Owners of the Sacramento Kings said Wednesday they have "no deadline" for finding a new arena and the team has no intention of leaving town next year.

Responding to rising fears, team co-owner Gavin Maloof said the team won't file for relocation by the NBA's deadline of March 2010.

"No, no, no. There's no way," Maloof told The Bee Wednesday, waving his arms emphatically. "We love the market. We love our fans. This is the only place we want to be."

Maloof met with Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson for a half-hour later in the day, telling Johnson the team is "not going anywhere."

Maloof said a combination of deep recession and his family's belief in the Sacramento market means the team must be patient as it seeks a replacement for Arco Arena.

"Eventually there needs to be a new arena," Maloof said. "Everybody agrees with that. When and where (in Sacramento), we don't know. But we're patient."

Maloof's comments struck a dramatic contrast to fears expressed by Johnson last week.

Alarmed by the NCAA's decision to reject Sacramento's bid to host a regional round of the men's basketball tournament at Arco Arena, Johnson said he feared the Kings might leave town if progress isn't made soon on a new arena.

"If we don't have a clear path to an arena in the not too distant future, then we as Sacramentans need to know that (the Kings) very well may look elsewhere," Johnson had said.

NBA representative John Moag last week added to the drumbeat, saying the league wants significant progress by March on current efforts to build an arena at Cal Expo.

March is the NBA deadline for teams to request a move to a new city for the following season.

Moag on Wednesday complimented the Kings for their patience but said the league remains focused on "an aggressive effort to replace a deteriorating arena."

"The urgency of our effort is necessitated by the need to develop and implement a plan that can be triggered as soon as this economy is turned around," Moag said in an e-mail to The Bee.

Johnson said his meeting Wednesday with team owners was productive and upbeat.

"(The Maloofs) just reiterated the commitment that they're not going anywhere, they're committed to this community, and that's something they were very adamant about," the mayor said.

"I was pleased to hear that."

Johnson said he will continue to push for a new arena.

"I still feel a sense of urgency," he said. "I think my responsibility as mayor is that I don't ever want to be in a position that I ever hear (the Kings might leave). I want to prevent that."

Kings and league officials for years have said Arco is outdated and must be replaced. But the team's past efforts to get public financing for a new venue have faltered.

The issue took on added urgency last season when the economy dipped and the team lost millions of dollars while posting its worst won-loss record since moving to Sacramento for the 1985 season.

Fears heightened again this summer when efforts by the NBA and Cal Expo to finance a new arena at the state fairgrounds slowed.

Cal Expo officials say their work continues. They plan to brief board members next week on where the project goes from here.

Cal Expo and NBA officials hope to enlist a private developer to finance a new arena and fairgrounds in exchange for development rights on much of the existing Cal Expo site.

That plan, however, does not appear feasible until the economy improves, Moag said.

The Kings' Maloof said Wednesday that the team's owners recognize the economic realities and realize they need to be patient.

"There's no deadlines, first of all, with the arena," Maloof said. "If this isn't the right time to get a new arena built, then we'll wait. We'll just wait. That's what we'll do. This is a tough economic time, and what we have to do is to just be patient."

Other cities have expressed interest in the Kings, but Maloof said Sacramento has been a good market for the team in the past - and can be again.

"This is the market we need to be in," he said. "Remember, a few years back we were third (in the league) in revenue and gate receipts. We had it going.

"You can make money here. You just have to show a better product, which I'm optimistic that we will."

Call The Bee's Sam Amick, (916) 326-5582.