The NBA returns to London on Sunday apparently unready to take their relationship with the British capital any further.

The Miami Heat and the New Jersey Nets will play a pre-season game before a sell-out crowd at the O2 Arena as part of what is now the annual NBA Europe Live tour.

It is the second time the league has included London on the schedule, following the success of last year's visit from the Boston Celtics and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

But while the two teams will use Sunday's game to try and figure out the final details of their game plan for the coming season, fans are still trying to figure out where London stands in the NBA's plans.

There has been plenty of talk in recent months - from last year's suggestion of European expansion which would include a team permanently based in the city - to a more recent discussion about hosting an All-Star Game here in the build-up to the 2012 Olympics.

But so far, it has been just talk. The European division remains a pipe dream, and the All-Star Game idea remains out of reach.

London will no doubt stay on the NBA Europe Live agenda as long as the games keep selling out, but regular-season games and All-Star events remain some way off.

"I would say there will be nothing right now," NBA commissioner David Stern said Friday of playing regular-season games here.

"We're still using the friendlies model."

As for the All-Star Game, he added: "It's nice to talk about, but logistically it's not a realistic thing, not at the present time."

Instead, Stern and the NBA are putting their focus on building interest in the game ahead of the 2012 Olympics, where basketball will feature on the agenda and an emerging Great Britain team are set to compete after a rapid emergence from the doldrums.

"The main thing for us in London is to work with the basketball authorities and make sure that basketball is as popular as possible during the 2012 Olympics and then use the Olympics as a better springboard to grow the game in this country," Stern said.

"It's not a short-term agenda."

Stern did not rule out the idea of European expansion, however, and noted that league is "one NBA-ready arena closer" thanks to unveiling of O2 World in Berlin.

As for Sunday's game itself, London is unlikely to be treated to a preview of the new NBA champions as it was with Boston last year, but despite miserable campaigns for both Miami and New Jersey last season, there is plenty to like going into the new campaign.

The Heat are only two seasons removed from winning it all, but looked a shadow of their former selves last year as All-Star Dwyane Wade struggled with injury early on and Shaquille O'Neal was eventually traded to Phoenix.

The future is now Michael Beasley, the second overall draft pick, and Shawn Marion, who came the other way in the O'Neal deal - and, of course, Wade.

The rebuilding job in New Jersey has been no less extreme. Gone is leading scorer Richard Jefferson, following out the door perennial All-Star Jason Kidd who was traded to Dallas last season.

Anchorman Vince Carter remains - although he may miss Sunday's game through injury - but he has an unfamiliar cast surrounding him.

The most intriguing of the new faces is Yi Jianlian.

The second-year Chinese forward struggled through injury and international commitments in his debut season with Milwaukee last year, but the Nets saw enough potential to give up Jefferson and bring him East in a multi-player deal.

The marketing potential of a China international in the New York area is obvious, but the Nets insist this is a basketball decision as they look to use the seven-footer's long shooting range and ability to get up and down the court.

Fans will get a sense of how that will work on Sunday night, but for the paying public, the game will be a chance to experience the razzmatazz of an NBA game - the raw athleticism on the court and the cheerleaders off it.

Whether they get to experience it all more often in the future remains to be seen.