By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
After Adam Hanga, Baskonia also matched the lucrative offer of Barcelona for American guard Shane Larkin.
Matching the offer doesn’t guarantee that the player will stay with the Basques in the following season. If Barcelona insists on acquiring Larkin and it will most likely do since he’s considered a primary target for the team, then it will have to enter negotiations with Baskonia regarding a buyout sum.
Larkin and Barcelona had reached a two-year, €5.5 million (gross) agreement. Baskonia had until midnight (14/7) to match the exact terms of the deal down to the last detail in order to keep owning the rights of the player, something which the club succeeded in doing.
It will be highly difficult for Baskonia’s budget to simultaneously manage the new contracts of both Larkin and Hanga. Meanwhile, Barcelona doesn’t lack the funds to pay even a hefty buyout price for two players that head coach Sito Alonso really wants to add in his roster.
Of course, while Larkin and Hanga are bound to Baskonia via the “Tanteo” but are free to sign with any other team outside of Spain. So it remains what developments Baskonia’s decision will launch.