Basket rumors

Tai Odiase joins Prometey

Tai Odiase has been signed by Prometey Slobozhanske and will play for the 7DAYS EuroCup team in the upcoming campaign. Odiase (27 years old, 2.06 meters) recently competed for Germani Brescia, where in his first EuroCup season he averaged 7.2 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.2 blocks, and a 7.7 PIR. Strangely, the American had one of his greatest performances from last season against Prometey in Round 2, recording 10 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and 3 blocks in a convincing victory.

Maccabi Tel Aviv reportedly targets Filip Petrusev

Maccabi Tel Aviv targets Filip Petrusev.

Former Gonzaga averaged 10.7 points last season in EuroLeague, with 5.2 rebounds, with Crvena Zvezda.

Juan Laporta: The positions of Mirotic and the club are quite far apart

Barcelona’s President, Juan Laporta, gave a lengthy interview to the Spanish daily La Vanguardia, returning to the topics of Nikola Mirotic and Sarunas Jasikevicius.

“We can’t sustain these wages in basketball. We can be equally competitive without investing 40 million in salaries. The positions of Mirotic and the club are quite far apart, but we will see how it will be resolved. In the case of Jasikevicius, he was perhaps the highest paid coach in Europe and when we started the negotiations, we understood that we should not continue in that direction.”

Kostas Sloukas reportedly meets today Olympiacos front office

The long-awaited moment has arrived for Olympiakos and Kostas Sloukas. During the day (3/7), the 33-year-old point guard will meet with the Angelopoulos brothers: will the two parties continue their journey together or will they part ways?

The wait for Olympiakos and Kostas Sloukas reaches its peak today: the player’s three-year term expired on June 30th, with the point guard’s intentions up in the air, seeking a more central role as well as reassurances about the team’s competitiveness for the upcoming season.

Chicago Bulls requested Disabled Player Exception to Lonzo Ball

The Chicago Bulls have requested a Disabled Player Exception from the NBA, valued at $10.2 million, because of an injury to Lonzo Ball that is likely to sideline him for the entire 2023-24 season.

Zalgiris reportedly in advanced talks with Brady Manek

Zalgiris Kaunas is in advanced talks with Brady Manek, as reported by Donatas Urbonas.

The power forward out of North Carolina spent his rookie year between NBL (13.4 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 40% 3P with the Perth Wildcats) and BSL (15.4 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 34% 3P in 13 games with Tofas).

Turk Telekom Ankara lands Steven Enoch

Turk Telekom Ankara strengthens the frontcourt with the signing of Steven Enoch.

The big man spent last year at Baskonia, producing averages of 6.4 points and 3.9 rebounds in 15 minutes across the 50 games played between ACB and Euroleague.

 

Luka Mitrovic signs multi-year extension with KK Crvena Zvedza

KK Crvena Zvedza announced the contract extension of Luka Mitrovic for the next 3 seasons.

The forward last year averaged 8.7 points (65% FG), 4.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game between Euroleague and Aba Liga.

 

Jamar Smith leaves Bahcesehir Koleji

Bahcesehir Koleji has announced the departure of Jamar Smith.

The guard spent two years with the Turkish club, scoring 13.6 points with 2.6 assists per game last season.

 

Trieste reportedly considering Mery Andrade as coach

Italian Serie A2 side – recently relegated from LBA – Pallacanestro Trieste is considering appointing former WNBA star Mery Andrade as the team’s new head coach, as reported by La Prealpina. GM Michael Arcieri is currently evaluating the prospect of the Capoverdian coach, currently working in G-League for the Birmingham Squadron and with a long experience as a player in Italy with Napoli, Venezia and Lucca.

Semi Ojeleye to join Valencia Basket

Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna announced the departure of Semi Ojeleye to Valencia Basket.

The Spanish team paid a buyout to acquire his rights.

The forward last year produced 9.8 points (52% FG, 48% 3P, 85% FT) and 3.8 rebounds per game between Euroleague and LBA.

 

Openjobmetis Varese inks Vinnie Shahid

Vinnie Shahid is a new player of Openjobmetis Varese, as announced by the Italian team.

The point guard spent last year in Iceland with Thor Torlakshofn (26 PPG, 8.7 APG, 42% 3P).

 

Telekom Baskets Bonn name Moors new head coach, sign Pape, Koch, Kirkwood and Turudic

Telekom Baskets Bonn have announced Roel Moors as their new head coach.

Moors takes over from Tuomas Iisalo who left after winning the BCL.

Moors comes from BG Goettingen brought to the quarterfinals of the championship.

Finding themselves without players with contracts for next year, Bonn meanwhile signed Till Pape from BG Goettingen on a two-year deal and brought home Florian Koch.

The German team has also signed Noah Kirkwood, ex Harvard and Benedikt Turudic for two years.

Tryggvi Hlinason, Casademont Zaragoza part ways

Tryggvi Hlinason and Casademont Zaragoza have parted ways.
The Icelandic big man averaged 7.4 points and 5 rebounds per game in ACB this past season.

CSKA Moscow signs Amath M’Baye

CSKA Moscow announces the signing of Amath M’Baye.
The red-blue rookie is a typical example of an athlete who blossomed late. Perhaps because he did not immediately lean towards basketball, at first he was seriously interested in surfing in the homeland of his parents, in Senegal. After graduating from college in the United States, he began his professional career in Japan and showed up in front of the top European teams only at the age of 27, when he ended up in the Brindisi, in Italy. Since then, M’Baye has played for Olimpia and Virtus in Italy, Karsiyaka and Efes in Turkey, participated in the EuroLeague and the FIBA Champions League, helped the National Team win bronze at the 2019 World Cup and silver at 2022 EuroBasket.
The past season was one of the best in the forward’s career. He joined Efes, at that moment the reigning EuroLeague champion, and earned a position in the starting lineup. He played in 33 EuroLeague games, averaging 7.0 points (52.5% two-pointers, 51.7% three-pointers, 85% free throws) and 2.8 rebounds in 21.5 minutes. In 25 games of the Turkish championship he averaged 12.1 points (59.1% two-pointers, 37.1% three-pointers, 89.9% free throws), 5.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 31.0 minutes, he also had a significant contribution to the difficult path of the Istanbul team to the title of Turkish champion.

 

Emil Rajkovic, CSKA head coach:

 

Amath is a versatile player who proved his skills on international level and I am sure he will be of great help to our club. He will play primarily the 4-position and will be able to stretch the defense with his shot but also create by attacking the defense off the dribble. I wish him to incorporate in our family fast and become very important part of our team.

 

Amath M’Baye, CSKA forward:

 

I am excited to be a part of such a legendary organization, and discover a new league. Looking forward to getting to work!