With just six weeks to go before the new EuroLeague season gets underway, and judging by the moves made in the market so far, these could be the six biggest new storylines to watch. Coaches, players and teams who look set to have a major impact on the race for the continental crown.
1. Jean Montero as the leader of Olympiacos?
As the reigning champions, Georgios Bartzokas’ Olympiacos have not needed to make too many changes to a roster that retains its main pillars from last season: Sasha Vezenkov, Evan Fournier, Tyler Dorsey, Nikola Milutinov or Thomas Walkup, among others.
However, alongside the addition of Codi Miller-McIntyre, they have made what could be the biggest move of the summer, raising an already virtually limitless ceiling even further. The signing of Dominican guard Jean Montero puts the Piraeus side right back at the top of the EuroLeague title projections, although Bartzokas will now have to figure out how all the pieces fit together.
Olympiacos are a team packed with high-level players, and it will take some work to integrate a player as unique as Montero, who has always been accustomed to being the first offensive option wherever he played. The Caribbean guard’s talent is off the charts, and his two seasons with Valencia, particularly the last one, arguably make him the hottest player in Europe right now.
He scores, creates for his teammates, pushes the pace relentlessly and constantly draws defensive attention. If Bartzokas makes him the team’s primary offensive focal point and the chemistry clicks, the open shots available to Vezenkov, Fournier and Dorsey could be even more than last season. Montero is an exceptionally intelligent player who knows when to share the ball.
‘The problem’ has arrived in Piraeus with a clear intention: to prove that he is more than ready to lead the reigning European champions.
2. Dubai Basketball as a real contender?
You may like the idea of a team based in the United Arab Emirates playing in the EuroLeague… or you may not. But get used to Dubai Basketball not only being here, but becoming one of the competition’s top teams sooner rather than later.
If they came within touching distance of the play-in in their first-ever campaign, anything short of a playoff berth next season should be considered a failure. In fact, the logical expectation should be for them to be a serious Final Four contender.
Just look at the names: Xavi Pascual on the sidelines, coaching a team featuring Dzanan Musa, Filip Petrusev, Toko Shengelia, McKinley Wright, Dwayne Bacon, Jaron Blossomgame, Elie Okobo, Davis Bertans or Mamadi Diakite…
If they were called Panathinaikos or Real Madrid instead of Dubai, you would have no doubts at this point that they were a Final Four team. So, as we said, get used to it. Dubai are here to stay, and why shouldn’t they be legitimate contenders to rule Europe this very season… from the Emirate?
3. Pedro Martínez leading a contender for the first time in his career
He has just turned 65 and is widely regarded as one of the great coaching minds in European basketball… but Pedro Martínez has never before had a project with the potential of Real Madrid.
After captivating fans in Spain and across Europe with Valencia Basket —winning the Liga Endesa and the Spanish Super Cup, while taking the club to its first-ever EuroLeague Final Four— his move to Los Blancos came as a surprise to everyone, given how unexpected it was.
The recognition has arrived just weeks after he was named the recipient of the Alexander Gomelsky Coach of the Year Award, honoring him as the best coach in European basketball last season.
His challenge, however, is far from straightforward. He takes over at Real Madrid under enormous pressure, following the club’s first trophyless season since 2011.
It will be difficult for him to replicate the frenetic pace of play he established at Valencia Basket, but in return he will have the opportunity to make the most of the most dominant center in the continent: Edy Tavares.
With the Madrid roster still taking shape, and despite losing considerable offensive firepower with the departures of Mario Hezonja and Trey Lyles, Martínez —who has signed a three-year deal— is facing the biggest opportunity of his career.
Never before has he taken charge of a team widely regarded as one of the leading contenders for the EuroLeague title.
4. Zeljko back at PAO with a loaded roster… win or win, no other goal
But if we’re talking about pressure, Panathinaikos should be in a category of their own this year.
Sylvain Francisco, Isaac Bonga, Guerschon Yabusele, Brancou Badio and Moustapha Fall joining Kendrick Nunn, Nigel Hayes-Davis, Mathias Lessort, Kostas Sloukas, Jerian Grant and Juancho Hernangómez… Are you kidding me?
We could potentially be looking at the best roster in EuroLeague history, pound for pound. And on the bench will be Zeljko Obradovic, back in the place where he already conquered the continent five times.
No matter how disappointing his recent spell at Partizan was. In Belgrade, he couldn’t managed to get full control of a locker room that did not fully buy into his methods. But anything other than considering the Athens Greens overwhelming title contenders would be absurd. That much technical and physical talent, coached by ‘Mr. EuroLeague’, can only sound like a recipe for success.
As always, the court will have the final say. But if we had to make a prediction, Obradovic’s Panathinaikos would probably be the No. 1 pick to become the next European champion.
5. Mario Saint-Supery making his debut at the very highest level
Given the extremely high level of competition, the EuroLeague is becoming an increasingly difficult place for young players to make a major impact before turning 20. Even more so in an era when the NCAA, awash with money, is siphoning off virtually all the talent being developed on this side of the Atlantic.
That is why Mario Saint-Supery’s move to Valencia Basket is so intriguing.
Valencia’s commitment to him has been significant enough for the Spanish prospect to leave Gonzaga after just one season in Spokane and take the opposite path to that of most of Europe’s top young talents today.
The Spanish combo guard, who already made his senior national-team debut at the last EuroBasket, is one of the country’s brightest basketball hopes.
He possesses an attacking swagger that is not exactly in abundance in Spain, where there has been a recent proliferation of hard-working players who put the team ahead of everything else, but a shortage of offensive focal points with Saint-Supery’s flair and fearlessness.
That is why Spanish basketball will be watching closely to see what kind of impact the Málaga native can make in his first EuroLeague season, especially given that he will be under pressure to perform for a Valencia Basket team coming off the best season in its history and one that has seen key names such as Jean Montero, Brancou Badio and Sergio de Larrea move on.
Patience will be required with ‘The Little Prince’ —whose supposed family connection to the author of the famous book has never been confirmed— but we are talking about a special talent who, if he breaks out in Valencia, could become one of the most entertaining players to watch in the competition.
6. Ibon Navarro back as a EuroLeague head coach with Red Star
After a glorious spell at Unicaja, where he won seven trophies in four and a half seasons —two Copa del Rey, one Spanish Super Cup, two Basketball Champions League and two FIBA Intercontinental Cups— Ibon Navarro attracted interest from several European clubs, with Red Star ultimately winning the race for his signature.
It will be the first time Navarro has built a EuroLeague project from the ground up. He previously coached Baskonia during the 2014-15 season, taking over from Marco Crespi during the campaign.
More than a decade has therefore passed since the Basque coach —a chemist by profession— had to put in the hard yards to make his way back to the highest level.
The expectations in Belgrade, where he will reunite with Tyson Carter, one of the key pieces of his success in Málaga, will once again be sky-high. But Navarro has shown that he is ready to take on a challenge of this magnitude, provided he is given a roster with the physical tools required for the aggressive style of basketball he likes to impose.
David Krämer, Nick Weiler-Babb and Johnathan Motley are among the notable additions to a team that will once again set its sights on the playoffs.
And one more thing: it will be fascinating —and slightly surreal— to watch the Eternal Derby in the Serbian capital this season with two Spanish coaches on the sidelines: Navarro at Red Star and Joan Peñarroya at Partizan.
