All along, David Stern has said that he doesn't see the fight for the Sacramento Kings becoming a bidding war.

However, that's not stopping the Hansen-Ballmer group from attempting to turn it into one. The Bee's Tony Bizjak reports that the Hansen-Ballmer group is seriously considering raising their bid for the Kings by $25 million. That would push the Franchise Valuation to $550 million and the total actual sale amount to $366 million. The reason for considering the increase is likely due to numerous reports indicating that Sacramento has told the NBA they will match Seattle's original offer.

Seattle's Chris Daniels confirmed Bizjak's report but added this:

It's unclear whether the NBA would allow such an increase to occur. In yesterday's piece for USA Today, before news of a possible increase was known, Sam Amick wrote:

We'll see how much the NBA is willing to stick to their guns in the face of a possible $25 million or more increase on an already historic franchise valuation.

UPDATE 9:09 P.M.

Report from Ian Thomsen seems to indicate that Seattle HAS increased their bid by $25 million.

We will update with more information as it comes in.

UPDATE 9:15 P.M.

Chris Hansen has released a statement on his website confirming Thomsen's report:

Judging by this statement, it seems clear that Hansen isn't cutting the Maloofs a check for an extra $25 million, but rather increasing the valuation by $25 million. That would increase the total actual bid to $357.5 million, an increase of $16.25 million. Both the NBA and the Sacramento group have yet to respond to this latest news.

UPDATE 10:23 P.M.

The Seattle Times Bob Condotta confirms that the increase is more like $16.25 million in actual cash to the Maloofs, not $25 million (that's Franchise Valuation increase, just like it says in Hansen's statement).

UPDATE 10:31 P.M.

The Mayor tweets a statement:

UPDATE 11:16 P.M.

From Aaron Bruski and Nick Monacelli: