The NBA is seriously considering starting an all-new basketball league in Europe and, potentially, the Middle East.

A few things to know: First, this would be a standalone league — not an expansion for the NBA. The teams would play each other, not NBA teams. Second, this is just a high-level idea right now. All signs point to the league continuing to push for it, but it is not finalized. Third, this possible European venture is not linked at all to the international basketball league being advised by Maverick Carter and looking for investors.

If an NBA Europe league does come to fruition, it would amount to one of the biggest gambits in the history of the NBA. Here’s what we know so far, including what it might mean for teams in Seattle or Las Vegas.

Why is the NBA considering a league in Europe?

The NBA league office believes there is a significant amount of untapped money in the European market for pro basketball. NBA commissioner Adam Silver said as much in Paris last week: “The commercial opportunity has not kept pace with the growth of the game,” he said.

They think their expertise in forming media rights deals, which are anemic for top European teams now, is one way they can create a viable enterprise. But they also believe they can attract foreign investment.

What foreign investment?

Specifically, from the United States and the Middle East. The NBA has already reached out to current team owners and limited partners and received interest in buying into new teams, sources said. For wealthy Americans and potentially hedge funds, the idea of buying equity in an NBA product in attractive European cities is an interesting investment opportunity. There is only so much availability to buy into NBA teams and only so much immediate upside, and involvement in actually running the operation is limited. This would be a new frontier.

Meanwhile, the sovereign funds in the Middle East are showing growing interest in European basketball as a means to get major team sports into the region. Dubai is actively trying to get a EuroLeague franchise and Abu Dhabi has bought the rights to this year’s EuroLeague Final Four. The Middle East funds have limited access to the NBA now — they are restricted to passive stakes of no higher than 20% — but could be a major partner in a new NBA Europe, including having franchises based there, sources said. And yes, it’s a long way from Europe to the Middle East, but the United Arab Emirates owns its own world-class airlines, which it has already offered to ease the cost burden on teams traveling to its cities. Qatar, which is hosting the 2027 FIBA World Cup and already owns 5% of the Washington Wizards, also has its own airline.

What European cities are being considered?

When the NBA started the G League 20 years ago, they targeted cities with existing teams in the Continental Basketball Association — four eventually came over — in addition to expansion teams. That is the model the league could follow if they go through with this plan.

They could offer membership to long-standing EuroLeague teams, of which there are 16 permanent members and several temporary members. This would set the stage for a high-stakes battle between the NBA and EuroLeague. But the NBA is also looking at large European markets where basketball hasn’t been particularly popular.

London, for example, currently has a fledgling team, the London Lions. But last year its owners faced legal and financial issues and the team was kicked out of playing in EuroCup, the second-best league in Europe. It was later sold under some duress.

Paris Basketball, founded in 2018, is the most promising team in years in the French capital and its president is David Kahn, the former Minnesota Timberwolves general manager who was also an owner of several G League teams when it launched in 2005. But some perspective is needed: Paris Basket’s entire budget for this season is just 19 million Euros — approximately what the Indiana Pacers are paying Myles Turner this season. AS Monaco has a budget of more than 29 million Euros, the most in the French league, where teams are required to make their finances public. Compared to the NBA, these are minor league operations, despite being in big markets. The NBA sees great opportunity there and in cities in Germany, where basketball’s popularity is growing. The Germans are the current world champions, having won the 2023 FIBA World Cup.

One idea the NBA has already explored, sources said, is partnering with major soccer clubs in places such as Manchester, U.K., to have expansion teams under the soccer clubs’ umbrellas. Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich are soccer powerhouses that already have basketball teams in the EuroLeague.

What’s the timetable?

The working idea would be the start of the 2026-27 season at the earliest.

How does this affect the NBA itself? Could these new teams play NBA teams?

It won’t affect it much. The NBA launched the Basketball Africa League (BAL) in 2019 — again, by recruiting some existing teams and by creating expansion teams — and that league has no direct relationship to the NBA mothership as the teams don’t play and there’s no sharing of players between the leagues. It’s possible there could be exhibition games between the Euro NBA teams and NBA teams, and the NBA could potentially play more regular-season games in Europe as a way of generating more attention, but there would be a big difference between the leagues in stature and financial backing.

Way down the line could teams from these leagues — the NBA, Euro NBA, the BAL and perhaps even elsewhere — eventually play in some sort of international tournament? Sure, but that’s not a viable option at the moment.

What would this mean for NBA expansion, like putting teams in Las Vegas and Seattle? In theory, nothing. The NBA is technically still studying the idea, which can proceed independently of what is being considered in Europe.

Practically, however, this is slowing down the timetable for stateside expansion. Silver has repeatedly pushed off the expansion idea, and he and his top executives are deeply involved in this European enterprise. There is a belief within the league that Silver would wait until after the Boston Celtics’ sale, which will surely set a new record for price and reset the possible cost of an expansion franchise, before beginning an NBA expansion process. But the Celtics’ sale is moving slowly and expansion isn’t moving at all right now.

What would stop NBA Europe from happening?

The current NBA team owners. There are still a lot of questions from the board of governors about this concept after an initial round of briefings, one source said. The BAL and the G League, the last two leagues the NBA founded, are money losers. The WNBA is only now, after nearly 30 years, starting to show the possibility of significant profitability. There’s a reason teams in huge cities like London and Paris haven’t flourished; the interest in pro basketball hasn’t been there at a high enough level. The owners might be concerned about an additional money pit, which the owners would potentially have to subsidize, and they will have to vote for this to proceed. That’s why NBA Europe, while tantalizing, is far from a sure thing.