Sacramento casts doubt on Maloofs’ commitment

The Sacramento Kings' future in the California capital is uncertain again.

A tentative deal for a new arena has fallen apart, leaving open the possibility the team's owners could again try to move.

"Is the deal dead? As we know it, absolutely," Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson said Friday.

The Maloof family has balked at terms of the agreement reached last month. While they say they want to remain in Sacramento, Johnson isn't so sure after meeting with them Friday and hearing their list of concerns he said hadn't previously been voiced.

"It just feels like they were coming up with reasons of why not to do the deal," Johnson said.

So a year after Johnson came to New York to begin his fight to save the team, his city is in jeopardy of losing it all over again. Admitting he was angry and questioning the Maloofs' trustworthiness, Johnson said he doesn't know what will happen.

"We are committed to remaining the Sacramento Kings," the team said in a statement.

NBA commissioner David Stern stressed that the deal was "always nonbinding," and the Maloofs always had the right to decide they were uncomfortable with the terms.

It was a stunningly swift and disappointing result for Sacramento officials who thought they were on their way to holding onto the team just weeks ago.

Joe, Gavin and George Maloof had since taken issue with some of the terms.

The Maloofs made a presentation to owners Thursday, which they shared Friday. They then met with Johnson for about two hours, a meeting Johnson called "relatively civil" but ultimately pointless. "It just became clear that they're not willing to honor what we laid out," the mayor said.

During their news conference, the Maloofs said they liked Sacramento but insisted the arena project was too expensive. George Maloof said they had given the city a list of their concerns that needed to be addressed before they could commit to such a major deal.

Johnson has said Sacramento would be interested in keeping the Kings under another owner, but the Maloofs repeatedly have said they aren't interested in selling.

■ HORNETS -- Tom Benson, owner of the New Orleans Saints since 1985, agreed to buy the Hornets from the NBA for a price reported to be $338 million.

The league hasn't announced financial terms. The NBA has been trying to sell the Hornets since buying the franchise from founder George Shinn in December 2010. While preparing the team for sale, the league negotiated a new lease for the Hornets to remain in the state-owned New Orleans Arena through 2024.

The sale to Benson has to be approved by the NBA's Board of Governors.

■ WILLIAMS FREED -- Retired NBA star Jayson Williams was freed from jail after serving eight months for drunken driving in New York and 18 months before that in New Jersey on charges stemming from a limo driver's shooting death.

The former New Jersey Nets star drove his SUV into a tree in lower Manhattan in 2010, a week after he accepted a plea deal stemming from the 2002 shotgun death of a chauffeur in his New Jersey mansion.