Should it become the case that the BOG rules in Sacramento's favor I think the $30 million would be very straightforward to deal with.
The $30 million was simply a downpayment on the sale. So the Maloofs have already received $30 million of what they agreed to sell for. Assuming the Sacramento bid is equivalent Mastrov/Ranadive would pay $30 million to Hansen/Ballmer and the remainder of what was agreed to the Maloofs.
It seems like the media is painting the deposit money as a major factor in the Seattle group's bid being approved and I'm not really sure why. It's not standard NBA operating procedure, it wasn't advised by the NBA, it isn't binding since the BOG still has to approve all deals AND reading between the lines it seemed to agitate Stern somewhat, at least in my view. And I can understand that. Stern made it very clear when he was in Oakland that the NBA decides whether a franchise moves or stays and who buys them and the deposit seems like an attempt to force the BOG's hand.
Again, at the moment I am very confident of our chances of keeping our team.