According to Pedro Ivo Almeida and Fábio Balassiano of UOL in Brazil, the NBA is preparing to announce the Washington Wizards will be hosting Bauru, an opponent from Brazil's top basketball league, Novo Basquete Brasil, in a preseason game this October.
Here's a translation of the UOL report via Google Translate:
The parties also avoid talking openly about it, but negotiations are already at an advanced stage and the announcement will take place on Tuesday of next week (11/08), according to people close to the NBA heard by the report.
The calendar even is already set: Bauru come into court on 7 and 11 October to face New York Knicks and Washington Wizards.
This is not the first time the Wizards have been involved in the NBA's efforts to expand their appeal in Brazil. You may recall the Wizards played the first ever NBA exhibition game in Brazil against the Chicago Bulls back in 2013. Like the game from two years ago, the reason for the Wizards' involvement here is clear since Nene is arguably Brazil's most notable NBA player.
This isn't the first time we've seen an NBA team take on a Brazilian team in a preseason game. Last year, the Phoenix Suns and Orlando Magic hosted Flamengo in preseason games. This year, the Orlando Magic will be making the trip down to Rio de Janeiro for a rematch against Flamengo in Brazil.
Bauru lost to Flamengo in the NBB Finals last season but won the FIBA Amercias League title, the South & Central American version of the Euroleague, back in March.