John Delong of the Winston-Salem Journal reports that the NBA plans to start serious discussions in the coming weeks about putting an expansion team in Charlotte. They plan making a decision whether expansion into Charlotte can be done or not by the end of the summer.

Russ Granik, the NBA's deputy commissioner, said yesterday that the issue of expanding to Charlotte will jump to the forefront once the NBA Finals is completed. Granik said that he and Commissioner David Stern plan to start talking with groups hoping to land an expansion franchise for Charlotte once the Finals end, "and we'll see then whether anything can be done."

"I would hope within the next several weeks we can see if there's any serious interest or not, and what the parameters would be," Granik said. "And then at that point, David and I could take it to the Board of Governors."

Even though the Board of Governors voted nearly unanimously to allow the Charlotte Hornets to move to New Orleans, the sentiment among the group was that Charlotte could still be a profitable NBA city.

Granik discussed the possibility of expansion to Charlotte with NBA coaches in a meeting last Thursday in Chicago, at the league's annual pre-draft camp. Some coaches left that meeting convinced that the league will expand to Charlotte, with one saying that Granik gave the impression that it was "all but a done deal."

Granik disputed that assessment yesterday, though, and stressed that nothing has been decided.