A group of NBA officials led by Joel Litvin, the league's executive vice president for legal and business affairs, and Hornets team president Paul Mott will be in New Orleans on Friday to meet with state, city and SMG officials regarding the Hornets' return to the city for the 2007-08 season, according to a report in The Times-Picayune.

NBA commissioner David Stern, who announced the scheduled visit during his state of the league address at the NBA Finals in Dallas, said discussions would involve charting the necessary steps for the Hornets' success in New Orleans, both financially and artistically.

"The decision is made," said Stern, regarding the team's return to New Orleans. "We're just working on making sure that the decision is a good one."

"There's a lot of work, and we're going to be working with New Orleans and with Louisiana to assure the team's return there is successful," Stern said. "We understand that the worst possible scenario, and we agree with our friends in New Orleans, is to sort of go back and have a team that doesn't succeed, and then moves when its lease expires. We don't want that to happen."