The EuroLeague owners are set to meet on Oct. 5 in Milan, Italy to discuss their future role in the NBA's October 2027 planned launch of a new European basketball league.
EuroLeague Basketball CEO Chus Bueno said the organization would compete alongside NBA Europe should they not form a partnership with the proposed FIBA-backed project.
"If we don't get a deal in Europe, we're going to compete in Europe ... that's the discussion that we had internally, and if we have to, we're ready," Bueno told Reuters last week.
"It has to be a partnership that works for both of us, not just for one of us.
"We know the NBA can help operate things, so we should follow the NBA and they should follow the local IP [brand value] of clubs because they've been on the ground for 100 years and they can bring also a lot to the table for the NBA."
The NBA has received finalized bids from more than 20 groups, sources familiar with the negotiations told ESPN in late June.
Viable groups submitted bids in all 12 target cities, sources said, with multiple bids topping $1 billion in select markets, including from more than 20 existing basketball and football clubs, many of which are EuroLeague teams.
The NBA Board of Governors meet next week.
According to Gazzetta dello Sport, the Oct. 5 owners' meeting is for EuroLeague clubs to discuss whether to accept the NBA proposal and allow the league to be absorbed into NBA Europe, or whether to decline and continue operating a league separate from NBA Europe.
"If you have two leagues ... this is going to create fragmentation of the value, institutionally but also commercially, in media rights, fan attendance," Bueno told Reuters.
"We both said that if we don't have a deal, we have to keep going with our plans. So, as you know, they keep going through the process, and I keep going with my plan."
NBA Europe would feature 16 teams competing in a round-robin regular season and a multi-round playoff format, which will culminate with a finals.
Christo Stavropoulos, manager of Olimpia Milano, the club that will host the Oct. 5 meeting said the NBA's absorption of EuroLeague is not a given.
"If another competition is added, fragmentation will follow. For me, as I've said a thousand times, the ideal would be to collaborate with the NBA," Stavropoulos told Gazzetta dello Sport. "But it can't be taken for granted that it will happen. If it doesn't happen now, those of us in the EuroLeague have very clear ideas about what we want for the future.
"You know: franchises, more teams in the competition ... basketball in Europe is growing a lot, the EuroLeague is growing. Many teams want to join; the coming years are going to be very important.
"We will make important decisions about the future at the board meeting. If it's without the NBA , so be it. We have our own path prepared."
During the Oct. 5 meeting, eight new league franchise are expected to be approved for operation, part of Bueno's EuroLeague expansion plan.
Should EuroLeague opt out of NBA Europe, Bueno's plan includes a large-scale transition to a closed franchise system and the expansion of the league to 24 teams, with 21 permanent franchises securing their spots for the 2027-2028 season.
