The NBA’s push into European basketball has reached a significant new phase.
According to Eurohoops, the NBA has formally sent EuroLeague an offer regarding a potential joint project between the two organizations, moving months of discussions into a more concrete stage. The proposal is expected to be reviewed internally by EuroLeague leadership and its club shareholders ahead of a key owners’ meeting in Italy on October 5.
For now, the contents of the offer remain unknown. Neither the NBA nor EuroLeague has publicly detailed the structure, financial terms or governance model under consideration, and both organizations declined to comment on the specifics reported by Eurohoops.
The NBA, working alongside FIBA, has been developing a new pan-European competition and has publicly targeted an October 2027 launch. The project is expected to include permanent franchises while also preserving a merit-based pathway through domestic leagues and FIBA competitions.
At the same time, EuroLeague has been preparing its own transformation. Club owners are expected to discuss expansion to 24 teams, with a broader franchise structure and new investment tied to the league’s long-term commercial growth. That makes the October meeting particularly important, because EuroLeague now has to weigh its own expansion plans against the possibility of joining forces with the NBA.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has repeatedly said cooperation would be preferable to a direct split. Earlier this month, he confirmed that discussions with EuroLeague were continuing and said both sides would be stronger with a unified approach in Europe. At the same time, he made clear that the NBA intends to move forward with its European project even if a partnership is not reached.
For months, the central question has been whether the NBA would build a new competition alongside EuroLeague or whether the two sides could find a way to combine their ambitions. Now, EuroLeague reportedly has a concrete proposal in front of it.
The next major step comes on October 5, when EuroLeague shareholders are expected to discuss the offer in Italy.
For European basketball, that meeting could help determine whether the continent heads toward two competing elite structures, or one much larger joint project.
