Six weeks after the Sacramento Kings's owners and California's capital city reached a tentative financing plan for a new arena, city leaders and the Maloof family are publicly declaring their mistrust of each other, leaving the team's future in doubt.

The Maloof family is still insisting that it has no interest in leaving Sacramento, despite balking Friday at the terms of the funding framework. But they now say they no longer trust Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson and don't want to work with him.

"You can't do a deal with somebody you don't trust," George Maloof said Saturday, according to The Sacramento Bee. "I don't trust him."

Meanwhile, elected officials representing Sacramento have blasted the Maloofs, claiming they've turned their backs on the city late in the game. And the executive director of Think Big, the committee formed by Johnson to retain the Kings, compared dealing with the Maloofs to dealing with one of the world's most inscrutable and widely criticized governments.

Kings co-owner George Maloof says the family can't work with Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, seen in February, as a deal to finance a new arena for the team has broken down. AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli

"As their bizarre press conference (on Friday in New York) laid bare for all to see, dealing with the Maloofs is like dealing with the North Koreans -- except they are less competent," Chris Lehane said in a statement released to USA Today. "In Maloof-world, facts are fiction; truths are half-truths; and promises are broken promises. The City of Sacramento deserves better."

A year ago, on the brink of seeking permission to move to Anaheim, Calif., the Maloofs gave Sacramento one last shot at financing the new arena they have long maintained they need.

But the Maloofs are questioning whether the financing deal reached six weeks ago was ever binding, citing letters they sent the city and the NBA outlining their concerns about the details.

George Maloof told The Sacramento Bee that the team wanted to negotiate several aspects of the deal Friday at a meeting in New York, but Johnson "shut that off." He said Johnson had set the stage for the family to take the blame for the franchise walking away from Sacramento.

On Friday, Johnson, a former NBA star, declared the tentative deal for financing a new arena had fallen apart, leaving open the possibility the team's owners could again seek permission to move. He said the concerns raised by the team at Friday's meeting had not previously come up.