Vivek & Co put 50% of Kings purchase price into escrow, per report

The ownership group seeking to purchase the Sacramento Kings, led by Vivek Ranadivé, has placed 50% of the purchase price of the Kings into an escrow account, according to reports. Following Monday's news that the NBA relocation committee recommended against relocating to Seattle, it was widely reported that Vivek & Co would place this deposit.

Source says @vivek & partners put 50% of #NBAKings purchase price in escrow today, as expected.

— Dale Kasler (@dakasler) May 3, 2013

Dale Kasler was the first to report that the deposit had been placed, with multiple outlets confirming the report.

I have confirmed the Sacramento ownership group @vivek did in fact put 50% of #NBAKings purchase price in an escrow account today.

— Bryan May (@BMayNews10) May 3, 2013

Sources confirm @dakasler's report that @vivek's ownership group dropped the 50 percent deposit into escrow.

— Aaron Bruski (@aaronbruski) May 3, 2013

As we've seen in this saga, a deposit is no guarantee of anything, but it is another step forward in the process. There have been no public reports of negotiations between the Sacramento group and the Maloofs.

However, on Friday's Cowbell Kingdom podcast, Jonathan Santiago said he'd spoken with Mark Mastrov at Thursday's Warriors/Nuggets game. When asked if there had been any negotiations, Mastrov paused, smirked, and said "no comment", according to Santiago.

We'll keep you updated as we continue to move towards May 15th.