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Trey Lyles headed to Real Madrid
Donatas Urbonas: Trey Lyles, a 10-year NBA veteran, is finalizing an agreement with EuroLeague powerhouse Real Madrid, sources confirm. More on BasketNews basketnews.com/news-230798-tr…
Former long-time NBA front-office member Martynas Pocius, 39, is set to leave the league for a Deputy GM role in Real Madrid’s front office. The longtime Lithuanian national team and EuroLeague guard will work alongside Sergio Rodriguez, assisting in major personnel and basketball operations decisions.
An injury from recent international action with Croatia forced Real Madrid’s Mario Hezonja to the sidelines. The team based in the capital of Spain updated the status of the 30-year-old combo forward on Monday. Per the press release: “Following tests carried out on Mario Hezonja by Real Madrid‘s medical department, the player has been diagnosed with a muscular injury to the biceps femoris in his right thigh, which occurred during training with the Croatian national team. His progress will be monitored.”
Other EuroLeague heavyweights, such as Real Madrid and Anadolu Efes, reportedly also inquired about Hayes, but no concrete offers have been made. Hayes appears determined to keep his sights on the NBA, at least for now. After playing for Cholet and Ratiopharm Ulm at the start of his professional career, he was selected by the Detroit Pistons as the 7th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.
Frank Ntilikina, Ousmane Dieng, Moussa Diabate cut from French national team roster ahead of EuroBasket
Guard Frank Ntilikina, forward Ousmane Dieng and forward Moussa Diabate were cut from the French national team roster ahead of the EuroBasket, the French Federation announced. The roster of France now has 14 players: Isaia Cordinier (Virtus Segafredo Bologna), Bilal Coulibaly (Washington Wizards), Sylvain Francisco (Zalgiris), Nadir Hifi (Paris), Jaylen Hoard (Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv), Mouhammadou Jaiteh (Dubai), Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot (Baskonia), Theo Maledon (Real Madrid), Elie Okobo (AS Monaco), Vincent Poirier (Anadolu Efes), Zaccharie Risacher (Atlanta Hawks), Alex Sarr (Washington Wizards), Matthew Strazel (AS Monaco) and captain Guerschon Yabusele (New York Knicks).
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Marc J. Spears: The Lakers always have a star. I've never seen any team sports do this other than Real Madrid. Like you got Jerry West and Elgin Baylor, Magic and Kareem’s Showtime Lakers and Shaq and Kobe and then LeBron comes and then you got the guy after LeBron? I mean that's incredible. Iman Shumpert: I mean it's nice city to sell at the same time. Malika Andrews: What do all of those players have in common? All of them brought championships to Los Angeles.
Bill Simmons: And what's cool about it, I remember watching a bunch of Luka Doncic games when he was playing over there as a 17 year old. I can't remember what team he was on [Real Madrid], and the quality play was good. The crowds were great, but it was FIBA, so the style of it was pretty neat, and it was a good enough product. It was just the players weren't quite good enough, it just definitely felt second class. I think if you can move that up, where it's somewhere between first class and second class, and then you could also be a place. This could be a place where you park some of your retiring players. It's like, Oh, your last year, you're going to play for this team. And maybe, you go there, maybe they change the rules, where you could get a little bit of an ownership stake. If you go over for here, they could do some things with this league that they can't do with the NBA. They could bend the rules and make a little more European.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver and his chief deputies met with leaders from Spanish conglomerate Real Madrid on Thursday in Paris about the possibility of the club signing on with Silver’s planned European league. Membership from the soccer and basketball juggernaut would mark a significant step in launching the NBA’s overseas venture. Thursday’s meeting is part of a series of similar discussions Silver, NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum and the league’s European and Middle East director George Aivazoglou are having in Europe this week with potential investors and teams for the NBA Europe league Silver is pursuing.
But the NBA’s sit-down with Real Madrid officials, disclosed to The Athletic by American and European basketball sources, is perhaps most important because of Real Madrid’s historical standing in Europe, its unlimited funding because of the success of its soccer operation and its tenuous relationship with the EuroLeague. Real Madrid is an “A” license holder in the EuroLeague, which is a championship-style series of games on the continent for the top clubs from each national league, with a few stakeholders guaranteed a spot in the EuroLeague each year. Real Madrid is one of those clubs with a guaranteed spot, but its license expires in 2026. Should Real Madrid join Silver’s new venture, other EuroLeague clubs would follow, European sources believe.
A spokesman for Real Madrid did not respond to a message seeking comment, and an NBA spokesman declined to comment on the meetings. Earlier this week, Silver, Tatum and Aivazoglou met in London with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who will host the NBA in January for a Global Games series between the Orlando Magic and Memphis Grizzlies. Silver would also want an NBA Europe team in London — a city of nearly nine million people with about 15 million living in the greater metropolitan area. The United Kingdom is home to soccer’s mighty Premier League and is also another place where the NBA could attract big soccer dollars from Middle Eastern sovereign funds. The British Basketball League’s reigning champion, London Lions, is owned by tech giant Tesonet. The club nearly folded before Tesonet’s 11th-hour purchase in 2024.
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Sergio Llull: "One of the cons of going (to the NBA) was that Navarro had been there for a year and Spanoulis had returned, eh, he had played for a couple of teams, I think, and without much fanfare, to speak of, of course. I don't know, Bodiroga hadn't gone, Teodosic had gone, he had played some good games, but it was like—if I'm talking about these three, four that I told you that, like, talent level and such, like, they are much better than me. So, that was one of the cons, saying, ‘If these guys go there and they're not counted on, they don't play, or someone else comes back right away,’ eh, well that was one of the reasons as well for saying, I mean, now I'm here winning, I'm doing well, playing well with the coach's trust, competing for titles. In the end what I wanted was to win, and that also weighed in on my decision."
Jalen Brunson: Josh Hart is a frontrunner Chelsea fan. Josh Hart: Don't say I'm a front runner. I've been always a Chelsea fan. Guerschon Yabusele: I’m not I don't want to talk trash, but it's been a long time… Chelsea haven't done anything. Josh Hart: We just won Champions League in 2021! What do you mean? We won Champions League four years ago. Yabusele: Okay. Cuz since Madrid always won it, I forgot about you guys. Sorry. Hart: Yeah. I mean, y'all would win it cuz y'all got y'all got voodoo. All that Madrid magic. All that dark magic y'all got. Y'all like the Pacers. That's what that's what it is. Real Madrid and the Pacers.
Real Madrid is finalizing an agreement with Italian prospect Gabriele Procida, BasketNews sources confirm. According to BasketNews sources, Procida is expected to join the EuroLeague giants on a three-year contract. The deal will include NBA exit clauses in the summers of 2026 and 2027. The move was first anticipated by Chema De Lucas and Iacopo De Santis.
Confirming recent reports and his lasting connection with Real Madrid, Sergio Llull re-signed for the 2025-26 season, the team announced on Thursday. Per the press release: “Real Madrid C.F. has reached an agreement with Sergio Llull for the extension of our captain’s contract, which ties him to the club for the 2025-2026 season. With a total of 19 seasons, Sergio Llull is the player who has worn the Real Madrid shirt for the longest period in the club’s history. Since joining in 2007, he has won 29 titles: three European Cups, one Intercontinental Cup, nine La Liga titles, seven Copa del Rey titles, and nine Spanish Super Cup titles.
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