What could be a key moment for the future of the Sacramento Kings comes Sunday in Orlando, Fla., as team officials and the NBA continue negotiations on the details of a financing plan to build a new arena.

If the arena effort fails, the Kings could be a candidate to relocate to Seattle. Seattle city and King County officials last week unveiled a proposal to build a new arena in the Sodo District that includes $290 million from a group led by Chris Hansen. But that's contingent on both an NBA and NHL team being secured first.

Sacramento faces a March 1 deadline to present a financing plan to the NBA. Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson and other city officials are meeting with NBA officials at the All-Star Game in Orlando.

During his regular news conference at that event Saturday afternoon, NBA commissioner David Stern said he was optimistic a deal will be done to keep the Kings in Sacramento but also said work remains.

Stern said there are "several negotiating points that are not necessarily guaranteed to be bridged. But we will give it our best shot (Sunday)." Stern also said members of the NBA relocation committee, chaired by Clay Bennett — who moved the Sonics from Seattle to Oklahoma City — will also take part in Sunday's meetings. It will be the first time Johnson has met the Maloofs, the Kings' owners, to specifically discuss the proposal, according to the USA Today.

Stern wouldn't detail the negotiating points that are left unsettled. But the Sacramento Bee reported Saturday they center on the amount of the monetary contribution expected from the Maloof family, which owns the Kings. The Bee said the Maloofs will be asked to contribute $70 million to $90 million to the $387 million total.

Asked about the Maloof contribution, Stern said the team's owners and the city of Sacramento have "both come up with very substantial contributions. It's really getting there, it's just not there yet, and we are looking for other imaginative ways to bridge the gap."

The city of Sacramento is expected to contribute roughly $200 million through leasing the rights to parking in the city for 30 years. The Sacramento City Council is expected to vote on the financing plan for the arena at a meeting on March 6.

Stern also reiterated what he said earlier in the week about being optimistic that a deal will soon be complete in New Orleans to sell the Hornets to a buyer that will keep the team there. He also said that a second rumored buyer for the Hornets is not from Seattle. The Hornets, owned by the NBA, have been another team rumored as a contender to relocate.

Stern did not talk in detail about the Seattle proposal.

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com.

On Twitter @bcondotta