No. Just because somebody overpays for this team doesn't mean that other teams will sell at overpriced valuations. The only reason HBN are bidding this much is because this is a team they can move to Seattle. If the NBA tells them "fine, you can buy the team but you MUST buy the land and take the arena deal that's in place in Sacramento and commit to keeping the team there for 35 years" they would never do it. There are only a handful of markets worth that much money. This doesn't raise other team's values at all, although it raises the value of expansion teams.
Cat out of bag and other latest news, rumors, etc.
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And then it hit me, Chris Hansen IS Jay Gatsby. A nevo-rich punk he thinks that all that matters is cash and he can by anything or any one he wants. Interesting coincidence that a new (and reportedly bad) film version of the story should come out at this time.
Brick, of course is right. This is a straight up bribe for the Maloofs to reject the local offer and sue. (legal team courtesy of Hansen) Let us hope that in that reptilian brain of George Maloof the sure thing now is more appealing than the risk/wait for a possible, albeit unlikely, $65 million dollar bump.
Brick, of course is right. This is a straight up bribe for the Maloofs to reject the local offer and sue. (legal team courtesy of Hansen) Let us hope that in that reptilian brain of George Maloof the sure thing now is more appealing than the risk/wait for a possible, albeit unlikely, $65 million dollar bump.
This is so transparent:
Hansen/Ballmer/Maloof's sues NBA for losses
Wins
Sacramento/CA sues HBM for losses to the city after losing team
Wins
Seattle/WA sues Sac/CA for losses to local economy
Wins
CA declares war on WA
Wins, but Sac and Olympia/Seattle decimated
North Korea buys Kings and moves them, Rodman is owner/GM, NBA approves deal unilaterally
Duh.
Hansen/Ballmer/Maloof's sues NBA for losses
Wins
Sacramento/CA sues HBM for losses to the city after losing team
Wins
Seattle/WA sues Sac/CA for losses to local economy
Wins
CA declares war on WA
Wins, but Sac and Olympia/Seattle decimated
North Korea buys Kings and moves them, Rodman is owner/GM, NBA approves deal unilaterally
Duh.
that is the impression of Gatsby you came out of the book with? fairly far off of how I see him.
as for the matter at hand: whatever. maaaayyyyybeee I should be more worried, but I've never felt more confident in Sacto's chances of keeping the team and indifferent to whatever it is Seattle does at this point.
as for the matter at hand: whatever. maaaayyyyybeee I should be more worried, but I've never felt more confident in Sacto's chances of keeping the team and indifferent to whatever it is Seattle does at this point.
LOL I do agree I am confident the Kings are staying. Yes Jay Gatsby is a more complex character than can be boiled down to one sentence and I DID pick and choose in writing it. BUT JG does believe he can buy respectability AND Daisy's love, past there we could have a nice discussion of literary interpretation in the lounge.
Of course that is what Hansen is angling for. And right now he's trying to bribe the Maloofs to bring it.
A potential factor here could be the Maloofs' stated desire to be sports owners again, maybe in the NHL. If they leave the NBA creating a giant ****storm, that's it for that dream. They will be as toxic to everyone else as they are to us.
A potential factor here could be the Maloofs' stated desire to be sports owners again, maybe in the NHL. If they leave the NBA creating a giant ****storm, that's it for that dream. They will be as toxic to everyone else as they are to us.
ESPN's report is including a few paragraphs about Vivek's "bribe" to not take the new revenue sharing money. I know ESPN is lazy as ****, but you'd think they learn by now that Seattle press reports need to be better scrutinized. Listing a statement that the team won't need to take revenue sharing money as a bribe is some pretty drastic spin.
They also include this paragraph:
That makes it sound like the city is paying the ownership group part of the purchase price. Not that it's a garage bond for an arena and promise of future development in the surrounding area. The ESPN article is pure Seattle spin. That's not new for ESPN, but considering how it burned them when the news came out that the committee voted to keep the team in Sacramento, you'd think they'd learn.
They also include this paragraph:
That makes it sound like the city is paying the ownership group part of the purchase price. Not that it's a garage bond for an arena and promise of future development in the surrounding area. The ESPN article is pure Seattle spin. That's not new for ESPN, but considering how it burned them when the news came out that the committee voted to keep the team in Sacramento, you'd think they'd learn.
The Maloofs are the key.
Hansen's supporters keep mentioning tortious interference with contract etc. etc., but entirely apart from whether that would be a wise suit to bring, whether its even possible or not depends on contract law, and specifically what the NBA's laws say both about when a sale becomes official, and restrictions on parties bidding for a team. They want to claim that Hansen contract is a done deal and the NBA is breaking it. Depending on how the NBA's rules are written however, it may never have been a done deal until the NBA signed it as well. In addition, there are restrictions on bidding parties being allowed to sue the league, but I don't know what they are.
The potential monster in the closet of course is antitrust, but the Maloofs are the ones much better positioned to go down that dark road than Hansen. Make no doubt about it, they are the danger. Hansen has found a set of soulless stooges to potentially do his dirty work for him and is trying to bribe them to try the same sort of league busting tactics people like Al Davis have tried in the past. He is trying to give them the ability to claim the NBA is cheating them of $100mil. Or more realistically, he is trying to threaten the league with that so that the league will cave to his wishes.
Hansen's supporters keep mentioning tortious interference with contract etc. etc., but entirely apart from whether that would be a wise suit to bring, whether its even possible or not depends on contract law, and specifically what the NBA's laws say both about when a sale becomes official, and restrictions on parties bidding for a team. They want to claim that Hansen contract is a done deal and the NBA is breaking it. Depending on how the NBA's rules are written however, it may never have been a done deal until the NBA signed it as well. In addition, there are restrictions on bidding parties being allowed to sue the league, but I don't know what they are.
The potential monster in the closet of course is antitrust, but the Maloofs are the ones much better positioned to go down that dark road than Hansen. Make no doubt about it, they are the danger. Hansen has found a set of soulless stooges to potentially do his dirty work for him and is trying to bribe them to try the same sort of league busting tactics people like Al Davis have tried in the past. He is trying to give them the ability to claim the NBA is cheating them of $100mil. Or more realistically, he is trying to threaten the league with that so that the league will cave to his wishes.
I wasn't saying that the 341 million wasn't accurate, but that they worded it in a way where someone who isn't clued in might think the city is giving the ownership group 250 million to buy the team. This goes in line with Seattle's spin: the idea that the Sacramento ownership group is somehow dirt poor.
I don't say this for your benefit, as I realize you are fully aware, but some seem naive to the fact that without the Sacramento group's involvement -- and the NBA allowing their involvement -- the extra $100M valuation ($48.75M more in the seller's pocket) that has subsequently been "volunteered" by the Seattle group would have never been placed on the table.
If Sacramento had simply played dead throughout this ordeal, the seller's would have been paid the originally agreed upon sum of $341.25M for their 65% share of the team. If the Sacramento group matches that sum, there's no merit to the argument that the seller could have received more $$ had the Sacramento group stayed out of it or had the NBA not allowed them in. It's a contradicting argument and surely a Judge would understand that.
If Sacramento had simply played dead throughout this ordeal, the seller's would have been paid the originally agreed upon sum of $341.25M for their 65% share of the team. If the Sacramento group matches that sum, there's no merit to the argument that the seller could have received more $$ had the Sacramento group stayed out of it or had the NBA not allowed them in. It's a contradicting argument and surely a Judge would understand that.
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As for Seattle's play, it does seem to be about setting up a lawsuit and that's an all or nothing endgame for them. So I am wondering why.
Either:
-They are sure there won't be expansion and won't be another team for sale soon.
-They are worried that by the time either expansion becomes a possibility or another team is up for sale, their agreement with the government for an arena will have run out.
Either:
-They are sure there won't be expansion and won't be another team for sale soon.
-They are worried that by the time either expansion becomes a possibility or another team is up for sale, their agreement with the government for an arena will have run out.
Ok this post MIGHT require a tin-foil hat... but I have a THEORY.
Hansen DOES seem to be acting as if this is his FIRES LAST and ONLY chance to get and NBA team and seems totally willing to scorch earth if he does not get it.
I suspect that expansion may not be an option for him regardless of NBA feelings twords him or the city of Seattle which leads me to ask my self why?
Theory 1. Now IF Hansen knows that he can not get an arena built in under 3-5 years due to pending law suits and EI statements that might be a reason to want a team BEFORE you begin the building so that once the delays hit you have a place to play and some grace time to get the project going.
Theory 2 (my favorite) If Hansen had LOT of meny tied up in SODO properties he may NEED the Arena deal fast to capitalize on them or service debt. Remember he got rich playing with OTHER peoples money and no one know exactly what the split is with him and Balmer. So he may be looking to tie up hundreds of millions in property while waiting for a deal and may well be in BIG trouble if the City reevaluates the SODO site and requires and relocation to the alternate site.
So Hansen may HAVE to get this done or cut losses and forget joining one of the most exclusive clubs in the world.
Hansen DOES seem to be acting as if this is his FIRES LAST and ONLY chance to get and NBA team and seems totally willing to scorch earth if he does not get it.
I suspect that expansion may not be an option for him regardless of NBA feelings twords him or the city of Seattle which leads me to ask my self why?
Theory 1. Now IF Hansen knows that he can not get an arena built in under 3-5 years due to pending law suits and EI statements that might be a reason to want a team BEFORE you begin the building so that once the delays hit you have a place to play and some grace time to get the project going.
Theory 2 (my favorite) If Hansen had LOT of meny tied up in SODO properties he may NEED the Arena deal fast to capitalize on them or service debt. Remember he got rich playing with OTHER peoples money and no one know exactly what the split is with him and Balmer. So he may be looking to tie up hundreds of millions in property while waiting for a deal and may well be in BIG trouble if the City reevaluates the SODO site and requires and relocation to the alternate site.
So Hansen may HAVE to get this done or cut losses and forget joining one of the most exclusive clubs in the world.
Grant had a sports lawyer from SI on who said that this sale all hinges on what the amount the NBA takes up. Is it the original bid? The 1st raise or the 2nd and most recent raise in price? If it's the original bid sac has this sewed up. If it's the other 2 we may be looking at bye bye kings.
IF stern asks our investors to match the most recent price when does it become bad business to try to keep a team here? These guys are millionaires and billionaires for a reason. Im pretty sure they don't have balmer/nordstrom/microsoft type money.
The type of money balmer and co. are willing to throw around may be enough to sway the BOG to go against the relocation committee. Reading some people here you would think this is just an impossibility.
IF stern asks our investors to match the most recent price when does it become bad business to try to keep a team here? These guys are millionaires and billionaires for a reason. Im pretty sure they don't have balmer/nordstrom/microsoft type money.
The type of money balmer and co. are willing to throw around may be enough to sway the BOG to go against the relocation committee. Reading some people here you would think this is just an impossibility.
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It isn't just about the money. The 7 members of the relocation committee are part of the BoG. The vote on whether or not to relocate the team doesn't depend on how much money is being talked about in the sales portion of this endeavor. It's dependent upon whether or not Sacramento has done everything it should/could do while working WITH the NBA to establish a public/private partnership. Sacramento has done this in spades.
The BoG is not going to vote to relocate the team in defiance of the committee recommendation. Why not? Because the committee isn't comprised of outsiders. It's comprised of 7 team owners who have looked at all the criteria necessary for Sacramento to keep the team and could find no reason to support moving the team out of Sacramento. They said so quite forcefully with a unanimous decision. Even Micky Arison, head of the finance committee, said it was never about Seattle. It was about Sacramento.
I know you don't think it's that simple, but it really is. The last minute attempts by Hansen to manipulate the outcome are not going to be any more successful than the attempt to lock Sacramento out of the process entirely.
The BoG is not going to vote to relocate the team in defiance of the committee recommendation. Why not? Because the committee isn't comprised of outsiders. It's comprised of 7 team owners who have looked at all the criteria necessary for Sacramento to keep the team and could find no reason to support moving the team out of Sacramento. They said so quite forcefully with a unanimous decision. Even Micky Arison, head of the finance committee, said it was never about Seattle. It was about Sacramento.
I know you don't think it's that simple, but it really is. The last minute attempts by Hansen to manipulate the outcome are not going to be any more successful than the attempt to lock Sacramento out of the process entirely.