EuroLeague CEO says door still open to NBA talks as league plans 24 teams and two conferences

EuroLeague chief executive Chus Bueno said the league is still willing to talk to the NBA about a deal, even though EuroLeague club owners rejected a collaboration proposal at their meeting at Lake Como on 6 October, Reuters reported on Monday 19 October.

“We will always be open to listen, and to talk with the NBA about any potential deal. But it has to make sense for us,” Bueno said, according to Reuters, as reported by Eurohoops. “The telephone lines are open and, if something has not worked, maybe there’s something that can work in the future.”

The NBA plans to launch a league in Europe in 2027, Eurohoops reported. Bueno said: “If they decide to (enter into the market), it’s going to be a disaster… If you are divided, you lose value.”

Bueno said only 40% of current licence holders are financially sustainable and that the EuroLeague’s expansion plan could make “most, if not all” of them sustainable within five years. Eurohoops said the league plans up to eight long-term franchise licences, with new participants expected to be announced in mid-November, and that all 13 shareholder clubs have signed 10-year franchise agreements.

EuroLeague president Dejan Bodiroga said on Serbia’s Radar Forum programme that the competition will go from 20 clubs, all playing each other, to 24 teams in “practically two conferences” next season, BasketNews reported. He said the criteria for the conferences have not been set, and that he sees Crvena Zvezda and Partizan as “long-term partners” of the league.