Tatum said initial plans are for the franchises to consist of teams from the UK, France, Spain, Italy and Germany – the quintet also hold a major European prominence in football.
Turkey and Greece could also have core franchises.
The identities of those teams are set to be a mix of existing basketball clubs, new clubs and football teams who currently do and do not have basketball clubs aligned with them.
Football teams Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich all currently have basketball teams and currently in the 2025 EuroLeague.
Olympiakos, Panathinaikos, Fenerbahce, Partizan Belgarde and Red Star Belgrade also have partnering basketball teams in the competition.
Currently, there are no UK-based teams in the EuroLeague and the men’s national team are currently banned from competing in international competitions by Fiba due to governance issues.
Despite that, Tatum told BBC Sport: “The UK is going to play a significant role in the proposed European league. For the first time ever, (there will be) permanent franchises in the UK that will play top tier league basketball across Europe.
“I think that will continue to fuel the growth of basketball in the UK.”
London, Manchester, Paris and Berlin – the four cities to host NBA games between 2026 and 2028 – have all been identified as being among the league’s key cities to target and means franchises in all four are likely.
Lyon, Rome, Milan, Istanbul, Athens are also among the cities that could have franchises.
A move for English football clubs to become multi-sport are not uncommon either. Earlier this year, Nottingham Forest entered a team into the Netball Super League.
BBC Sport understands Manchester City have expressed an interest in having a team and early conversations with the NBA have taken place.
This article is the latest from BBC Sport’s Ask Me Anything team.
