Jan 10, 2013; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings fans hold signs against the Maloof

After some back-and-forth about whether the Sacramento Kings were moving to Seattle or not, now it looks like they will.

The Maloof family that owns the Sacramento Kings has reached an agreement to sell a 65 percent controlling interest in the franchise to a Seattle group led by hedge-fund manager Chris Hansen and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, according to league sources.

Sources told ESPN.com that NBA teams were formally notified Sunday night that the Kings have been valued at $525 million and that the parties have executed a purchase agreement, which still requires league approval.

Via Marc Stein of ESPN.com

It was reported earlier that the plan of this Seattle group, led by Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer, is to move the team to Seattle next season and have them play in the old Key Arena that the SuperSonics last played in. The new arena that is being built in downtown Seattle won’t be ready until the 2015-16 season.

Reports are also surfacing now that Phil Jackson is going to be a big part of the Seattle SuperSonics upon their return. He’s not going to coach but be the face of the front office.

Source says almost living lock Phil Jackson will become front office face of Seattle-bound Kings’ franchise. Won’t coach. Will mentor choice

— Peter Vecsey (@PeterVecsey1) January 21, 2013

Yahoo! Sports is also reporting that the Seattle group is targeting San Antonio Spurs general manager R.C. Buford and former Indiana Pacers president Larry Bird as possible candidates to become the new GM of the team.

The current GM of the Kings, Geoff Petrie, is in his final year of his contract and will not be retained.

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

It was reported yesterday that the Maloof brothers were very close to finalizing a deal to sell the Sacramento Kings to an ownership group from Seattle.

Shortly after that, reports started surfacing that the Maloof brothers had rejected the offer made by the Chris Hansen-led Seattle group.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, who had first reported the potential sale, described the deal as “First and Goal from the 1-yard line.”

Now it is looking like the sale of the Kings is far from over and we may start hearing all kinds of rumors in the upcoming days or weeks as to what will happen.

We also are hearing today that the NBA has issued a memo to all owners to not talk about the possible Kings’ sale.

The city of Seattle was rejoicing yesterday about the potential return of their beloved Sonics and while there is still of course a very good chance of this being the case, the celebrating will be on hold for a little until something is finalized.

Hansen’s group from Seattle have begun construction on a new arena that will be ready for the 2015-16 NBA season. Their plans are to move the team to Seattle next year though and have them play in Key Arena which is the last place the Sonics played back in 2008.

Here is an interesting quote from Clay Bennett back in 2008: “We will reserve the name Sonics and SuperSonics and the marks and the colors and will not use them. But we will return them to (Seattle) if a team does indeed return to Seattle.”

Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

It looks like the NBA is returning to Seattle as the Maloof family is reportedly finalizing an agreement to sell the Sacramento Kings to an ownership group from Seattle.

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

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) January 9, 2013

The Seattle ownership group is led by Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer. It has been reported that the sale of the Kings will be for $500 million which would be the most a team has ever been sold for.

Hansen’s group is already underway building a new arena in Seattle located near Safeco Field where the Seattle Mariners play. That arena won’t be ready until the 2015-16 season and until then, the new team plans to use Key Arena which is where the Sonics last played.

An agreement has not been signed yet and the Maloofs have a history of backing out of deals at the last minute but sources close to the situation believe there is just about no chance of this deal not happening.

The last season of the Seattle Supersonics was back in 2007-08 which was Kevin Durant’s rookie season. The only Oklahoma City Thunder players that remain with the Thunder from that Sonics team are Durant and Nick Collison.

The Kings relocated from Kansas City to Sacramento back in 1985. They had a great run under the Maloofs especially in the early 2000s when they were closes to winning a title in 2002.