Luka Doncic, on the verge of buying an Italian team to bring it into the NBA Europe!

An investor group led by former Dallas Mavericks General Manager Donnie Nelson, with involvement from Lakers star Luka Doncic, has reached a preliminary agreement to acquire the Italian club Vanoli Basket Cremona, as reported by Joe Vardon, Sam Amick, and Mike Vorkunov.

The team currently competes in Cremona, in northern Italy, but the long-term plan is to move it to Rome. The goal is for the entity to become one of the franchises licensed for the future European league driven by the NBA.

To participate in NBA Europe, clubs will also need to compete in a national league. Vanoli Basket holds a spot in the top Italian category, the Lega Basket Serie A. Currently, there is no top-tier team based in Rome, a city the NBA considers as one of the permanent locations for the new project.

Commissioner Adam Silver sees Milan, London, Manchester, Paris, Lyon, Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, Munich, Athens, and Istanbul as potential locations for the 12 licensed teams. The aim is to start the competition in the fall of 2027.

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Doncic's Participation and other NBA Investors

It is unknown what percentage of the club Doncic will own once the deal is finalized. The NBA's collective bargaining agreement restricts players' ownership in WNBA franchises, but there are currently no similar restrictions for NBA Europe teams.

According to the same information, the Slovenian will not be the only active player with investments in potential clubs of the project. Kevin Durant has a minority stake in PSG, which is expected to form a basketball section for the European league, and Tony Parker owns ASVEL Basket, located near Lyon and likely to be part of the competition.

Owners of NBA Europe teams will not be allowed to hold more than 5% of an NBA franchise to prevent conflicts of interest and dual ownership situations, as NBA team owners will also be shareholders of the European league. Finally, the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport stated that Dirk Nowitzki was part of the investor group with Doncic, although a spokesperson for the German denied this information to journalist Marc Stein.