By Evaggelos Papadimitriou, adapted by Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
As expected, the summer has been particularly hot for the teams of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
Impressive transfers were announced daily, with more potentially coming up deeper in the offseason. Rebuilding teams, including Panathinaikos and Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet, were all over the place. The rest of the pack was in the mix as well.
All 18 clubs of Europe’s premier club continental competition have completed signature signings over the summer. It looks interesting as the 2023-24 season inches closer.
With more and more players being attracted by the NBA lights, keeping talent in the Old Continent is a challenge met by EuroLeague teams.
The other way around, NBA teams cutting players at the end of the preseason can be intriguing for EuroLeague counterparts, even altering our latest Top 10.
Eurohoops traditionally picks out the best summer moves of EuroLeague teams. Forced to leave out moves such as Milos Teodosic and Shabazz Napier to Zvezda, Luca Vildoza to Panathinaikos, and Sertac Sanli, Giorgos Papagiannis, and Raul Neto to Fenerbahce Beko, here of the Top 10 summer signings in reverse order.
10. Nikola Milutinov
New team: Olympiacos
Previous team: CSKA
Country: Serbia
VTB League stats (2022-23): 14.6pts, 8.2reb, 1.5ast, 12.2PIR over 45 games
Among the early completed transfers, Nikola Milutinov returned to Olympiacos.
The Serbian center was released by CSKA after three years and was determined to make it happen.
Olympiacos did not extend a search elsewhere in the effort of finding a partner inside the paint for Moustapha Fall. Simply diving into the past did the trick.
Milutinov, 28, played for the Reds from 2015 to 2020, emerging as a top-tier center.
His kind words toward Olympiacos, even after his departure, made a return extremely likely. Indeed, he is back.
After being held outside the EuroLeague for just over one year, he is projected to resurface as a star of the league.
Between him and Fall, Olympiacos is looking at tremendous options for the center position.