Mobile Menu
HEADLINES

NBA Europe

And-Ones: Silver, Gasol, Burke, Nunn

June 6th, 2025 at 10:00pm CST by Eli Cohen

Commissioner Adam Silver says the NBA’s efforts to launch a new league in Europe with the help of the FIBA governing organization are ongoing, according to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.

Given the massive amount of logistics required by leagues on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean to make this dream a reality, Silver warns that nothing is imminent, but that doesn’t mean progress isn’t happening.

“We’re at least a couple years away from launching,” Silver says. “It would be an enormous undertaking. And while we want to move forward at a deliberate pace, we also want to make sure that we’re consulting with all the appropriate stakeholders, meaning the existing league, its teams, European players, media companies, marketing partners.”

The goal is for the new league to feature 16 teams, and Silver said that the NBA has been in touch with the EuroLeague and specific teams within it for partnerships. Silver says there’s a desire for some amount of collaboration with the existing league, and that the 2028 Olympics will be a good measuring stick for progress.

“That might be a good launching pad for an announcement around a new competition,” he teased. But, in the end, patience is going to be the most important thing. “There’s a lot of work to be done.”

We have more from around the world of hoops:

  • As someone with a wealth of experience in both the NBA and EuroLeague, Pau Gasol is intrigued by the idea of the NBA expanding into Europe, writes the Eurohoops team. Like Silver, he understands it’ll be a lengthy process, but expressed cautious excitement about what such a collaboration could offer. “I see an initiative to improve the European basketball model, and it’s an opportunity for our sport to grow. We’ll see how it shapes up and how it progresses,” Gasol said, per Dídac Piferrer of MARCA. However, he cautions that European basketball needs to become more stable before such a venture can be successful. “The European basketball model must evolve and improve. Economically, it’s not sustainable, and the vast majority of teams are losing money,” he added.
  • With Doris Burke‘s place in ESPN’s announcer rotation unclear beyond the NBA Finals, Pacers’ head coach Rick Carlisle has voiced his support for the longtime broadcaster, writes Joe Vardon of The Athletic. Carlisle praised Burke for the role she has played in laying down a foundation for future female broadcasters, and was disappointed that the rumors of her uncertain future cast a shadow over Game 1 of the NBA Finals. “I don’t know what’s going to happen with all that stuff, but I just want to say thank you to Doris for the example that she has put forth for young women like my daughter and all these people who are changing the game,” Carlisle said. “She has changed the game, and that’s the reason that she was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame a couple years ago.”
  • Former Laker and Heat guard Kendrick Nunn has received the EuroLeague Players Association’s Players’ Choice Awards MVP for his play with Panathinaikos in Greece, per Eurohoops.net. Nunn averaged 21.2 points, 4.3 assists, and 3.6 rebounds while shooting 42.6% from three on 7.2 attempts per game as the team went 22-12 in EuroLeague competition and reached the Final Four of EuroLeague playoff competition. The veteran guard also won the EuroLeague’s official MVP award in April.
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

International Notes: Maledon, Micic, EuroLeague, Williams-Goss, Kabengele

May 29th, 2025 at 11:28am CST by Luke Adams

Former NBA point guard Theo Maledon, who spent the 2024/25 season with ASVEL in France, is expected to sign a three-year contract with Real Madrid, according to Alessando Maggi of Sportando. While the team has yet to officially announce anything, Maggi reports that the two sides have finalized an agreement.

The 34th overall pick in the 2020 draft, Maledon appeared in 177 regular season NBA games across four seasons from 2020-24, spending time with Oklahoma City, Charlotte, and Phoenix. He averaged 7.8 points and 2.9 assists per contest and shot just 37.2% from the field, including 31.0% on three-point tries.

With Real Madrid looking to strengthen its backcourt for the 2025/26 season, former EuroLeague MVP Vasilije Micic is also said to be on the Spanish club’s radar, according to a report from Meridian Sport (hat tip to Eurohoops). The Suns hold a $8.1MM team option on Micic for next season, but he’s considered a strong candidate to return to Europe if that option is declined, which seems likely.

Here are a few more items of interest from around the international basketball world:

  • It has been an eventful week for the EuroLeague. Europe’s top basketball league has approved a plan to expand from 18 to 20 teams, according to Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com, who reports that Valencia Basket, Hapoel Tel Aviv, and Dubai Basketball are joining for the 2025/26 season, with ALBA Berlin departing for the FIBA Basketball Champions League. Meanwhile, EuroLeague reps also met with the NBA and FIBA this week in Geneva to discuss the NBA’s proposed European league, as Aris Barkas of Eurohoops details.
  • T.J. Shorts, Nikola Milutinov, and Tyson Ward headline the list of this summer’s top EuroLeague free agents compiled by Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops. While most of the players in Askounis’ top 10 will continue playing overseas, several of them figure to draw legitimate NBA interest.
  • Former NBA guard Nigel Williams-Goss, the No. 4 free agent on Askounis’ list, intends to sign a three-year contract with the Lithuanian team Zalgiris Kaunas, according to Urbonas. Williams-Goss had a brief NBA run, appearing in 10 games with Utah in 2019/20, but the 30-year-old guard has been thriving in Europe, winning a EuroLeague title in 2023 with Real Madrid and spending the past two seasons with Olympiacos.
  • Mfiondu Kabengele, a former NBA big man, reportedly has a two-year deal in place with Dubai Basketball. That news was reported by Chema de Lucas (Twitter link) and relayed by Sportando. Kabengele, who appeared in 55 games for the Clippers, Cavaliers, and Celtics in the NBA from 2019-23, spent this past season with Venezia in Italy and earned a spot on the All-EuroCup first team after leading the league in rebounding.
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Silver: Broadcasting Issues Must Be Resolved Before Expansion

April 24th, 2025 at 9:34am CST by Dana Gauruder

NBA commissioner Adam Silver believes that resolving local broadcasting issues is a higher priority than expansion, Tom Friend of the Sports Business Journal reports.

Silver wants to see a full transition from ailing Regional Sports Networks and cable TV to streaming services, he told ESPN analyst Bob Myers during the Sports Business Journal’s CAA World Congress of Sports.

“I … hate to make it so negative, but [local game broadcasts] are caught in legacy media, which is rapidly declining,” Silver said. “And our young fans, in particular, we used to talk about cord-cutters; they’re really cord-nevers. It’s not part of their lives to buy cable … And so the local situation by definition will then get even worse.”

Silver believes that some teams are actually losing significant revenue by being “trapped” on cable.

“I actually think we’re undervaluing live sports right now and the specialness around it,” he said, noting that RSN rights fees have taken a “25% hit collectively; for some teams it’s around a 50% reduction.”

Silver added that “two-thirds of the NBA teams are operating with RSNs that just came out of bankruptcy [Main Street Sports Group] or some that were completely defunct [AT&T SportsNet].”

The answer, which could come over the next two offseasons, is to create a national streaming RSN platform while simultaneously reaching agreements with streaming services such as Amazon, YouTube, Apple, ESPN+ and Roku.

Expansion in the short run is “not a foregone conclusion,” Silver said, until those broadcasting and rights fees issues are sorted out.

As for expansion, it’s not a slam dunk that Seattle and Las Vegas will be the next two cities awarded franchises. Vancouver, which lost the Grizzlies to Memphis in 2000, is interested in re-obtaining a franchise, Silver said.

Silver also addressed the NBA’s desire to have a European league. He envisions having 12 permanent franchises and four other clubs that would have to “play in on a yearly basis,” such as established EuroLeague teams. Cities like Paris, London, Berlin, Barcelona, and Madrid are candidates for permanent franchises.

“Just to be clear, this would be a standalone league,” Silver said. “It wouldn’t be a division of the NBA. Maybe one day some of these teams could be a division of the NBA. I mean I am always reading about new supersonic air jets, jets that are coming online. I mean, I think that could dramatically change things of faster flight.”

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

And-Ones: Clutch Player Award, NBA Europe, Award Picks, Oweh

April 15th, 2025 at 6:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The official candidates for Clutch Player of the Year have been revealed, NBA analyst Kevin O’Connor tweets. Here’s the list of candidates that voters can select for the award, as chosen by the league’s 30 head coaches:

Curry won the award last year.

We have more from around the international basketball world:

  • While the NBA is trying to establish a new league in Europe, NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum insists that the goal is not to replace the EuroLeague, Eurohoops relays via a Reuters interview. “Our goal is to create a commercially viable league that features high quality on -court competition and respects the rich tradition of European basketball. And we think that that will better serve fans and players on the continent,” Tatum said. He notes that there are major cities in Europe that don’t have a team where the NBA can establish roots. “There are big markets in Europe that aren’t being serviced today, where there are millions of basketball fans that aren’t being serviced,” he said. London, Paris, Berlin and Rome are among the candidates that NBA Europe considers as prime targets.
  • The Athletic’s John Hollinger reveals his award picks. He has Gilgeous-Alexander atop his MVP list and the Rockets’ Amen Thompson as his Defensive Player of the Year. O’Connor, writing for Yahoo Sports, has the same duo winning those awards. They also both have Stephon Castle taking Rookie of the Year honors, Payton Pritchard atop their Sixth Man of the Year lists, and Kenny Atkinson as Coach of the Year.
  • Kentucky junior guard Otega Oweh will test the draft waters, Jeff Goodman of Field of 68 tweets. Oweh averaged 16.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.6 steals this past season. He played his first two seasons at Oklahoma.
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

And-Ones: Howard, Rookies, Stanley, Europe

April 10th, 2025 at 4:04pm CST by Luke Adams

Officially announced last weekend as a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame’s 2025 class, longtime NBA star Dwight Howard has decided to play one more season of professional basketball in the BIG3, as first reported by Chris Haynes (Twitter link).

The BIG3 – the 3-on-3 league created by Ice Cube – officially issued a press release on Wednesday confirming that Howard has signed on to play for the Los Angeles Riot this summer.

Howard will team up with former NBA guard Jordan Crawford and former USC standout Elijah Stewart under head coach Nick Young. While Howard played for the Wizards like Crawford and the Lakers like Young, he didn’t overlap with either player during their stints in Washington and Los Angeles.

“I’m excited to join Ice Cube and the BIG3 – especially right after being inducted into the basketball Hall of Fame,” Howard said in a statement. “Words can’t describe how grateful I am for these opportunities. I can’t wait to join the L.A. Riot and try to bring another championship to the city of LA. But, the ultimate goal I have is to help the league go global.”

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • In the final 2024/25 installment of his rookie rankings, Jeremy Woo of ESPN.com (Insider link) places Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher atop his list, writing that the French forward is delivering on his top-pick status. Spurs guard Stephon Castle, Grizzlies center Zach Edey, Trail Blazers center Donovan Clingan, and Bulls forward Matas Buzelis round out the top five in Woo’s rankings, in that order.
  • Former Pacers and Pistons guard Cassius Stanley has signed with ESSM Le Portel for the rest of the season, the French club announced in a press release (hat tip to Sportando). Stanley, who was in the NBA from 2020-22, was playing in the G League for the Valley Suns this season.
  • In the wake of EuroLeague shareholders meeting this week to discuss the future of the league and the NBA’s potential foray into European basketball, the EuroLeague Players Association issued a statement calling for “united efforts” to grow the game on the continent, as BasketNews.com relays. “Despite significant progress, it must be acknowledged that there is still much work to be done to unravel the true potential of European club basketball,” the statement reads, in part. “That potential is lost when the relevant leagues, clubs and governing bodies do not work harmoniously, but seemingly against each other, without consideration for the perspective of players and fans who are the lifeblood of any competition.”
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Teams Express Loyalty To EuroLeague Amid Looming NBA Europe Venture

April 8th, 2025 at 9:02am CST by Arthur Hill

Facing a potential threat from NBA Europe, 13 EuroLeague shareholders met Monday in Barcelona to find out who is committed to staying in the league. Sources tell Domantas Urbonas of BasketNews that most of the clubs in attendance pledged their loyalty to the EuroLeauge, although the sentiment wasn’t unanimous.

Urbonas’ sources say that Fenerbahce in Turkey and Panathinaikos in Greece, which have been mentioned as NBA Europe possibilities, were among those who made the strongest EuroLeague commitments. Rather than leaving, they expressed a desire to strengthen the current league and help it grow.

Less certain are two Spanish clubs, Real Madrid and Barcelona. Real Madrid, whose 10-year license with the EuroLeague will expire after 2026, is viewed as a prime target by the organizers of NBA Europe, according to Urbonas’ sources. Barcelona declined to take a strong stance at Monday’s meeting, and sources tell Urbonas that it will likely go wherever Real Madrid does.

France’s ASVEL Basket, which is owned by former NBA star Tony Parker, and Italy’s Olimpia Milano both asked for additional time before committing to the EuroLeague’s proposed long-term licensing agreement, Urbonas adds. Parker has been open about engaging in discussions with NBA Europe.

Sources tell Urbonas that seven of the clubs represented at Monday’s meeting have already formalized a long-term commitment to the EuroLeague, with at least four more expected to follow. He notes that those intentions have been communicated to the teams’ shareholders and are unlikely to change.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver has been working with FIBA to establish the new league in Europe, and Urbonas states that FIBA secretary general Andreas Zagklis made a presentation at Monday’s gathering.

The other clubs represented at the meeting were Anadolu Efes in Turkey, Baskonia in Spain, Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel, Olympiacos in Greece, FC Bayern Munich in Germany, Zalgiris in Lithuania and CSKA Moscow in Russia.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

And-Ones: NBA’s European Project, Dellavedova, Badji, Cui

April 6th, 2025 at 11:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Commissioner Adam Silver‘s interest in starting a new NBA venture in Europe goes beyond the potential financial rewards, writes Joe Vardon of The Athletic. The biggest benefit, according to Vardon, would be direct access to a player development pipeline that has produced numerous NBA stars over the past decade.

“The European development of the kids, especially in the Yugoslavian area, especially in terms of fundamentals, is 10 times better than in the States,” said Misko Raznatovic, the former head of Mega Basket, Belgrade’s pro club, and current Serbian-based agent for Nikola Jokic. “This is the reason you are getting more and more players from Europe.”

Vardon explains that there are no school teams in Europe, so the top players join clubs run by the professional organizations. Unlike the AAU system in the United States, there’s more of an emphasis on developing skills than on playing several games in a weekend. Players who show early signs of stardom like Jokic, Luka Doncic or Victor Wembanyama quickly move on to the pro team, often by the time they’re ready for high school.

“At the age of 15 you get Jokic, you get Doncic, that kind of player, if you don’t teach them how to play basketball, don’t develop their skills and don’t develop their IQ, they will score zero points because based on their athleticism, their quickness, they cannot score anything (in the NBA),” Raznatovic added. “That’s the reason that the guys from this area are getting more skill and a better basketball IQ.”

There’s more from around the basketball world:

  • EuroLeague teams will hold an internal meeting Monday in Barcelona to discuss the league’s future amid the proposed NBA project, per Domantas Urbonas of BasketNews. Sources tell Urbonas that shareholders are hoping for “full transparency” on which teams are committed to staying in the league and which might be open to other opportunities.
  • Former NBA guard Matthew Dellavedova has agreed to a multiyear contract with the Sydney Kings after being the most sought-after free agent in Australia, per Olgun Uluc of ESPN. Dellavedova, 34, unites with Andrew Bogut, his longtime teammate on the Australian national team, who was recently named an assistant coach in Sydney.
  • Ibou Badji, who finished second in this year’s G League Defensive Player of the Year voting, has signed with La Laguna Tenerife in Spain for the rest of the season. Badji had been playing for the Wisconsin Herd.
  • Yongxi Cui, who was waived by the Nets in December after tearing his ACL, recently talked about returning to the NBA in a video released by the G League, according to NetsDaily. “In social media, a lot of people thought I’m done,” Cui said. “But a lot of people, like 70 to 80%, think I will get back to the NBA.”
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

And-Ones: P. Gasol, Head Coaches, Tanking, Incentives

April 1st, 2025 at 10:33am CST by Luke Adams

Former NBA star Pau Gasol is gaining momentum to become the CEO of the NBA’s proposed European league, according to a report from Eurohoops. Citing Gasol’s “strong links” to both the NBA and European basketball, a league source tells Eurohoops that the idea of the Spaniard taking on the CEO role for the new league has “universal approval” among the NBA’s governors.

A six-time All-Star and two-time champion in the NBA, Gasol played for FC Barcelona at the start and the end of his professional career, winning Spanish League championships in 1999, 2001, and 2021. He also compiled a lengthy list of accomplishments in international tournaments, winning three Olympic medals (two silvers, one bronze), a World Cup title, and three EuroBasket championships with Spain’s national team.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • The Grizzlies and Kings currently employ interim head coaches and will be looking to name a permanent coach after the season. Tim Bontemps of ESPN breaks down the pros and cons of the jobs in Memphis and Sacramento, while Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report considers which other head coaches might be on the hot seat this spring, including Willie Green of the Pelicans and Chauncey Billups of the Trail Blazers.
  • Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic is the latest NBA writer to propose suggestions for how the league could address its tanking problem. Vorkunov’s ideas include having the lottery determine the top eight picks (instead of four), further flattening the lottery odds, and automatically assigning the two worst teams the fourth and fifth overall picks.
  • ESPN’s Bobby Marks highlights some incentive clauses in player contracts to keep an eye on during the season’s final two weeks, including Rockets forward Dillon Brooks ($1MM) and Timberwolves forward Julius Randle ($1.4MM) getting bonuses for their teams making the playoffs. Magic forward Jonathan Isaac must appear in at least four of Orlando’s final six games to reach the 70-game threshold, which would assure him of a $2.6MM bonus, Marks notes.
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Silver Confirms NBA, FIBA Taking Next Steps Toward European League

March 27th, 2025 at 3:59pm CST by Luke Adams

Speaking to reporters in New York on Thursday, commissioner Adam Silver confirmed that the NBA and FIBA are moving forward on their exploration of a new professional basketball league in Europe, per Joe Vardon, Adam Crafton, and Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic and Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.

“We feel now is the time to move to that next stage,” Silver said Thursday. “At our (Board of Governors) meeting today, there was enthusiastic support from our club owners about continuing to explore this opportunity.”

While Silver confirmed a few of the details about the league reported by Sportico earlier this week, some of the information he shared today was new or differed slightly from that initial report.

Here are a few of the highlights:

  • Silver said the plan would be for the league to have 16 teams, with 12 permanent slots and four rotating.
  • The league would be “integrated into the current European basketball landscape,” according to the NBA, meaning teams would also compete in their respective domestic leagues. Non-permanent members would be offered a “merit-based path to qualification,” per the NBA.
  • Silver would want a salary cap system in place for the league.
  • Current NBA owners would own equity in the league, but not in individual clubs.
  • The league would likely use FIBA rules, including a 40-minute game instead of the NBA’s 48 minutes.
  • As Marc J. Spears of Andscape tweets, Silver said the NBA is looking at existing facilities as well as the possibility of “new state-of-the-art arenas.”

The process remains in the early stages, with Silver referring to it as being in the “modeling phase.”

The NBA doesn’t yet have any formal agreements in place with existing clubs or investors who would establish new teams. However, it sounds like those conversations are ongoing. The NBA’s press release states that discussions have been taking place with “prospective investors, teams, arena developers, and commercial partners.”

Sources tell The Athletic that Real Madrid, Barcelona, ASVEL Basket, and Fenerbahce are among the EuroLeague teams worth watching as possible defectors to the new NBA league, though none of those teams have informed the EuroLeague of their intent to leave at this point. Former NBA star Tony Parker is the controlling owner of ASVEL and has been speaking to the NBA as a “conduit”  between the two sides, The Athletic adds.

The NBA previously attempted to partner with the EuroLeague, which is Europe’s top existing professional basketball league, but the EuroLeague rejected those advances, per The Athletic.

The NBA’s statement indicates that additional updates from the league and FIBA will be provided at a later date.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

NBA Team Owners To Review Proposed European League

March 26th, 2025 at 7:26am CST by Luke Adams

March 26: An NBA spokesperson tells Sportico that while team owners could vote on the proposed European league at any time, no formal vote is currently scheduled to take place during this week’s meeting.

“At this week’s NBA Board of Governors meeting, the league will report on its exploration of a new men’s basketball league in Europe, in partnership with FIBA,” the spokesperson said.

March 25: NBA team owners will vote this week on whether to move forward with a plan for a new professional basketball league in Europe, according to Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams of Sportico (subscription required).

Reporting throughout the season has indicated that the NBA was exploring the possibility of launching its own league in Europe in order to both expand the sport’s presence overseas and to put the NBA in position to “share more directly in the economics of that growth,” as Soshnick and Novy-Williams write.

According to Sportico, the NBA believes that the basketball ecosystem in Europe and the Middle East could be worth up to $3 billion in annual revenue.

Here are some of the details of the proposal, as outlined by Sportico:

  • The goal would be for the league to have eight to 10 teams.
  • It’s a “semi-open” proposal, which means there would be up to four spots available for top EuroLeague teams to compete in the NBA’s European league the following year.
  • The league’s permanent franchise slots would be sold to outside investors, with the NBA holding 50% equity in the league and the franchise owners holding the other 50%.
  • The NBA would prefer to sell franchises to people outside of the league. Sportico suggests that potential buyers could include sovereign wealth funds, private capital, wealthy individuals, or existing European basketball clubs.
  • Franchises in cities like London or Paris could sell for at least $500MM, per the NBA’s proposal.

The NBA’s team owners are set to meet this week in New York. The vote on the European league will reportedly take place during those meetings.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0
Load More Posts