By Dimitris Minaretzis and Stefan Djordjevic/ info@eurohoops.net
Of course, it’s not easy for an NBAer to abandon his career in the USA. A big name could not play in the EuroLeague if he had good offers in the NBA.
This year, however, players with considerable careers and plenty of experience in the best league in the world have come to the EuroLeague, many of them, in fact, for the first time in their basketball lives.
Eurohoops picked out ten of them in no particular order. Those were the ones who created more buzz, plus one coach, Ettore Messina, who has made also a big return.
Jimmer Fredette (Panathinaikos)
The NBA definitely didn’t work for him. He was an amazing scorer in college, he worked wonders in China, but in the NBA he couldn’t settle anywhere. Panathinaikos took the opportunity and closed one of their biggest signings in terms of foreign players.
– Last season, Fredette played in six games with the Suns, averaging 3.7 points.
– His career average in the NBA is 6.0 points in 241 games in six seasons.
Wesley Johnson (Panathinaikos)
Panathinaikos didn’t stop at Fredette. They managed to lure Wesley Johnson too, who, at 32 years of age, decided to play in the EuroLeague for the first time, just like his new teammate.
He was selected with the 4th pick in the 2010 NBA draft, which means he becomes the player with the second-highest pick to play in the Greek league after 1982’s 3rd overall pick Dominique Wilkins (Panathinaikos 1995 – 1996). The Greens added to their squad an athletic player, with a presence on both sides of the court.
– Last season, Johnson played 38 games with the Pelicans and the Wizards, averaging 3.4 points.
– His career average in the NBA is 7.0 points in 609 games (334 as a starter) in nine seasons.
Kostas Koufos (CSKA)
At 30 years of age and after 11 years in the NBA, Kosta Koufos decided the time has come to play in the EuroLeague – and in Europe, more generally – for the first time in his career.
The Greek international center accepted the offer that came from Dimitrios Itoudis and the European champions, CSKA, and left the NBA, where he had been playing since 2008. He was selected with the 23rd overall pick in the 2008 draft and he was always a reliable solution in the center position, without ever having a key role even when he was a starter.
– Last season, Koufos played 42 games with the Kings, averaging 3.7 points and 4.2 rebounds.
– His career averages in the NBA are 5.7 points and 5.0 rebounds in 686 games (228 as a starter) in 11 seasons.
Nikola Mirotic (Barcelona)
Here, we’re talking about a very unique case. “Threekola” had offers from the NBA and, in fact, he was expecting a good contract. He wasn’t in a slump but Barcelona pulled off the big steal. They gave him a huge sum for four years (close to 25-26 million euros) and the chance to return to Spain after Real and lead his new team to the top.
He’s just 28, but Barcelona managed to bring back an NBAer with an average playing time of 24 minutes. There were seasons where it reached 30 minutes…
– Last season, Mirotic played in 46 games with the Pelicans and the Bucks, plus another 14 in the playoffs, averaging 16.7 points with the former and 10.5 with Giannis’s team.
– His career averages in the NBA are 12.3 points and 5.9 rebounds in 319 games (95 as a starter) in five seasons.
Omri Casspi (Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv)
Casspi’s big return to Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv is a fact. The Israeli forward will continue his career in Europe with the team in which he made his first steps in the big stage more than a decade ago.
It’s a huge move for Maccabi, which needed a local star, and got one of the best Israeli players ever to fit the bill. Casspi is expected to be one of the standouts of next season in the EuroLeague, he knows the league, he knows the team and what needs to be done in order for Maccabi to succeed.
– Last season, Casspi played 36 games with Memphis averaging 6.3 ppg.
– His career average in the NBA is 7.9 points and 4 rebounds in 588 games. In 145 of them, he was a starter.
Shelvin Mack (Armani Milan)
Shelvin Mack never had a key role in the NBA (19 minutes average playing time) but he was a very decent backup solution in the point guard position and Ettore Messina wanted to acquire him in Armani and bring him to the EuroLeague for the first time. Essentially, in Mike James’s place.
Mack spent eight seasons in the NBA coming off a magical three years in college basketball with the unknown Butler Bulldogs, when, together with Gordon Hayward, they took their school all the way to the NCAA finals.
– Last season, Mack played in 53 games with Memphis and 4 with Charlotte, averaging 7.9 points and 3.4 assists.
– His career averages in the NBA are 6.6 points and 3.1 assists in 456 games (56 as a starter) in eight seasons.
Greg Monroe (Bayern)
Greg Monroe’s move to Germany was more than a pleasant surprise. Just as important – if not more so – as the others mentioned above, Monroe, at the age of 29, leaves the NBA for Bayern Munich. After Derrick Williams, the German colossus acquired another excellent player from the NBA.
We’re talking about a career that lasted nine seasons in the NBA with almost 14 points on average, and when he was in the Pistons (2010-15) he was an integral part, playing for 34 minutes with 16.5 points to his credit.
We won’t say that he’s the biggest name to come to the EuroLeague this year, but we wouldn’t challenge someone who would do so either. His numbers suggest as much. It’s simply that he has been in a slump in recent years, compared to, say, Mirotic.
– Last season, Monroe played with three teams (Raptors, Celtics, Sixers) in a total of 43 games, plus 10 in the playoffs with Philadelphia (4.0 points in the postseason).
– His career averages are 13.2 points and 8.3 rebounds in 632 games (417 as a starter), averaging 27.7 minutes of playing time.
Quincy Acy (Maccabi Tel Aviv)
After seven seasons in the NBA, the 28-year-old Quincy Acy decided to switch continents and penned a deal with Maccabi Tel Aviv with which he will debut in Europe.
Acy was drafted by the Raptors in 2012 as 37th overall pick and during his career also played for the Kings, Knicks, Mavericks, Nets, and the Suns.
– Last season, Acy played 10 games with the Suns averaging 1.7 points, and 2.5 rebounds.
– His career averages are 4.9 points and 3.5 rebounds over 337 games (60 as a starter) in the NBA
Timofey Mozgov (Khimki Moscow Region)
Timofey Mozgov joined Khimki Moscow for the upcoming season and he is no stranger to the Russian team. This will be his third stint with them as he played for Khimki before moving to the NBA for the first time (2006-10) and during the 2011 lockout.
Mozgov played for eight seasons in the NBA with the Nuggets, Cavaliers, Lakers, and the Nets. The 32-year-old was also a part of the Orlando Magic but was sidelined for the whole past season due to a knee injury – from which he has been successfully recovering.
– His last playing stretch was the 31 games with the Nets in the 2017-18 season when he averaged 4.2 points and 3.2 rebounds on a bit over 11 minutes of playtime.
– Mozgov logged 454 NBA games (273 as a starter) in total averaging 6.8 points and 4.9 rebounds.
Jonas Jerebko (Khimki Moscow Region)
Khimki saved the best for last. The Russian club added to its roster NBA champions Jonas Jerebko, who joins a formidable unit which includes local stars Shved and Mozgov.
Jerebko is expected to share the spotlight with Alexey Shved and bring one more focal point to an offense that seemed dominated by the Russian sharpshooter. Plus, Jerebko throughout his career has proven that he can be a great teammate and that’s an asset. With his addition, Khimki at least on paper can be considered a Final Four contender.
– Jerebko played in 73 games with the Golden State Warriors last season, starting in six of them and averaging 6.3 ppg and 3.9 rpg.
– In total during his NBA career, he has played in 635 games, starting in 119 of them. He averaged 6 ppg and 4 rpg plus 0.8 apg.
Ettore Messina (Armani Milan)
In 2014, Ettore Messina left his career in Europe in order to join Gregg Popovich and the Spurs and sit beside perhaps the greatest coach still working. School, you might say…
Finding out he wouldn’t be able to take over a team as head coach even though in previous years but also this year his name had been mentioned in connection with several teams, he decided to return to the EuroLeague and Italy for Armani Milan. This will be his third team in the country after Virtus and Benetton, while with the first one he won the EuroLeague two times, in 1998 and in 2001.
He moved to CSKA, where he won another two European championships in 2006 and 2008 (with Papaloukas the main protagonist), he then went to Real for two years and returned to CSKA for another two seasons between 2012 and 2014.
He emerged as EuroLeague Coach of the Year twice, while he has also won four Italian championships, two in the VTB and five in the Russian league.
Honorable mentions
Ron Baker of CSKA Moscow and Alex Abrines of Barcelona were part of the Top10 but lost their spot after the signings of Jonas Jerebko and Omri Casspi. Nik Stauskas who signed with KIROLBET Baskonia, Wade Baldwin of Olympiacos, Jordan Loyd of Valencia, Tyler Dorsey of Maccabi Tel Aviv and Tyler Cavanaugh of ALBA Berlin also came directly from the NBA. And Sam Dekker did the same for Lokomotiv Kuban, which competes in the VTB League and the 7DAYS EuroCup.
Technically, the same can be said for Khimki’s Dairis Bertans who finished the season in the NBA after leaving Milan. And while they are not included in the Top 10, the upcoming season will prove if the should be ranked higher. What’s already is proven is that the status of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague to the eyes of the NBA players is higher than ever.