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14-year NBA veteran center Jonas Valanciunas may return to Europe next season, with his home country team Zalgiris Kaunas among the EuroLeague teams interested in signing him, according to BasketNews sources. Valanciunas, who turns 34 on May 6, still has one year left on his Denver Nuggets contract. However, the franchise holds an option to terminate it in the summer. This could happen either by the Nuggets themselves or if Valanciunas is traded to another NBA team. The Lithuanian center will remain under an NBA contract until July 8, 2026. This date was extended from June 30 ahead of last season, giving Denver the opportunity to trade his contract after the free agency period begins on July 1.
The NBA and EuroLeague ramped up discussions Tuesday about a potential NBA Europe collaboration, with sources saying the NBA reiterated its blueprint of how EuroLeague franchises can join the prospective start-up. During a joint meeting between FIBA, the NBA and EuroLeague in Mies, Switzerland, sources said the NBA -- represented by its manager director of Europe and Middle East George Aivazoglou -- outlined the two ways EuroLeague clubs that haven’t already submitted bids can opt in. First, Aivazoglou told them it is not too late to bid to become a permanent franchise at launch, despite an original March 31 submission deadline. And second, EuroLeague teams can still be part of NBA Europe by qualifying through merit-based competition.
Raul Neto: It is something I think about, but I cannot say I would have done it differently after having done it. I am happy. I think that if I went back five or six years, I would not change anything. Now, knowing how things turned out, maybe I would have liked to play two or three years in the EuroLeague, because I would have had a different role than the one I had in the NBA. Maybe I would have played more games and competed more to win things, because in the NBA sometimes you are just playing to play. But when you are there, my dream since I was a kid was always to be in the NBA. Whenever you have that opportunity, you try. We saw it a little with Campazzo. People said to him, “Why are you leaving Europe if you are in the NBA and you are not playing, or whatever? You could even earn more money in Europe than in the NBA.” But in the end, you have a dream. And the truth is, the NBA is something that, if a young player has the opportunity to experience it, I tell him to go. Because the doors to the EuroLeague, to Europe, will always be open if you go there.
Marc Stein: The NBA, I'm told, continues to target 2027-28 as the planned inaugural season for launching NBA Europe. Commissioner Adam Silver and deputy commissioner Mark Tatum have made it clear they hope to collaborate with the EuroLeague rather than compete against it and the NBA has announced that it held talks today with EuroLeague representatives at FIBA headquarters in Switzerland. It's believed that more than 20 existing European basketball and football clubs, including teams currently in the EuroLeague, have lodged bids for NBA Europe franchises.
And the stakes couldn’t be higher than those in Tuesday’s meeting in Geneva between FIBA, the NBA, and the EuroLeague. After many twists and turns it would be naive to believe that this meeting can make or break the future of European basketball. However, it can be the start for the better, and hopefully not for the worse. This will be the first official meeting between the new EuroLeague CEO, Chus Bueno, and the NBA and FIBA. NBA Director for Europe and the Middle East, George Aivazoglou, is expected to be there, plus FIBA top management, which is hosting the meeting.
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According to sources close to tomorrow’s meeting, however, the NBA will not propose or make an offer to acquire the EuroLeague, either in whole or in part. The NBA and FIBA are expected to reiterate their proposed vision for a new league in Europe, provide an update on the significant interest they’ve received from prospective teams and investors, and outline how current EuroLeague teams that haven’t already submitted bids can participate in this new ecosystem, either by making a bid or by qualifying via a second-tier competition or their domestic league.
Vlade Divac when he was traded for Kobe Bryant: I was in Europe and my agent called me and told me that I was traded. I felt like somebody was behind me with the baseball bat and hit me so hard here in the head. I couldn't move and I wasn't happy obviously, I love LA, I love the Lakers organization. It was really a family to me. But time goes by, and I would trade myself for Kobe and I’d trade the entire team for Kobe.
Like Kevin Durant, James also has ownership in a soccer franchise that could potentially add a team in NBA Europe. Liverpool FC reportedly has interest in buying an NBA Europe franchise, according to City AM, and James has an ownership stake in the club. Tony Parker, the former San Antonio Spurs star and current president of French basketball club A LDLC ASVEL, is actively positioning his club to join in NBA Europe as well. “I haven’t heard much on it. There are rumors, like there has always been,” Durant told Andscape on April 6 when asked the latest he’s heard about PSG and NBA Europe. “A lot of s‑‑‑ can happen quick. I don’t know for a fact. I’m just hearing stuff from articles and narratives. I haven’t heard anything too concrete, but we will see.”
One prominent NBA agent told Andscape he wouldn’t be surprised if NBA stars from Europe like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Dončić would be interested in ownership in NBA Europe. Dončić is part of an investor group headed by ex-Dallas Mavericks general manager Donnie Nelson that is seeking to bring a team to Rome as part of NBA Europe, The Athletic has reported. The BAL is also expected to transition to a franchise-based system by 2027, with 10 permanent franchises and two annual qualifiers. An owner of a team playing in the BAL this season told Andscape that the NBA that is having conversations with potential franchise owners for teams that could have a starting price of about $50 million.
He sensed this was the beginning of the end. He wondered if he was destined for the leagues in Europe. He said he called his agent daily, as well as his Hall of Famer father, point guard Tim Hardaway Sr., fretting about his future. “It was my lowest point; I didn’t know if I was going to be sticking around,” Hardaway said.
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Front Office Sports News: "For us in Europe it looks like science fiction... When we heard those numbers, we were a little bit confused." Nikola Jokic's agent Miško Ražnatovic reacts to NBA Europe's $500M-$1B team price tags considering many of the clubs in Europe are not even worth "six digits."
He said that environment is reshaping how teams evaluate prospects. “We want players that want to win,” Marks said. “So you sit there and go, why did you move? Did you just move purely for the money or was it a role or was it the coach?” Marks closed by addressing NBA Europe and expansion, calling it “a heck of an opportunity” if done carefully. “The talent will rise,” he said, while stressing that the league must continue to respect the history and structure of basketball in Europe.
Adam Silver: And right now, basketball is the number two sport in Europe, but from a commercial standpoint it generates about 1% of the revenue.” Craig Carton: “Second to soccer, I assume.” Adam Silver: “Second to soccer, yeah. But from a commercial standpoint, it’s minuscule. And so the marketplace sees a big opportunity in basketball. I mean, we’ve already talked about, you know, some—you know, of course, Luka, whether it’s—Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is Canadian, he’s not European—but the number of international players we have now, you know, Giannis, Wemby, some of our very best players, you know, Jokic—I could keep going on.