Johnson Still Optimistic Kings Stay Put
And then there was confidence from (Kevin) Johnson …
“We met every benchmark along the way, every milestone, every yard-marker … and that’s why I’m so excited to sit down with [the Maloofs] and say, ‘Look, we’ve made good on our promise,’” Johnson said. “What can we do to close the gap and hopefully put this to bed? All parties are locked in right now, and everybody is doing everything they can and making a sincere effort to make this deal work.
“If there’s a way for a deal to happen, we’re all going to find a way to make it happen.”
Even Johnson has been left to read the relocation tea leaves. The truth, however, is that even he doesn’t know what to expect on Sunday.
“Over the past year, [the Maloofs] have been very engaged in Sacramento, which has been great for us,” Johnson said. “They’ve never missed a loan payment. There’s all this talk about their ability to deliver financially but they’ve never not delivered on their loan payment, so I have the utmost confidence in our meeting tomorrow that we can make some significant [progress].
“I’d be very surprised if there’s not enough progress made tomorrow that everyone doesn’t feel at least optimistic enough to move forward into Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday so we can adhere to the deadline as far as March 1. No one is fudging or trying to negotiate that deadline.”
Yes, statements will be made. It’s finally time to hear what the Maloofs have to say.
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