The Maloofs have made their deal to sell the Sacramento Kings to a group that would move them to Seattle – setting up a climactic showdown over the team’s future that might not get settled by the NBA until the spring.

Sacramento officials, however, vowed to press on with their plan to assemble a counteroffer that would keep the Kings from leaving. Johnson plans to bring a rival investor group to the board of governors’ meeting in New York in April and make the case for keeping the team in Sacramento. The board would then presumably vote on which city would get the Kings – Seattle or Sacramento.

“When it comes to keeping the team in our community, Sacramento is playing to win,” the mayor said Sunday night in a prepared statement.

via Tony Bizjak, Dale Kasler and Ryan Lillis of The Sacramento Bee