FanHouse The Maloofs

The Sacramento Monarchs, one of the WNBA's original eight franchises folded Friday, leaving the league to scramble to find a new ownership group, possibly in the San Francisco Bay Area, in time for the 2010 season.

The league announced Friday that it is in talks to find a Bay Area ownership group prepared to take the team over.

WNBA president Donna Orender confirmed Friday evening that negotiations with an investor group are underway.

You can sum up the nearly decade-long Sacramento arena crisis much like you can sum up the existence of the Sacramento Kings these days: long stretches of boredom spliced intermittently with bits of deep panic. ARCO Arena is busted, as the Maloofs have been saying since 2001, and the city is no closer to a new gym than it was then.

Every now and then, progress looks so far off that someone -- an agent of the Maloofs, a mayor, a bunch of fans -- cranks up the wailing and the Evil Advent Calendar begins its countdown to a relocation. The Maloofs, at this point, actually have good reason to yell "Fire!" as the latest plan (hatched by the NBA itself) isn't making progress.

But to the shock of nearly all, the Maloofs have done the completely opposite: they have assured Sacramento the Kings will remain in town for the long haul.

Before naming Paul Westphal the new coach of the Kings, Sacramento GM Geoff Petrie asked all three candidates (including Lakers assistant Kurt Rambis) if the team's set salary structure (two years at $1.5 million, a third year team option at $2 million) would work for them. If not, you know, see ya.

According to the team, Rambis -- mired in the Finals -- refused to answer if the salary structure would work. On Tuesday, Petrie pushed forth with the question. Rambis' agent Warren LeGarie said his client couldn't be bothered to think about it right now ... so Petrie hired Westphal. Now accusations that LeGarie had been ripping Westphal behind the scenes have come out, while Rambis claims he actually turned down the job.

It's a lot of drama for a job almost no one outside of Sacramento cares about.

By theory, the NBA Draft Lottery (Tuesday at 8:00 PM ET) is left to randomness. But what if basketball karma dictated the results? Good triumphs over evil. Fairness and compassion reign. Robert Horry does not exist. It's a wonderful world.

Close your eyes and imagine how the ping pong balls would bounce if karma ruled tonight's lottery ...

Pardon the leap of logic present in that headline, but there's little room to see the latest round of Rick Pitino rumors any other way if you've paid attention to the situation. To catch up, earlier this week, Sacramento Bee Kings beat writer Sam Amick mentioned Pitino's name in a story on rumored candidates for the coaching vacancy in Sacramento. Thursday night, Yahoo! yeoman Adrian Wojnarowski followed up with a full story, placing the interest squarely on Pitino's side.

Kings owner Gavin Maloof has denied talking to Pitino, and mentions only that Pitino is a "great coach." Ultimately, there's an overwhelming sense that these Pitino-to-the-NBA rumors are being pushed by The Rick -- not the Kings. That Louisville is now jumping out to publicly declare Pitino will stay is all the more suspicious.

For 24 hours, the NBA had no head coaching vacancies. That's a stunner for the week after season's end; usually there's a bloodbath immediately following the final regular season game. But Flip Saunders quickly replaced Ed Tapscott, Oklahoma City hurried to lock in Scott Brooks, and the other potential openings remained tentatively filled ...

... until the Kings declined the 2009-10 option on interim coach Kenny Natt's contract Thursday. The move had been expected with some certainty. But in comments related to the new opening, Geoff Petrie has raised some eyebrows about what kind of coach the team will seek.

With nothing but pride to play for, the Kings had a worst-case scenario unfold Monday night in Denver, as Spencer Hawes landed hard on one leg -- his left leg, which already underwent microfracture surgery at age 14 -- and crumpled to the ground.

Hawes is OK. An MRI revealed a strain, and he'll miss Wednesday's season finale but shouldn't have further problems. But the Kings -- specifically Kings co-owner Joe Maloof -- are angry at the cause of Hawes' terrifying fall: Kenyon Martin.

As you can see to the right (or at the 15-second mark of this highlight reel), Martin shoved Hawes under the arm as the young center flew in for a fast break dunk.