With expected final votes Monday by the city and King County councils on a proposed Seattle arena, NBA commissioner David Stern made some of his most optimistic comments in recent memory regarding the league returning to Seattle.

"Commissioner, regarding the Seattle new arena, is there a chance during the next five years when they'll probably finalize it [the arena], that there'll be an expansion team, a new Seattle SuperSonics?" a reporter from Romania asked Sunday at a news conference in Milan, Italy.

Said Stern: "The answer is there seem to be plans moving along for a new arena in Seattle. There was general agreement in the past that Seattle needed a new arena. It would be my hope that within the time frame that you mentioned — five years — that if everything works out perfectly, there would be a new arena and a new team in Seattle. That's always, for the NBA board of governors, but I know that many governors are favorably inclined."

Video of the news conference is available on NBA.com.

If the councils vote to approve the agreement Monday, the next major step for developer Chris Hansen, who has committed about $290 million to the $490 million project, is to get a team to play in the building.

Stern didn't specifically say if the possible Seattle team would be relocated (Sacramento is often mentioned as looking to move) or if the team would be an expansion club.

Kansas City has been mentioned as a city that could get an expansion team.