2024 EuroLeague Offseason Grades: Maccabi Tel Aviv, Zalgiris Kaunas, Crvena Zvezda, and Virtus Bologna
EuroLeague headlines have been dominated by Olympiacos and Panathinaikos this summer with both clubs bringing in big names from the NBA such as Evan Fournier and Cedi Osman. The increased budgets for these clubs have us slated for one of the best EuroLeague seasons ever and before that begins, we're going to grade every team's offseason.
Today, we'll look at Maccabi Tel Aviv, Zalgiris Kaunas, Crvena Zvezda, and Virtus Bologna. If you missed our grades for ALBA Berlin, Bayern Munich, LDLC ASVEL, and Paris Basketball you can find them here.
2024 EuroLeague Offseason Grades: Maccabi Tel Aviv, Zalgiris Kaunas, Crvena Zvezda, and Virtus Bologna
Maccabi Tel Aviv Offseason Grade
Position last season: 7th
Our prediction for them last season: 3rd
Players and personnel in: Wenyen Gabriel, Levi Randolph, Jaylen Hoard, Jordan Loyd, Rokas Jokubaitis, Will Rayman
Players and personnel out: Antonius Cleveland, Joe Thomasson, James Webb III, Josh Nebo, Wade Baldwin IV, Bonzie Colson, Lorenzo Brown
Offseason grade: B
Try to add: Nothing specific, but a star guard would be a difference-maker for them
Prediction: The dynamics of Maccabi Tel Aviv are well known. Even though they came up just one win short of the Final Four for the second season in a row it was obvious a summer full of turnover was coming. All-EuroLeague second teamers Lorenzo Brown and Wade Baldwin departed quickly, fellow starter Bonzie Colson joined Baldwin at Fenerbahce, and Josh Nebo left for Milano. Just like that, four of their starters were gone, and as they stare down potentially another season without a home court and thus zero ticket sale revenue the replacements were never going to be at the same level.
Wenyen Gabriel is a fantastic pick-up, who could not only be rookie of the season but potentially earn an All-EuroLeague spot in his first season. He was a real backup center option in the NBA and his energy and athleticism should translate well. Hoard and Randolph are great swings on players coming off impressive seasons for other Israeli clubs. Hoard and Gabriel could form a tenacious frontcourt duo, and Randolph shot 41 percent on nearly 5 3-pointers per game last season. It’s unlikely those three can replace what Maccabi lost, but they can’t be written off completely.
Jordan Loyd should provide filler scoring if he can stay healthy, and getting a look at Rokas Jokubaitis in a non-Barcelona environment will be good for him. Roman Sorkin drew soft NBA interest this summer. There’s talent here to push for the play-in, but they’re counting on a handful of EuroLeague rookies and for a few things to fall into place for them. For this season, it’s unlikely they’ll have an environment that enables good fortune on that scale.
Zalgiris Kaunas Offseason Grade
Position last season: 14th
Our prediction for them last season: 14th
Players and personnel in: Tyrone Wallace, Bryant Dunston, Sylvain Francisco, Alen Smailagic, Matt Mitchell, Ignas Brazdeikis, Deividas Sirvydis
Players and personnel out: Kevarrius Hayes, Rolands Smits, Keenan Evans, Edmond Sumner
Offseason grade: B+
Try to add: Star player
Prediction: This is now an Andrea Trinchieri team. Last season’s Zalgiris was far from that. Trinchieri wants skilled players, guys who not only can shoot but will shoot — without hesitation, and guys who are more than comfortable putting it on the floor. He’ll take all of that over defense and physicality, ten times out of ten. Now, that is what he has.
Tyrone Wallace and Matt Mitchell are coming off great seasons in Turkey, Sirvydis was last season’s EuroCup top-scorer, Francisco is one of the most skilled guards in EuroLeague, Dunston is serviceable if he’s still got some gas in his elder years, Alen Smailagic is a joy to watch when he can stay on the court without committing a foul per minute and Brazdekis is back home with the club where he last played well.
This team will score, and they will shoot. They may be the most lopsided team in the competition in terms of offense versus defense. Trinchieri revels operating in that area, and with the right amount of shooting variance, they could be in the play-in spots, and from there, one month of hot shooting could make it a crazy underdog season for them. That conclusion is unlikely, but not impossible, and Trinchieri dares to do whatever is possible.
Crvena Zvezda Offseason Grade
Position last season: 16th
Our prediction for them last season: 9th
Players and personnel in: Mike Daum, Codi Miller-McIntyre, Isaiah Canaan, Nikola Kalinic, Ognjen Dobric, Uros Plavsic
Players and personnel out: Mike Tobey, Trey Thompkins, Freddie Gillespie, Adam Hanga, Nikola Topic, Javonte Smart
Offseason grade: B-
Try to add: Star player, wing
Prediction: We bought into Red Star’s amalgamation of quality talent and depth last season and after their Round 1 thrashing of LDLC ASVEL at home it looked like a good stock. It only went down after that. Dusko Ivanovic was fired, and Shabazz Napier wanted to sign with Milano, but he didn’t, and then he did. Their front office publicly trashed some of their players and took shots at Ivanovic who was finding success with Baskonia for the fourth time in his career.
It was as messy as it gets, and their only saving grace was that they dominated Partizan in domestic play. Red Star re-tooled this summer, adding depth across the board and if they’re able to land Filip Petrusev on loan from Olympiacos at some point they’ll be in a position where they have three quality players at each position. That’s nice, but it’s not too much different from last season.
Codi Miller-McIntyre was an astute move. He offers the playmaking Yago Dos Santos and Milos Teodosic have, without the defensive liabilities. Homecoming for Nikola Kalinic and Ognjen Dobric gives them two quality two-way forwards, and Isaiah Canaan and Nemanja Nedovic are two microwave scorer options at the shooting guard spot.
The depth is better, there appears to be more structure and less drama, but still no star. Without a star, it’s hard to see this squad doing more than making the play-in. That’s an upgrade on last season, and consistent with the work they did this summer.
Virtus Bologna Offseason Grade
Position last season: 10th
Our prediction for them last season: 17th
Players and personnel in: Will Clyburn, Rayjon Tucker, Matt Morgan, Riccardo Visconti, Andrejs Grazulis, Mouhamet Diouf, Nicola Akele
Players and personnel out: Bryant Dunston, Iffe Lundberg, Ognjen Dobric, Jordan Mickey, Awudu Abass, Rihards Lomazs, Bruno Mascolo
Offseason grade: B
Try to add: Nothing
Prediction: Virtus Bologna changed head coaches a month before the season began in 2023, so this summer is an easy improvement from that. Bologna got out to a hot start last season and then fell off a cliff. Injuries racked up, the offense dried up, and they went from being a top-3 team halfway through the season to nearly missing the play-in.
They’ve made solid additions this summer, primarily addressing their biggest need from last season: perimeter scoring. On nights when Marco Belinelli’s shot wasn’t falling and Isaia Cordinier was locked up, they had very little to go to. The additions of Matt Morgan, Rayjon Tucker, and Will Clyburn will take care of that. They have multiple perimeter threats and Shengelia’s post-offense as well as better spacing. They’ll be a tougher cover across the board on the offensive end and hopefully, Shengelia can spend less time in street clothes with better offensive support.
Concerns loom for the center position. Ante Zizic hasn’t been up to the level of an everyday EuroLeague starter ever in his career, and it’s starting to look like that won’t change. Devontae Cacok gave them quality minutes off the bench last season but was another player who couldn’t stay healthy. If those problems persist, Bologna will be dragged down by their anchors. An in-season addition at this position would make us more comfortable locking them into the play-in spots, but right now they’re just barely on the outside looking in.