CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The NBA promised Thursday to tell an ownership group what it must do to bring an expansion team to Charlotte in time for the 2003-04 season, but stopped short of setting a franchise fee.

That fee is a crucial cost for Steve Belkin's group because it will determine how much he can pay toward a required new arena.

''Certainly I think we are willing to do our part with the arena,'' Belkin said. ''But depending on what the franchise fee is, that will determine what we are going to be able to do. That's something the NBA is getting back to us on.''

Belkin, head of the Boston-based group that includes Larry Bird, M.L. Carr and former Celtics general manager Jan Volk, spent almost two hours with NBA officials in New York outlining the efforts to land a new team.

Later, NBA deputy commissioner Russ Granik said the talks with Belkin were preliminary and that league officials have yet to decide what the next steps will be.

''A lot of things have to come together, and it's very premature for anyone to say for certain that this will happen,'' Granik said. ''But we're also not ruling it out.''

Belkin had hoped to get a concrete expansion fee figure in the meeting, but said numbers were only discussed in broad terms. Belkin is hopeful the figure will be in the $200 million range, which he said his group already has secured.

Aside from the fee, NBA commissioner David Stern and Granik were firm Thursday that no team could play in Charlotte without a new arena.

''An arena is an absolute necessity, it's the key element in this,'' Granik said.

Among the NBA's list of criteria is expected to be specific arena requirements and potential lease agreements.

The Hornets played in the outdated Charlotte Coliseum, which lacks the luxury suites the team needed to make money.

Hornets owners George Shinn and Ray Wooldridge pressured the city council to hold a referendum on a new arena last year, but voters overwhelmingly rejected the proposal that didn't call for the team to put up any money toward the new building.

That set in motion the Hornets' move to New Orleans, which happened even though business leaders and the city council were trying to work out a new arena deal that would keep the team in Charlotte under new ownership.

Because the partial framework is already set, Belkin is trying to move quickly and has set a 90-day deadline to bring the deal together.

Getting city council to agree to build an arena while also convincing the NBA to expand by September will be a daunting task, but Belkin said he was confident all sides are willing to work quickly.

''Yes, the league feels like this is a real challenge because usually when they add a franchise, they are shooting for a two-year term before the team would actually start,'' Belkin said. ''But the NBA feels the timing is right to move this forward quickly and that they can do what they need to do to make it happen.''

Belkin's group is not alone in trying to bring a new team to Charlotte. Bob Sturges, a minority owner with the Miami Heat, is also interested but has not been as aggressive as Belkin's group.

The league probably will not address the issue again until after next week's NBA draft, but Granik said Belkin's 90-day deadline is accurate if Charlotte is to get a new team.

''I think if the goal is to have a franchise playing for 2003-04 season, then I think that's right,'' Granik said. ''You've got to have a year in advance and even that is a very fast timetable, faster then we've done in the past. But I can't say that it's impossible.''