Like, real soon.

Those local investors would team up with an out-of-market big money capital investor in the city's pitch. It's not clear whether Mark Mastrov qualifies as local — he lives in Lafayette, which is between the Concord/Walnut Creek area and Oakland. (If you're on Highway 24 or the BART yellow line, it's the town with all of the crosses on the hill.) It's fairly close — I mean, Eric Musselman commuted from the area when he ran the Kings — but it could be that he's more in line to be the big money investor and seriously local folks like Sleep Train's Dale Carlsen would be the locals.

In terms of big money, the two names thrown out most frequently are Mastrov and Ron Burkle. Rumors are also getting around about Larry Ellison, who owns a home in the foothills and desperately wants into the NBA. (He is also worth a mid-sized European country.) My money's still on Burkle, despite the reported dismissiveness by the Maloofs. Burkle really helped Kevin Johnson back in 2011 by stepping up. If Burkle wants to get in here, KJ sort of owes it to him, in my opinion.