Plenty of players in the EuroLeague get checked in on by NBA teams during the course of the season, but two were particularly close to moving to the United States this season, according to Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews: Isaac Bonga and Alpha Diallo.
Bonga, who plays for Partizan Belgrade in Serbia, had a desire to rejoin the NBA after multiple teams expressed strong interest, Urbonas notes. Because Bonga’s contract, which runs through 2027, didn’t contain an in-season exit clause, Partizan blocked any such move.
While that put an end to his efforts to get to the NBA during the season, Bonga does have an NBA-out clause that he could take advantage of during the offseason.
The 2025 Adriatic League Best Defensive Player averaged 10.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.5 assists this season while hitting 36.5% of his threes. Still just 26 years old, he last played in the NBA during the 2021/22 season, when he spent 15 games with the Raptors. He played four years in the league, from 2018 to 2022.
Urbonas writes that Diallo was considered one of the best all-around players in the EuroLeague this season. He was voted the Best Defensive Player by EuroLeague general managers after ranking second in steals.
The 6’7″ forward drew the eye of at least one NBA team, Urbonas reports, and while his contract with AS Monaco runs through 2028, like Bonga, he has an NBA out that could allow him to explore a move.
Diallo went unselected in the 2020 draft after playing four years at Providence.