By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Gran Canaria won its historic EuroCup title with a 71-67 win over Turk Telekom and thus booked a spot in the next season’s EuroLeague.
The team from Las Palmas became the fourth Spanish club that will compete in the EuroLeague for the next season and practically closed the lineup.
Valencia Basket is expected to settle with the EuroCup next season and EuroLeague has three wild cards to give which are expected to end up in the hands of Virtus Segafredo Bologna, Partizan Mozzart Bet, and Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet.
Nothing is official yet, but that’s how things stand at the moment.
So the lineup of the EuroLeague for season 2023/24 should look like this: Barcelona, Baskonia, Real Madrid, Olympiacos, Panathinaikos, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Anadolu Efes, Fenerbahce, Olimpia Milano, Žalgiris, Bayern Munich and ASVEL as 12 licensed clubs, ALBA Berlin is on its way to a long term contract too, Monaco and Gran Canaria has secured the two EuroCup spots, Crvena Zvezda, Partizan, and Virtus Bologna are expected to join through wild cards.
The ABA League champion has a priority in wildcards, so if Partizan and Zvezda end up being the finalists, that would practically lock officially the EuroLeague lineup.
Gran Canaria will return to the EuroLeague for the first time since 2018 when it debuted and finished the sole season in the elite competition with an 8-22 score.
EuroCup is just the first international trophy for Las Palmas’ team, second overall after Supercopa de Espana, which won in 2016.