Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE

Here we are again in the midst of another rumor involving the Sacramento Kings relocating, this time to Virginia Beach – not to be confused with South Beach, home of the 2012 NBA Champions, Miami Heat.

Yet, Maloofs have no comment.

Of course, they have no comment; they are trying to sell season tickets! Telling people they are checking out options to leave town, doesn’t bode well for sales. If they have no part in the ongoing situation involving talks by Comcast-Spectacor with Virginia Beach, it would be in their best interest to say so – both from the standpoint of businessmen making ticket sales and in calming the fan base of the recent rumors swirling on the Internet and in Sacramento.

Silence on the part of the Maloofs, speaks volumes.

If they have no part in these talks, it is pretty easy to deny it. If they do have a part in talks involving relocation to Virginia Beach, it would not be in their best interest to say so. The best course, if they are looking at options, would be to make no comment, which is what they have done.

It has been pretty quiet the last few months with fan attention focused on the draft and free agency. But, with the Maloof family dismantling the arena deal with the City of Sacramento in epic fashion just a few months ago, none of that debacle has been erased from anyone’s mind. It was just a matter of time before the machinations of the Maloof family would begin to surface, unless you truly believed they planned to renovate the old barn and make good in Sacramento.

With Seattle desperate for a team, Anaheim still a grim memory in our rear-view mirror, and now Virginia Beach experiencing an infusion of excitement over the prospect of an NBA team coming to their city, we, as Sacramento Kings fans, find ourselves in the unenviable position of watching cities trying to woo the Maloofs and vying to take away our team.

While we try to cling tight to our Sacramento Kings, like a young child holding onto his Teddy Bear, vigilant to anyone who appears to come too close, becoming aware of potential threats becomes a part of the daily reality to a Sacramento Kings’ fan, if only not to be broadsided again.

As a Sacramento Kings’ fan, our main focus is to keep the Sacramento Kings in Sacramento.

Credit: Nelson Chenault-US PRESSWIRE

Multiple reports in the past few days have acknowledged the availability of players like Memphis’ Rudy Gay or Philadelphia’s Andre Iguodala, both of whom play a position of need for the Kings but may find difficulty meshing with the Kings current roster.

Financially, with the Kings being far under the salary cap, they could easily adsorb either of the contracts if the two respective sides could come to an agreement from a talent standpoint, but would the Kings want to?

Gay’s Contract:

12-13: $16,460,538

13-14: $17,888,931

14-15: $19,317,325 (player option)

Iguodala’s Contract:

12-13: $14,718,250 (up to another $750,000 in unlikely incentives)

13-14: $15,904,750 (up to another $750,000 in unlikely incentives, also a player option year)

With both players, you run into some risks, on and off floor. While both are near/border-line All-Star talent, they’re not franchise players despite being paid in a similar capacity. Gay’s the safer bet in terms of contractual length, but also more expensive. Iguodala on the other hand is a year cheaper if the move doesn’t work out, but also is a risk to leave at season end (or in two years, assuming he exercises his player option). One could assume Iguodala would be the “cheaper” and more obtainable of the two talents in a trade, though neither player is going to be sent out with a clearance price tag attached to them.

For the Kings, getting a player of either’s caliber wont happen via free agency, so bringing in higher quality talent will be done by trade, but is it a risk worth taking? Are the Kings better off holding onto the fifth pick? Do they try to move Tyreke Evans in a trade, while keeping the fifth pick, or is it in their best interest to hang onto Evans and the fifth pick? Lots of questions, little answers – so that’s where you come in. Put yourself in the shoes of Geoff Petrie – make the call…