National Basketball Association

Report: Kings owners to make decision

Published May. 1, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

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The owners of the Sacramento Kings will on Monday morning announce their decision on whether or not the NBA franchise will be relocated, the Sacramento Bee reported.

George Maloof, a member of the family that owns the Kings, told the newspaper late Sunday that they had made up their mind about the team's future and that an announcement was imminent.

"We need to get with the NBA and inform them first," Maloof said. "Then we can make an announcement."

The Maloof family has until 2:00pm local time Monday to file a request to the NBA to relocate the franchise to another city next season.

The owners have been considering a move to Anaheim's Honda Center, but the office of Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson was feeling "cautiously optimistic" that it had done enough to convince the Maloofs to stay.

"We've shown unprecedented unity, be it with the elected leaders, the business community or the fan groups," said Johnson's Chief of Staff, Kunal Merchant.

"The community has really come together in the past few weeks."

The Maloofs' desire to move the team out of Sacramento came after a decade of failed negotiations with the city on a deal to build a new stadium to replace Power Balance Pavilion, which opened in 1988 as ARCO Arena.

Lakers owner Jerry Buss and Clippers owner Donald Sterling are believed to be opposed to the Kings moving so close to Los Angeles.

Last month, the Maloofs indicated they would not pursue a move if it was strongly opposed by other NBA owners.

Any franchise relocation must be approved by a majority of the league's 30 owners.

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