Veteran guard Jordan Loyd, who starred for Poland during EuroBasket 2025, is close to signing a contract with Turkish powerhouse Anadolu Efes, reports Marc Stein of The Stein Line (via Twitter).
Loyd, who had a brief stint with Toronto during the team’s title-winning season in 2019, averaged a team-high 22.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.3 steals on .490/.422/.875 shooting in seven games (32.0 MPG) for Poland.
Stein previously reported that Real Madrid was the most prominent suitor for Loyd, but evidently team was unable to sign him away from AS Monaco because his Spanish league rights are held by Valencia, among other complicating factors.
Loyd, 32, helped Monaco reach the EuroLeague final for the first time in franchise history last season. In 27 EuroLeague contests, he averaged 10.7 PPG, 3.3 RPG and 1.9 APG on .468/.392/.892 shooting (22.7 MPG).
Anadolu Efes, meanwhile, won the EuroLeague in both 2021 and 2022. Last season, it was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the playoffs by Panathinaikos, the 2024 champs. Efes also competes domestically in Turkey’s Basketball Super League.
Here are a few more international notes:
- In an extensive — and exclusive — interview with Cyro Asseo de Choch of HoopsHype, former first-round pick Shane Larkin discussed becoming a Turkish nationalized citizen, his journey to becoming a star in Europe, battling OCD, and Turkish teammate Alperen Sengun, among other topics. “I had a few incredible seasons over here and I had opportunities to go back to the (NBA) and I was like, “Nah I’m cool, like I’m good where I am”… and when people hear that, they don’t understand what it is like to be one of the better star players in Europe. You have to really experience it to fully understand it,” Larkin said as part of a larger quote. The 5’11” point guard, who plays for Anadolu Efes, will compete in the final of EuroBasket on Sunday with Turkey, which faces Germany.
- Speaking to the media on Saturday, FIBA Europe president Jorge Garbajosa said he has “no doubt” that the NBA’s European league will come to fruition at some point, though the details are still being worked out. “There’s a long way to work from today until whenever we start,” Garbajosa said, per Cesare Milanti of Eurohoops. “This is going to happen. It’s very clear. Mr. [Adam] Silver announced it publicly, and so did Mr. [Andreas] Zagklis. I did it also. It is not easy to create this competition in Europe, so it’s going to take a while. But this is going to happen. How and when? Let’s see. Some prospects talked about 2027. I think it’s a good year. But obviously NBA is working on it. We are their partners, we want to be their partners, we want to be together with them.”
- The 2026 EuroLeague Final Four will be played at the Telekom Center in Athens, Greece, the league announced in a press release. Athens also hosted the 2007 edition of the EuroLeague Final Four.