to this effort, and the Kings are committed to this effort, and we are staying with it until we get to the point where it is apparent it won't work."

Again, not a lot of hope expressed there. Perhaps it is in Kings fans' wiring to be pessimistic, especially concerning arena issues, because so many attempts have failed. To be clear, no previous attempt has even gotten this far. The Kings have never been closer to a new arena.

And the team's still so far away.

Continue reading this post »

I dare say Mayor Kevin Johnson went a bit off his talking points in a blog post regarding the NBA's plans to build a new arena for the Kings at Cal Expo. The news hook is that ARCO Arena was not selected by the NCAA as a site for the future rounds of March Madness. ARCO has hosted regionals four times in the past 15 years.

Of course, it's disappointing for all us basketball junkies, it's disappointing for the Maloofs who could use that arena revenue, it's disappointing for city and business officials who want to build Sacramento's stature. But it's also an opportunity to rail about the need for a new arena in Sacramento.

Mayor KJ did not let that opportunity pass him by.

I've been watching the developments at Cal Expo regarding a potential new arena for the Kings. I know lots of hard work has gone into those discussions. And I'm familiar with the many failed efforts to build a new arena in Sacramento.

Today I fear the Cal Expo discussions -- like so many that came before -- won't bring results fast enough, if at all. Clearly, the time for discussion at Cal Expo is running out. I can tell you I won't be standing by watching other promoters reject Arco Arena. I won't wait for the question, "Who's next to go?" The arena issue needs the Mayor's leadership. And that's what it's going to get.

Mayor KJ then pledges to be a leader on the issue. My worry is that the mayor's leadership on this issue connects with his leadership on downtown revitalization, and that alliance of concern coming out of the mayor's office serves to disrupt the Cal Expo progress for the sake of reigniting the downtown arena idea. That's just a hunch -- and I should say I'm as worried about Cal Expo as the mayor claims to be. It's too big a project right now, and the region is in too much trouble to rely on the faith of big-time developers.

I'm glad our mayor is engaged and passionate about the arena issue. But it'd be foolish to ignore his motives. Be wary if Mayor KJ continues to assert his opinion as we move forward.

(Hat-tip: CBS 13.)

They came, they saw, they did not laugh in Sacramento's collective face:

Cal Expo and National Basketball Association representatives met with four major developers for what they call a "reality check" on their multibillion-dollar concept for a Sacramento Kings arena, a new fairgrounds, and an array of housing, offices and stores on the Expo site.

"What I learned this week is we have a viable project," NBA representative John Moag said. "There wasn't one developer who said, 'You're crazy.' "

This is what qualifies for victory in matters of a new Sacramento arena: when they don't laugh at you, you might have something viable.

For what it's worth, based on what I've heard, Mayor Kevin Johnson wants desperately to keep the team in Sacramento, and will go to great lengths to preserve the presence of the NBA in the city. But he prefers the long-dead downtown project. Keep that in mind, should this massive attempt fail.

By the way, the Bee's Tony Bizjak quotes both NBA and Cal Expo officials on the matter of being forced for the economy to bounce back. A study released Wednesday projected the state's economic recovery to come somewhere around 2011. Sacramento's economy could take longer, given the financial hits to state workers and the excessive impact the real estate apocalypse had on the area.

As a reminder, the Maloofs have said they need progress by March 2010. Which is quite a bit before 2011. As in, eight months away.