2024 EuroLeague Offseason Grades: Partizan Belgrade and Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz

In what has been an exciting summer for EuroLeague basketball, nearly 20 NBA players from last season signed in Europe's top basketball competition, and both Partizan Belgrade and Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz made big moves this summer. Partizan reset their entire squad, and Baskonia brought in a new head coach. How do their moves compare to the work of their competitors this summer?

Partizan Belgrade Offseason Grade

Position last season: 11th

Our prediction for them last season: 5th

Players and personnel in: Carlik Jones, Sterling Brown, Isaac Bonga, Aleksej Pokusevski, Brandon Davies, Iffe Lundberg, Duane Washington Jr., Vanja Marinkovic, Isiaha Mike, Tyrique Jones, Frank Ntilikina, Arijan Lakic, Mitar Bosnjakovic, Mario Nakic

Players and personnel out: Bruno Caboclo, Ognjen Jaramaz, Kevin Punter, Mateusz Ponitka, P.J. Dozier, Jaleen Smith, Alen Smailagic, Zach LeDay, Aleksa Avramovic, Danilo Andujusic, James Nunnally, Uros Trifunovic, Frank Kaminsky

Offseason grade: B

Try to add: Nothing

Prediction: No one was a bigger mess than Partizan Belgrade last season. It was the most dysfunctional Zeljko Obradovic team in recent memory. Zero discipline, poor execution especially in late-game scenarios, and outright dismissal of any consistent effort. It was embarrassing to watch. There are two key reasons why that was. The first was the departures of Dante Exum and Mathias Lessort. Exum is now a proven NBA role player and Lessort is arguably the best center in EuroLeague. They made sensible moves to replace them, but they were irreplaceable. 

The second reason is what happened in that Real Madrid playoff series. There’s no need to rehash it, but to be one win away from the Final Four and have a series turn on its head from a harsh away from the court ruling clearly gutted this group. It’s insanely tough to gear back up and run it back the next season after something like that. It’s clear it killed their vibes, and after a season of awful vibes, Partizan triggered a full reset. They have one returning player, Clippers stash Balsa Koprivica. 

The new squad Partizan has brought in seems to have a great mix of talent and on-court fit on paper. The quality to make the play-in is there, with Carlik Jones, Sterling Brown, Iffe Lundberg, and Isiaha Mike offering great scoring versatility ‚ off the dribble, isolation, pick and roll, attacking closeouts, and more. Duane Washington Jr and Vanja Marinkovic are great shooters, Isaac Bonga and Frank Ntilikina can lock people up on the perimeter, Davies and Jones are two athletic centers with unique skillsets that provide the versatility needed at the position, and the x-factor for this team will be Aleksej Pokusevski. 

Coming off four years in the NBA, which included bursts of impressive productivity as a tank commander for the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Serbian forward is making his EuroLeague return. If Pokusevski can take the reins quickly, and establish himself as a EuroLeague star then this Partizan Belgrade group can push for the top-6 and respectfully dream of the Final Four. If he’s just a starter-level player, this group likely lacks the star power to break through the play-in places.

There’s nothing wrong with that, and they should have what they need to take back the Adriatic League title and have a better season than rivals Red Star, which of course matters more than anything else. This offseason was solid, but an offseason with this much turnover always carries risk and that must temper excitement about a team's ceiling. 

Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz Offseason Grade

Position last season: 8th

Our prediction for them last season: 15th

Players and personnel in: Pablo Laso (head coach), Donta Hall, Kamar Baldwin, Trent Forrest, Ognjen Jaramaz, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot

Players and personnel out: Dusko Ivanovic (head coach), Maik Kotsar, Matt Costello, Codi Miller-McIntyre, Vanja Marinkovic, Daniel Diez, Jordan Theodore, Chris Chiozza, Ondrej Hanzik

Offseason grade: B-

Try to add: Center depth, forward depth

Prediction: The always perplexing Baskonia peaked last season. After a terrible start, they dismissed Joan Penaroya and brought Dusko Ivanovic back for the fourth time as head coach. The Ivanovic bump ensued, and Baskonia was able to qualify for the EuroLeague playoffs via the play-in. Then, they missed the Liga ACB playoffs. Ivanovic was a clear stopgap hire, leaving the club shortly after the conclusion of the season, and surprisingly, former Baskonia player and EuroLeague legend Pablo Laso was brought in as head coach after the plug was pulled on his Bayern Munich project. 

This roster is a mix of good and bad. The good is that they still have one of the most electric scorers in Europe in Markus Howard, extended Tadas Sedekerskis in the face of strong interest from wealthier clubs, and maintained Chima Moneke. Moneke and Sedekerskis could both leap into the star tier, or not at all. The ceiling those two can reach will determine how high this Baskonia team can fly. Kamar Baldwin is their latest point guard recruit, and after the home runs they hit with Darius Thompson and Codi Miller-McIntyre there is no reason to doubt their scouting quality at this position. Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot adds a solid mid-range scorer, something they didn’t have when the threes weren’t falling last season, and Donta Hall is an upgrade at center. 

The bad is that they lack depth, especially at center. After Hall they have Khalifa Diop, the 22-year-old appeared in a combined 25 games across all competitions and played less than 10 minutes per game. Laso could experiment with small lineups, Moneke and Sedekerskis are two of the best rebounders in Europe. Nikos Rogkavopoulos has good size too and is another player who could have a breakout season. He is a lights-out catch-and-shoot threat who found his footing in the second half of last season. There’s a nice collection of talent here, with a coach who knows what it takes to win in EuroLeague. If they can stay healthy, they could be scary.