The top European club competition might be changing for the best in recent years, as the new system with many great games every week, is very attractive for the fans, however many top-shelf players are… departing for foreign shores and, more specifically, the NBA and China.
Now, with so many important absences, it remains to be seen whether the EuroLeague will be devitalized and to what extent it will affect the league.
This year alone, during this summer’s long transfer period, a total of 18 players left (11 of them for the NBA and 7 for the CBA) and we are talking about some of the most important names in European basketball, who, in the new season, will step on the courts of another continent, looking for a different… fate.
The reasons for the decisions of the stars of European courts to leave their teams – for a change of scene as well as continent – are many, the most basic of all having to do with money. The money that is being offered by the Chinese, the increase of the salary cap in the NBA, but also the most guaranteed contracts on the rosters of the teams in the best League in the world that, at the same time, offer them the prestige of competing at the highest level in the world.
From EuroLeague to the NBA
Ekpe Udoh
The absolute MVP for Fenerbahce in the 2016-17 season was Ekpe Udoh. After his first year in Zeljko Obradovic’s team, the 30-year-old American center catapulted his performance levels and forced his opponents to bow down to him after every game. It’s no coincidence that he was the MVP of this year’s Final Four, which he combined with winning the first European title for the Turks.
Udoh completed the season in the EuroLeague with 12.1 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.2 blocks, 2.1 assists and 1 steal on average, stats that are amazing and very hard for a player to achieve at the high level of the competition. His performances, especially in the Final Four in Istanbul and in the semifinal against Real, will remain unforgettable, as will his prodigiousness in the playoffs against Panathinaikos.
Now, together with Rudy Gobert, they will form an excellent duo in the ‘5’ position of the Utah Jazz and NBA fans will have the chance to enjoy him.
Milos Teodosic
The EuroLeague has already lost many first-rate stars to the other side of the Atlantic, and one of them is Milos Teodosic, who played in CSKA Moscow and Olympiacos for a number of years. The Serbian playmaker signed a contract with the Los Angeles Clippers for the next 3 years (2+1) with total earnings of 12.3 million dollars. His absence from CSKA will definitely be hard to cover, especially after an excellent season in which he had 16.1 points and 6.8 assists, as well as numerous magical moments.
Milos will certainly get a lot of playing time in the position of the playmaker in his new team, as Doc Rivers is expected to allocate the ‘1’ position between the Serb and Patrick Beverley, after Chris Paul’s departure to Houston. Teodosic is going to make DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin very happy with his assists, but he will also provide a lot of solutions in offense through his aptitude for scoring.
Bogdan Bogdanovic
The other star who is leaving Europe for the NBA – and, more specifically, the Sacramento Kings of Papagiannis and Koufos – is Bogdan Bogdanovic, who is departing from Fenerbahce for a big contract after his excellent performances in the playoffs and the Final Four of the EuroLeague that was completed this year. His stats were extremely impressive with 14.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists on average.
The Serbian “killer” will have strong competition in the position of the shooting guard in the Kings. Hield, Richardson and Temple will be sharing playing time with him, while some will also play in ‘3’ or even as playmakers. In his rookie season in the magical world of the NBA, Bogdanovic will certainly have to make an adjustment and grab any chances he will be given. Besides, let’s not forget that few Kings players have his talent for scoring or his prodigious game in many areas, like in one-on-one defense, assists, and rebounds.
Mike James
Another absence is that of, as of recently Suns player, Mike James. The explosive American combo guard was an indispensable part of the Greens’ perimeter, which is not easy to cover. James’ 13.1 points, 3 assists, and impressive plays are going to be missed in Xavi Pascual’s team, but will now be enjoyed by the fans of the Phoenix Suns whenever he’s on the court.
The unbelievable Devin Booker and the experienced scorer Leandro Barbosa might have the edge for the position of the shooting guard in the Suns, but James will get time and room in which to play. He has attributes that are a good match for the NBA, like explosiveness, excellent adjustments in on-ball defense against rival guards, a very good contact with the basket, but also an aptitude for rebounding despite his small size. The only thing that is certain is that he will be used in the ‘1’ position as well, and that’s where he will be called upon to respond in distributing the ball.
Shane Larkin
One player who will be greatly missed by Baskonia and EuroLeague fans in the upcoming season is Shane Larkin. In the summer of 2016, Josean Querejeta went overboard and brought the American guard to Baskonia in order to cover the gap of the… Chinese Darius Adams. Not only did the president of the Basques manage to bring a player who was just as good into the team’s guards, he also made the fans not want to part with him.
Larkin had some great performances, as he’s a charismatic scorer and an excellent passer. In fact, whenever his team needed him, he didn’t “tap out” in the end but took the big shot, which shows that he has the elements of a leader and a steely character. It was a given that the 25-year-old would look for a transfer to a big club or the NBA, something that he achieved as he will be a Celtic for the 2017-18 season. Last season in the EuroLeague he had 13.1 points, 5.7 assists, 2.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals.
Cedi Osman
Efes Anadolu is another team that is losing one of its key members to the NBA. The 22-year-old small forward, Cedi Osman, signed a 3-year contract with LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers with total earnings of 8.5 million dollars. The Turkish international has a lot of experience in the EuroLeague despite being so young, and in the season that was completed with 7.1 points and 2.8 rebounds, he was one of the main reasons that Velimir Perasovic’s team got so close to qualifying for the Final Four.
Osman clearly has enough attributes to play in the NBA and this is why the 2016 champions selected him in the draft. He’s explosive, a very good defender against smaller or bigger opponents, and he knows how to finish plays close to the basket. His first season will help him gather experiences in Cleveland as he has several players ahead of him. In any case, if he works properly on those aspects of his game in which he’s lagging behind, like shooting, the time when he finds his role in coach Lue’s rotation will not be long in coming.
Khem Birch
Three other players who ended up in the US from the EuroLeague are Olympiacos’s Khem Birch, Bamberg’s Daniel Theis and Anadolu Efes’s Furkan Korkmaz. The American center of the Red-and-Whites will now be a “Magician” in Orlando, since a few hours before the NBA out he had with Olympiacos expired, he found the contract he was looking for.
His stats for a rookie in the EuroLeague were good, with 7.3 points and 5.6 rebounds, and he had some excellent performances. In the Magic he’ll have a hard time getting playing time immediately, since they are full in the ‘5’ position with Vucevic, Biyombo and Speights, while Birch cannot play as a power forward. But his very good defense in switches against small players and his ability to go after rival big shooters along the perimeter may help him get his opportunities.
Daniel Theis
Daniel Theis is a player that a lot of teams in Europe need, but also in the NBA. The reason is that he does a lot of things on the court: he scores, he plays very good defense in… the air but also against small players, he’s a very good rebounder and he’s also tough. The Celtics saw their big men positions getting empty and chose him as an additional solution in positions ‘4’ and ‘5’ in order to have some depth in their rotation.
Last season in the EuroLeague, the German had 9.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 41% from outside the 6,75 line, but also almost a block (0.9) per game. Coach Stevens certainly destines him to come off Boston’s bench to provide solutions and energy.
Furkan Korkmaz
The Philadelphia Sixers are a team that has been… faltering in recent years in the NBA, but they invest in the talent of young and talented players from the draft, but also from Europe. This summer, it’s Furkan Korkmaz’s turn to try his luck on the historic team after leaving EuroLeague’s Anadolu Efes. Last season he played on loan with Banvit in the Champions League, he had some excellent performances and emerged as the Best Young Player with 10.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.1 assists, while he was one of the pillars of the team’s qualification for the Final Four of the competition.
He’s a player who mainly plays as a shooting guard, while he also moves up to ‘3’ as well, and shoots exceptionally well from the three-point line (48.8%). In the Sixers, he will have to be patient in order to find the room to work on his weaknesses, if he wants to get the playing time he deserves in the best league in the world.
Ante Zizic
One of the major new talents the EuroLeague has… lost, answers to the name Ante Zizic. The 20-year-old Croatian center, who had some very good performances with David Blatt’s Darussafaka, will continue his career in the Boston Celtics, by whom he had been selected in the 2016 draft with the 23rd pick. Zizic has many excellent qualities, as, apart from his size that he uses as an advantage, he can post up his opponent very well, but also “read” the game and distribute the ball from the paint out to his teammates in the right way.
Last season in the competition, in 20 games in the regular season and the playoffs, Brad Stevens’ new player averaged 9 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 0.8 blocks. It’s definitely a big loss for the EuroLeague, especially when it comes to young and developing players who, every year, choose to continue their career in the NBA and not on European courts, regardless of the time and role they will get on the other side of the Atlantic.
The Chinese millionaires!
The Chinese market, like we mentioned above, offers a lot of money to the biggest names in European basketball and convinces them to play in the domestic league. The biggest name that made the EuroLeague-China route is last season’s top scorer in the competition, Keith Langford, who completed the season with 21.8 points and 3.7 assists in 28 games in the regular season, and next season he’ll be playing for the Shenzhen Leopards.
Langford is considered, not unfairly, one of the best scorers in Europe in recent years, something that he proved in the colors of Unics Kazan. The American is a one-man show offensively and he can tear apart any rival defense either with his drives, or his long-range shooting, or the ready-made baskets he dishes to his teammates. This is a great loss for the EuroLeague, while he is expected to… take the CBA by storm.
Ioannis Bourousis
Ioannis Bourousis is another Panathinaikos player who left Greece and, by extension, Europe, bound for the Zhejiang Guangsha Lions. In the Greens (7.8 points – 4.8 rebounds), the leader of the national team might not have reached the performance levels he had in Baskonia, but he was a key member of the Catalan coach’s team.
The Greek international center has many advantages and a few weaknesses. The team that would sign him after his departure from Panathinaikos would certainly add quality in the ‘5’ position, scoring either from the key or from long-range, assists and armor in the department of rebounding. Bourousis might not be as effective in defense now, but this would not stop him from standing his ground at the level of the EuroLeague. His decision to move to China is yet another blow to the quality of the rosters of teams in European basketball.
Miroslav Raduljica
Miroslav Raduljica is heading to the same destination but a different team (Jiangsu Dragons). The international Serbian center didn’t stand out in the colors of Milano (8.1 points – 3.2 rebounds), but this didn’t stop him from finding an excellent contract in the CBA. The “King Kong” is an excellent big man offensively who can easily score, say, 20 points in a game, dish out several assists and do damage on his opponents.
His weaknesses in defense are striking, but the question is how each team he plays for utilizes him. Now, in China, he won’t find it too hard to adjust and he’ll probably make excellent performances with a lot of double-doubles since the level of the CBA is still low for the good players of Europe.
Aaron Jackson
Aside from Langford, the Chinese market is attracting other top-class guards as well. The characteristic example of the summer is Aaron Jackson, who spent five years in CSKA Moscow and will now be a member of the Beijing Ducks. Last season the American playmaker had 8.8 points and 3.6 assists, while he turned down offers from top EuroLeague clubs for the CBA.
In the guard position, Jackson is a multi-tool for any coach. He can play excellent defense, dish easy assists to his teammates and, when needed, he can score. An important element is that, in recent years, he has improved his long-range shooting considerably, something that used to be a weakness. Now, opponents would think twice about playing him under in screens and, generally, he’s a threat for rival defenses. European basketball needs players – especially guards – like Jackson, but they choose the NBA or China more easily.
Edwin Jackson
A similar case with Jackson is his namesake, Edwin Jackson, who had a great season with Estudiantes in the ACB, where he made the All-ACB First Team thanks to his 21.4 points, 3.5 rebounds and the 3.4 assists he dished. In fact, he has experience in the EuroLeague with Malaga in the 2015-16 season, while in the new season he’ll be playing for the Guangdong Southern Tigers, cashing in his special performances on the courts of Spain.
The now former Estudiantes player is a charismatic scorer with a stint in Barcelona, but it was with Malaga and his last European team he had the performances that got him established in Spain. He can shoot exceptionally well from outside the 6.75 line, he dishes out assists, while he can also threaten with drives or mid-range shots. In the CBA he will most likely put on performances like those of Errick McCollum or other great scorers who have played there.
Kyle Fogg
Another American scorer who decided to leave the European courts is Kyle Fogg. The 28-year-old guard had some very good performances with Unicaja Malaga last season and was one of the reasons that Joan Plaza’s team won the EuroCup in the “civil war” finals against the subsequent Spanish champions, Valencia, and, at the same time, earned their return to the EuroLeague.
In his European commitments, Fogg had 11.9 points, 3 rebounds, and 2.4 assists and made the difference at all critical points of the season for Malaga, while he was very good in the EuroCup finals as well. Starting from the new season, the American guard will be playing in the Guangzhou Long-Lions in the CBA, deciding to “sacrifice” a year in the EuroLeague for the big money the Chinese have and which they “pour” into basketball, which is growing rapidly in the Asian country.