By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
The Euroleague season is upon us, the qualifying round starts this week, however there are still some big names from around the league which are still searching for their next contract. Here’s the top five and some of the names included will probably surprise you.
The biggest name of the free agents. However after two years below his high standards in Fenerbahce/ Ulker, no big offers were made to him after his contract with the Turkish club ended. Two years ago, Bo was the hottest name in the market, but now it seems that he will have to accept a huge pay cut in order to stay in Europe. Or else, there’s always China, despite some rumors about him hunting an NBA job, even a non guaranteed deal. Being just 29 years old, the American guard in theory is still at his primes.
He had a great World Cup tournament, however a new contract hasn’t been offered yet. As he said recently to Eurohoops, he is not in a hurry, but the clock ticks. At this point, no one can be sure about where he will end up, however he has been offered the last weeks to some of the biggest clubs in Europe. Still there’s no real interest yet for his services.
He started the summer by signing with Olympiacos, but after the medical exams, he was cut by the Greek team. Since then, his name hasn’t popped up anywhere and what happened with the Reds made other teams more than cautious. Still we expect Pops to emerge somewhere, because he is a great fighter and when healthy, a huge force in the paint.
He had a mediocre season in Galatasaray, however at the start of the summer it was rumored that the Cavs, who have his NBA rights, will be knocking on his door. That never happened and since then the name of Macvan is absent even from rumors. He left the Turkish club, last month it was rumored that he may end up in Partizan, but he denied this possibility and he is still in the market.
He was not a part of Panathinaikos’ plans, he was rumored to interest Olympiacos – however never the Reds made an offer to him – and after his brief appearance in Las Vegas’ summer league he was injured. There was also some interest from Laboral Kutxa for him, but after his injury the talks stopped. According to the latest infos, he will need at least three more months in order to return on the courts and it remains to be seen if he will get a chance after his rehabilitation.
Honorable mention: Mirza Begic
The former Real Madrid and Olympiacos player just signed with Union Olimpija. However even in the announcement of the deal, it’s clear that Begic has an opt out clause in order to take a better offer from abroad and leave Slovenia. The fact that he wasn’t part of the Slovenian national team, which was in great need of a true center caused many questions about his physical condition, but he already knows – on the contrary of the rest of this list – that he will have the chance to give answers on the court.