Las Vegas' goal of landing an NBA franchise is still alive after commissioner David Stern said Friday he will appoint a committee of owners to study the proposal Mayor Oscar Goodman submitted about how his city would handle a team.

Stern has been opposed to playing in Las Vegas while there is gambling on the league, though he invited Goodman during All-Star weekend to make his proposal and said he would include it on the agenda during the two-day board meeting.

Goodman's letter failed to offer a compromise that would block betting on a potential Las Vegas franchise, but that hasn't yet ruined his chances. Stern said that after subsequent discussions with city officials, the owners asked for the committee so there could be further study "without prejudging anything."

"We're not sitting still because we're forming an owners' committee," deputy commissioner Adam Silver said.

Silver said the committee likely would be established in the next several weeks, consisting of owners from stable franchises with no potential of moving. Besides the gambling issue, the committee would study where the team would play and what a possible relocation fee would be.

The NBA currently has no team to move. But that could change in a year.

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