NBA Committee Votes Against Recommending Sacramento Kings' Relocation Bid To Seattle

The NBA's relocation committee has voted unanimously to recommend to the full Board of Governors that the Sacramento Kings should not relocate to Seattle for next season.

Here's the league's full (brief) statement.

The NBA announced today that the league's Relocation Committee has unanimously recommended that the NBA Board of Governors deny the application of the Sacramento Kings to relocate to Seattle. The Board will convene during the week of May 13 to vote on this matter.

Here aresome additional detailson the procedures at work.

委员会近日举行了几次会议weeks and prepared a report for the NBA's full Board of Governors, who will vote on the matter during the week of May 13. League rules require a seven-day waiting period for that report to be considered before a final, definitive vote of the Board of Governors can be taken.

Monday's vote is widely regarded as a sign that the Kings will remain in Sacramento for the 2013-14 season, as any franchise sale requires approval from 23 of the league's 30 owners while any prospective relocation requires 16 "yes" votes. Should the full Board of Governors vote against the relocation as expected, pressure will mount on the Maloof family to agree to accept a Sacramento-based group's competing bid for the franchise.

Update: NBA commissioner David Stern addressed the vote during an in-game interview on NBA TV on Monday night.

On NBA relocation committee's unanimous vote against relocating Kings to Seattle and what he expects from full Board of Governors vote

"The committee has to do a report, they have to circulate it to the board and we're planning on a board meeting on May 15. We'll see, I can't predict. I didn't see a unanimous vote coming but they decided as strong as the Seattle bid was, and it was very strong, there's some benefit that should be given to a city that has supported us for so long, and has stepped up to contribute to build a new building as well."

Possibility of expansion

"You know, all I can say is that discussion will have to wait for [future] commissioner [Adam] Silver to oversee. Right now, expansion is not on the agenda. I would never say never. It doesn't make a lot of sense unless we know what the new TV deal is."

Back in January, a group of investorsreached an agreementto purchase the Kings from the Maloof family with the goal of relocating the franchise to Seattle and re-branding it as the SuperSonics. The original SuperSonics were relocated to Oklahoma City and renamed the Thunder in 2008.

For full coverage, head over toSacTownRoyalty.com, SB Nation's Kings site which has fought valiantly to keep its team. Also, check outSonicsRising.com, SB Nation'snew Sonics-themed site.

PS Thanks tosignal_lostin the FanShotsright here.

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter