Where should the Kings franchise play in the future? Where will the Kings franchise play in the future?

We asked our ESPN Forecast panel of NBA contributors those two big questions.

One reason we created ESPN Forecast was to dig into such questions, get past the noise and find some hard-core truths.

This system has worked well on various kinds of questions -- for instance, it is the best technique for predicting how many games teams will win in a season, and it has shown an uncanny ability to forecast this season's Sixth Man of the Year, Most Improved Player and Defensive Player of the Year awards. We expect similar results in the voting for Coach of the Year, Rookie of the Year and MVP.

And now we're extending ESPN Forecast to even more difficult questions.

As in, really difficult questions, like the future of the Kings franchise. Soon we will find out if the Kings will be sold to an ownership group that will keep them in Sacramento, or sold to a group that will move them to Seattle.

This week, there will be a meeting of the NBA's relocation committee, and shortly thereafter we might have news on how the NBA's board of governors will decide.

Which city is in the lead: Sacramento or Seattle?

The situation has remained fluid for months, making it difficult to get a good read on what should happen and what will happen.

On these two questions, 118 respondents delivered a sort of split decision.

A majority of respondents think that Sacramento should keep the Kings, with 58.5 percent voicing that opinion.

At the same time, 60.2 percent of the panel forecasts that Seattle will get the Kings -- or as they would be known, the SuperSonics.

Of those who think the Kings should stay in Sacramento, half think they'll move. Of those who think the Kings should move, almost 75 percent think they will.

Why is Seattle in the lead?

Let's unpack some of the potential reasons for the ESPN Forecast vote on this question:

It might be accurate

The whole idea here is to get it right, putting the collective knowledge of our diverse panel into play.

Maybe the panel has access to enough information and insight to look through the complex maze of issues and find the right answer. We'll see.