The NBA Board of Governors has voted down a bit to relocate the Sacramento Kings to Seattle, according to a report from USA Today's Sami Amick.

The Maloofs had agreed to sell the Kings to a group led by Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer who had planned on moving the franchise to Seattle as a replacement for the departed Sonics.

Mitch Levy of KJR reports that 22 teams voted for the Kings to remain in Sacramento while eight approved the sale.

The Sonics moved to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder in 2008.

A group attempting to buy the Kings to keep them in Sacramento is being led by Vivek Ranadive, current part owner of the Golden State Warriors.

If the Kings are able to build a new arena in downtown Sacramento, plans call for the city to heavily finance the build.

With nearly all NBA teams in fairly stable situations in their current locations, Seattle's best chance at getting a team now appears to be through expansion.

"We will talk to the Maloofs within the next 24 to 48 hours to see if we can facilitate an agreement between Maloofs and Ranadive group," said David Stern.

Stern described the presentation made by the Seattle group as "excellent" and an "extraordinary ownership group."

Stern said there was a generalized talk to consider expansion, but will wait until the completion of the next television negotiation.

Stern promised "fair dealing" in regards to Seattle in the future. Stern also praised the efforts from Hansen and Ballmer and said that their relationship with the league is very good.