Sale of Kings still up in air

SEATTLE – The NBA Board of Governors is not expected to vote on a sale of the Kings to a Seattle group until mid-April. But Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson said Tuesday he hopes to meet with league owners a few weeks earlier to state his city’s case for keeping the Kings.

“I know there will be an end-of-March, early-April opportunity to go out and present to NBA owners,” said Johnson.

Johnson indicated he did not expect the NBA to give him any signal of approval at that time, saying “certainly, the final verdict will be April 18-19” when the Board of Governors meet in New York.

A Seattle group led by Chris Hansen and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced in January it had reached an agreement to purchase the team from the current owners, the Maloof family. That group has made a $30 million nonrefundable payment on the Kings.

The purchase and request to relocate the Kings to Seattle must be approved by the NBA Board of Governors.

A spokesman for the Seattle group said Tuesday it will not comment on anything coming out of Sacramento.