Sacramento mayor assembles group in pitch to buy the Kings

SACRAMENTO -- Mayor Kevin Johnson this afternoon said he had assembled 19 local business leaders who have each committed $1 million toward purchasing the Kings and keeping the team in Sacramento.

The group - which includes some of the region's best-known developers and business owners - would partner with at least one deep-pocketed investor to make a counter offer to the deal made by a group seeking to move the Kings to Seattle. Johnson said he is hopeful he will be able to unveil the identity of the ultra-wealthy investor or investors - whom he called "the whales" - by the end of this week.

"We're making progress on the whales," he said.

But Johnson said he wanted to introduce the local investors first, even though their stake will not be nearly enough to buy a team.

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