Not So Fast: New Potential Buyers Could Keep Kings in Sac Town

((ht: sacramentobee.com))

Well, it appears that reports of the Sacramento Kings leaving for Seattle could possibly be a bit premature.

You'll recall that earlier this week, reports leaked out the a group led by Hedge Fund Manager Chris Hansen and Microsoft's Steve Ballmer were about to close a deal to relocate the team.

Well, late on Friday, the man behind the 24-Hour Fitness chain had put together investors to keep the team in Sacramento.

Confused? Yeah, so are we.

Read the full story from the Sacramento Bee RIGHT HERE

The Maloof family has been looking to unload the Kings for a couple of years and was close to moving them to Anaheim last year. And reports have begin surfacing that while they are willing to sell to Hansen's group, they want to keep a small stake and stay involved with the team.

The other part of the debate here is the arena. And really, it's the driving force in all of this. The Maloof's have wanted a new arena for several years, but the city and mayor Kevin Johnson (yes, the former NBA player) have not been able to come up with the funding for it.

And to be totally honest, they shouldn't have to pay hundreds of millions to supplement owners worth hundreds of millions, but that's how pro sports work.

Anyway, Mark Mastrov, the 24-Hour guy, wants to keep the team in Sacramento and try to figure out a way to get a new arena funded.

Oh, and did we add, the founder of the Sleep Train Matress centers, Dale Carsen has expressed an interest. As has grocery store magnate Ron Burkle.

Yeah, this is shaping up to be a mess. And it will probably take the league stepping in to try and clear it up. Whether or not the team leaves may almost be irrelevant. It appears we are about to be treated to a geeky, billionaire version of Clash of the Titans....

In honor of the movie of the same name, we give you the ORIGINAL TRAILER: