SALT LAKE CITY — Saturday night might have been the last time local basketball fans will see the Sacramento Kings in Utah.
Depending on what the Kings' ownership decides to do, the team could be relocated to Anaheim — Mighty Dukes anyone? — or another pro-hungry city next year.
The Maloof family, which owns the Kings' franchise, was granted an extension until April 18 by the NBA on a possible relocation. The team will meet with the league's Board of Governors on April 14-15 to further discuss its plans.
"It's been an upheaval for the town. They've supported the Kings for a long time," Sacramento coach Paul Westphal said. "The last few years have been rough and there's a lot of emotion attached to it."
However, there have not been a lot fans attached to run-down Arco Arena seats in recent seasons. Sacramento has the third-worst attendance in the NBA with an average of 13,578 fans this year.
And the atmosphere is nowhere near what it was in the early 2000s when the Kings were contenders.
"It's better when it's rocking," Westphal admitted, smiling.
Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin spent two of his 16 seasons as a player in Sacramento, but he hasn't had too much time to worry about his former town losing its team.
"I have no feel on it right now," Corbin said. "It's their headache. We've got enough of them here to worry about."
Don't mistake that for him being unsympathetic. Corbin hopes the move doesn't happen.
"I like Sacramento. The fans there are really supportive," he said. "It's a good city. (Ex-NBA player) Kevin Johnson is now the mayor, who is a former teammate of mine. But I don't know the business of their business. It'd be unfortunate if they moved."
Corbin then added with a laugh: "As long as they don't move the Jazz out of Salt Lake City."
FLASH FORWARD: Rookie Jeremy Evans completed his weekend D-League assignment Saturday night, but he's returning to his NBA club today.
Just in time to go to the Big Apple, Toronto, Minneapolis and Chicago with the Jazz on their four-game road trip that tips off Monday at Madison Square Garden.
Corbin was among a group of NBA types who attended his D-League debut Friday. Gordon Hayward and the Kings' Jason Thompson (the older brother of Jazz camp attendee/Flash guard Ryan Thompson) were also spotted in the crowd.
Corbin was impressed with what he saw from Evans, who had 10 points and eight rebounds.
"I thought he did good. They played him a lot of minutes, which was great. He needs time on the floor," Corbin said. "I thought his movement on the floor was good. He defended pretty well and came across and had some good blocked shots. His offensive skill level is increasing, so he's coming along."
Evans hasn't played for the Jazz since Feb. 23, and that was only two minutes against Dallas.
Added Corbin: "It's great to see the guy — as hard as he's been working — to get some time on the floor and to relax a little bit and get a chance to play."
NO FAVORITES: Corbin still hasn't decided which player will take over the captain responsibilities, but he didn't want to single out any players when it came to dishing out compliments for leadership.
"I think they've all been tremendous," Corbin said after Saturday's shootaround. "From 1 to 14, the guys have really been trying to focus on helping each other out and trying to focus on doing the right things."
Contributing: Andrew Aragon
e-mail: jody@desnews.com
Twitter: DJJazzyJody