By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Anadolu Efes is going through some big changes, with Ergin Ataman leaving for Panathinaikos. Coach Erdem Can has taken over, and the new roster is starting to take shape. General manager Alper Yilmaz spoke with Pinar Ilik Ucer from beIN Sports about everything that is happening with the club at the moment, starting with Vasilije Micic’s future.
Serbian guard is one of the Efes‘ players with an NBA option, and Eurohoops reported that the he traveled to Oklahoma, where he can negotiate a deal since the NBA Draft was held.
“We are following the developments after yesterday’s draft. Micic really wants to go to the NBA. He has an option on his contract until July 20. I don’t know if he will make another request. We are waiting for Micic for now,” Yilmaz said.
As of the appointment of Erdem Can, Yilmaz admitted there were several other names in the mix.
“Of course, like every player candidate, we want to meet with every coach candidate and we do. We interviewed four or five coach candidates. Although Erdem Can is still at the beginning of his head coaching career, he had a very successful season and became the coach of the year in the EuroCup. We have always achieved our previous successes with Turkish coaches. We believe that we can achieve new successes with a new Turkish coach.”
Many players have already left the club, but Rodrigue Beaubois and Elijah Bryant have decided to stay. Tyrique Jones became the first reinforcement, and Dogus Ozdemiroglu followed.
“Clyburn and Zizic will stay with us. We managed to keep Beaubois and Elijah Bryant on the team. Amath M’Baye’s status will be known in a week. Tibor Pleiss has a contract. It looks like we are in the process of acquiring the fourth and fifth players. There may be a decrease in the number of foreign players next year. We want to utilize Turkish players more in our system. We also follow our guards’ NBA options. We will see if we can make any changes or not.”
Yilmaz assures that the budget won’t suffer and that Anadolu Efes will continue with the highest possible goals.
“We want to be ready from the first game of the season and finish in the best way. There will not be a significant reduction in the budget due to our current contracts. We are working on whether the players with NBA options will go to the NBA or if there will be other changes. However, I do not think that the budget can be reduced too much. Also, if you want to be a competitive team in the EuroLeague, you have to surpass a certain limit,” Alper Yilmaz stated.