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Australia's Cleveland Cavaliers star Matthew Dellavedova believes an NBA game Down Under could "fill a football stadium". But Australian basketball fans will need to be patient with the NBA unlikely to make such an event happen anytime soon. NBL owner Larry Kestelman on Tuesday whipped Australian fans into a frenzy, revealing he'd held positive discussions about bringing a match to Australia; but also noted the prestigious Basketball Without Borders camp in Melbourne was being viewed as a test event of sorts. "The NBA is very supportive of partnering with us to do that, so we're in dialogue ... it's more a question of when, not if, any more," Kestelman said. "The NBA is a very professional organisation and they won't accept anything but a professionally run event...what they're looking for is how we deliver on this event." Dellavedova, currently involved in the Cavaliers' Playoffs series against Atlanta, lauded the idea, saying he'd love to be involved in the NBA's maiden foray in Australia. "It would be huge, I think we could probably fill a football stadium to see (it)," Dellavedova said. "It's a great opportunity to grow the game. If there could be a game there, it's something I'd love to be a part of." But Australian fans shouldn't hold their collective breath with ESPN NBA reporter Brian Windhorst revealing: "It's one of the regions under consideration for a future preseason international trip. It won't happen in 2016." That view was confirmed by Scott Levy, NBA Managing Director Asia, who said the NBA had no immediate intention of bringing a game to Australia. "We don't have any plans to bring a game now and I don't think we'd be willing to put a timeframe on that right now, but we do appreciate there's a lot of fans in Australia that are passionate about that," Levy told a conference call with reporters on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST). "We hope the rest of our business will continue to grow as it has been to justify that in the long term."
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