By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
The marquee competition of the European basketball is the Euroleague. This is the tournament in which everyone wants to play and win the trophy. And this is the competition that fans, scouts and not-basketball addicted people want to watch. But is there any slightest chance for this to change?
Yes! Euroleague will always be the biggest competition but this season’s Eurocup includes a lot of big names that could make an excellent career also in the top Euroleague clubs. The Russian and the Turkish teams that will not compete in next season’s Euroleague, have spent a lot of money and will try to “book” a spot in Euroleague by winning the Eurocup.
The last signing that made noise in the Eurocup was the 25-year-old NBAer -he played 257 games in the best league of the world- Anthony Randolph who signed with Lokomotiv. Kuban had already signed Malcolm Delaney, while Khimki added in its roster the MVP of the last Euroleague Final Four, Tyrese Rice and one of the biggest European prospects, the 23-year-old French, Joffrey Lauvergne.
The “Fantastic Four” are not the only players that will shine in the competition. In Lokomotiv’s roster for example there are players like Derrick Brown and Richard Hendrix and in Khimki’s players like Paul Davis and Marko Popovic. Also, you must have in mind that the Eurocup will become richer after the end of the qualification round in the Euroleague and then with the inclusion of the teams which will not make the Top16.
But why all this happened this summer? It’s easy to judge or to “decide” on behalf of others. Or to say things like “Euroleague is better than Eurocup” and “ambition and reputation are above money”. However every man is different, every situation complicated and everyone has different priorities.
Eurohoops tried to identify what happened those few months in the market and spoke with one of the “pioneers” of the Eurocup movements. A lot of top Euroleague teams were interested in Malcolm Delaney, an American player who shined with Bayern and proved that he could make a great career in the top level.
Eventually, he decided to surprise everyone and signed with Lokomotiv Kuban. “I played hard with Bayern Munich, I grew up and I reached the top Euroleague level. I wanted to stay in Europe and wanted to go where they wanted me more” was his first answer to Eurohoops about his destination.
The 25-year-old American guard had offers from Bayern and from Olympiacos. There was also interest from many other top teams like Milan, CSKA and Fenerbahce. We asked him to reveal what was going on with those teams and he said: “The NBA was part of my decision because I wanted to check the market also there. I wanted to have an NBA out clause in my contract with Olympiacos which I hadn’t in the first days. It was a good situation, but then came the issue with the money. But it’s not just that. I spoke with Lokomotiv Kuban and I understood that it’s a professional club and something big is happening there. I have a motivation, I feel comfortable and I ‘ll be a better player there”.
After all, isn’t he afraid of the relatively low level of Eurocup? “No. I think Eurocup will be a competitive competition. I think the level will be high. For example Khimki and the seven teams that will not qualify to the Euroleague will be very good teams. I don’t look on differences. Only the game matters. Everyone pays attention to the names but I want to be successful. The transfer in Lokomotiv is the best situation for me”.
At the end he admitted: “On paper Euroleague is better”. But it’s on Malcolm’s, Joffrey’s, Tyrece’s, Anthony’s and the others hands to prove that the gap between Euroleague and Eurocup is getting smaller.