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DeMarcus Cousins Shocked By Sacramento Kings’ Reported Sale to Seattle Group

The ongoing saga between the Kings and the city of Sacramento appears to have come to a conclusion, although fans and mayor Kevin Johnson are unlikely to be happy about the result.

The Maloof family was finalizing an agreement Wednesday to sell the Kings to a Seattle ownership group, sources told Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski. The group, headed by hedge fund manager Chris Hansen and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, would purchase the team for around $500 million, according to the report.

Wojnarowski continued to tweet details of the deal, including that the NBA supports the sale and that the team would play two seasons in dilapidated Key Arena before moving to a new arena, which the Ballmer-Hansen group has discussed building with the city for months.

The Maloofs are finalizing an agreement to sell the Sacramento Kings to the Hansen-Ballmer led Seattle group, sources tell Yahoo! Sports.

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Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) January 09, 2013

The deal will sell the Kings for approximately $500 million, with the Seattle group seeking relocation to Key Arena for the 2013-'14 season.

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Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) January 09, 2013

The Seattle group's plans, with support of the NBA, is to play two seasons in Key Arena before moving into a new Seattle arena, sources say.

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Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) January 09, 2013

No agreement signed, but one source describes deal as "1st and goal at 1." Maloofs history of changing course late still makes many uneasy.

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Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) January 09, 2013

The Maloofs are expected to keep an extremely small percentage of team, but will have no real input or say in franchise, sources say.

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Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) January 09, 2013

DeMarcus Cousins, the Kings’ franchise center, tweeted a one-word response to the news.

Wow ...

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demarcus cousins (@boogiecousins) January 09, 2013

Seattle has been without an NBA franchise since 2008, when team chairman Clay Bennett moved the SuperSonics to Oklahoma City and renamed them the Thunder. The move would reportedly take place in time for the team to begin competing in Seattle for the 2013-14 season.