As the curtain lifts on the much-anticipated NBL grand final series opener in Sydney on Friday night, a more sombre event will be taking place at Newcastle.

The last rites will be given to the Hunter Pirates when the three-year-old franchise holds its final presentation night after failing to find a new sponsor to cover season losses of up to $900,000.

Pirates chairman John O'Brien is yet to divulge the transfer of the Pirates licence, but talks have begun with consortiums in Singapore and the Gold Coast.

NBL commissioner Rick Burton was confident of having the licence transferred by March 10.

Burton told AAP he was confident the new franchise would be ready to play in a 12-team league by September.

"John O'Brien is 95 per cent certain that the team would not return to Newcastle but that he was not prepared to talk about where he thought he might be transferring the team," he said.

"We are continuing to work with them and we are confident of another team playing from September."

Burton said the licence transfer should "happen in the next two weeks".

"We are coming to a point where our ability to inform our clubs of what their fixtures are going to look like next year is becoming fairly significant," he said.

"We want our teams to be able to lock in their stadiums and dates and we have TV partners who need to know.

"In all likelihood it's something we have to have in place by March 10."

There was speculation the NBL would use the grand final series between defending champions Sydney Kings and the Melbourne Tigers - who have heavy ties with China - to help launch the competition's entry into Asia.

Former NBL premiership coach Bob Turner has been linked with a Singapore consortium along with ex-West Sydney coach Gordie McLeod.

But Burton said talk about a move to Asia was still "premature".

"We want to create opportunities for this league to grow," Burton said.

"The Melbourne Tigers have ties with China, the Perth Wildcats have had great success taking an annual game to Singapore - games are being broadcast in China right now.

"Asia is a massive basketball market. Basketball is the No.1 sport in China.

"I think there is a lot of potential for us but it's still probably premature because we need to get everyone in place in Australia first."

It will be business as usual for the NBL next season despite the Pirates demise.

Not that it was any consolation to retiring Pirates coach Adrian Hurley who admitted the presentation night would be "emotional".

"I think it will be emotional particularly for the players who will all be moving on," he said.

"We are going to try and make it a positive night.

"It didn't work out but we all had a go, no-one should be ashamed of their efforts on the court - it just wasn't meant to be."

Hurley felt for Pirates players like Ben Melmeth who had also endured the demise of NBL team the Newcastle Falcons in 1999.

"This is the second time Ben has been through it. This is where he wants to stay and play so it's got to be disappointing for him after giving it a good couple of years here."

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