A new report out of Italy is adding a fresh wrinkle to the NBA Europe conversation, and it comes with a familiar NBA power connection.
La Gazzetta dello Sport reported Tuesday that former longtime Mavericks executive Donnie Nelson has assembled an investor group that includes Luka Dončić and is closing in on acquiring the sporting rights of Vanoli Basket Cremona, with the longer-term idea of relocating the project to Rome and positioning it for a future NBA-backed league in Europe.
The reporting describes Rome as the strategic destination: a major market with brand potential, facilities planning, and the kind of global-city appeal that would align with an NBA-style franchise model. The plan centers on securing Cremona’s place in Italy’s top tier as the entry vehicle, then building toward a Rome-based identity.
None of this, it should be stressed, is confirmation that “NBA Europe” exists as a finalized competition with approved franchises, timelines, or formal expansion criteria. What it does show is that the idea is already shaping behavior: ownership groups appear to be making moves now, not after an announcement, to control assets that could be valuable if the NBA eventually creates a European league structure. That’s the real story inside the rumor: the land-grab phase has started.
For Dončić, the symbolism would be obvious. A Slovenia-born superstar tied to a Rome project would connect the NBA’s European ambitions to a player who is both a global face and a regional icon, with Italy geographically close to his home base. For Nelson, it would be a new kind of team-building: not a roster, but an organization from the ground up, in a market where basketball history is real, but NBA-style infrastructure is not guaranteed.
