And-Ones: NBA Europe, D. Jones, Expansion, NCAA

Officials representing the NBA, FIBA, and Euroleague Basketball met in Switzerland on Tuesday and released a statement after that sit-down announcing that they had “constructive” discussions about the future of European basketball and “potential opportunities for collaboration.” The three parties agreed to continue those conversations in the coming weeks.

The NBA continues to target the fall of 2027 as a potential start date for its European league, according to Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Twitter link), who suggests that over 20 existing basketball and soccer clubs in Europe have presented bids for potential NBA Europe teams.

The NBA hasn’t offered many specific details in recent weeks, but deputy commissioner Mark Tatum stated on Monday that the NBA and FIBA are “very, very happy” with the interest shown so far in the league, reports Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.

“Right now, we’re just going through that process of narrowing down those bids into a little bit of a short list and trying to go out and continue to build partnerships with the right people in those markets,” Tatum said. “… We’re really thinking this is a global opportunity and we want to take advantage of the European culture and the European affinity for the game of basketball. This is not going to be the NBA opposing anything in Europe. This is going to be a European league, built by Europeans, with Europeans, with our partners in FIBA as well.”

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

• As expected, former NBA player and assistant coach Damon Jones formally entered guilty pleas on Tuesday to two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one connected to NBA gambling and one to an illegal poker ring, per Michael R. Sisak of The Associated Press. Jones stated in court that he took part in a scheme to defraud sportsbooks by disseminating “insider information that I obtained as a result of my relationships as a former player” and that he acted as a “face card” to recruit players for poker games that he knew were rigged. Jones, who is scheduled for back-to-back sentencing hearings on January 6, faces 21 to 27 months in prison in the NBA gambling case and 48 to 63 months in the illegal poker case, based on sentencing guidelines.
• Although no formal bids for expansion teams have been put on the table this early in the process, there has been “substantial outreach” from potential investors for franchises based in Las Vegas and Seattle, sources tell Randall Williams of Bloomberg Sports (subscription required). Williams adds that early indications suggest Vegas is generating more interest than Seattle.
• The NCAA took another step on Monday toward eliminating redshirt seasons and allowing college athletes to compete for five full season instead of four, according to Scott Dochterman of The Athletic. If the rule change is implemented, it wouldn’t give athletes who competed in the 2025/26 academic year an extra year of eligibility.